11 October 2026 — 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time ‘A’
Isaiah 25:6–10a; Philippians 4:12–14, 19–20; Matthew 22:1–14
H O M I L Y
The prophet Isaiah uses the image of a banquet to describe the salvation of the messianic age offered to all peoples. In the same way, Jesus often uses the image of a wedding feast in the Gospel when He wishes to reveal the mystery of salvation history.
Let us reflect a little on the meaning of this image. And first of all, let us ask ourselves what distinguishes a banquet from an everyday meal.
The first difference lies in the invitation. Indeed, one does not turn up at a banquet without having been invited. It is a festive meal to which a person freely invites whomever he or she wishes. The guests are free to accept, but they are, in a sense, compelled by this invitation to reveal whether or not they are true friends.
Furthermore, a banquet brings together several people. For a host or hostess, choosing the right guests is an art in itself. On the one hand, one must avoid seating people at the same table who cannot get along. On the other hand, a banquet can also be an opportunity for reconciliation for people who have something to forgive one another. It can also be an opportunity to forge new friendships.
The third characteristic of a banquet is that it is not something we do every day. There must be something or someone to celebrate: what we celebrate might be an arrival, a departure, a reunion after a long separation, an election, or a wedding, as in today’s Gospel, and so on. It is always an occasion to commemorate something that holds special significance for all those taking part.
Such a celebration requires a certain commitment from everyone. Indeed, once people have shared a banquet together, they can no longer afford to be enemies, even if they were before.
A banquet also calls for special food: something truly delicious and prepared with love, which is a feast for the eyes and the sense of smell as well as for the taste. What we eat at a banquet is not simply intended to satisfy our hunger.
Well then! I believe it is quite easy to apply all this to the Eucharistic banquet.
We are the guests of the Lord Jesus, who instructed us to gather in this way around the table in remembrance of Him. This is something far more important and meaningful than simply fulfilling an obligation or observing a rule. It is an opportunity for us to show our love for the One who invites us, knowing, moreover, that we are always invited.
The One who has invited us has called us from every corner of the world to form us into a community, a Church. For us gathered here, it is this call — and our daily celebration — which, beyond all our differences in ideas, opinions and concerns, makes us a community, a Church.
We are gathered here this morning to celebrate something together—or rather, someone. We celebrate the Paschal mystery of our redemption in Christ. We wish to keep alive the memory of the One who has invited us, and to listen once more to His message.
We have a special nourishment, which is the body and blood of Christ, the sacrament of Jesus’ love for us and of the love we wish to have for one another.
All this requires a commitment on our part: a commitment to live out the message we have received, and to manifest in our lives today the bonds that have been restored or strengthened; a commitment to pass on the invitation to everyone; and finally, a commitment to make it possible for everyone to take part in this banquet.
But there is one final aspect of a banquet that is worth emphasising: formal attire is a must. A well-mannered person does not attend a banquet in ‘jeans’. In invitations from people who consider themselves to be of high society, one often finds the phrase: ‘evening dress required’, or something similar. But I do not believe that is what is meant in our parable. Indeed, all those who were gathered from the public square to fill the banquet hall certainly were not wearing wedding attire. I believe that to understand the meaning of this aspect of our parable, we must look to the parable of the Prodigal Son, where, when the son who had remained faithful to his father returns from the fields and hears the sound of the celebration, he does not want to go in. The lesson of today’s parable is that we cannot take part in the banquet offered by God to all his sons and daughters unless our hearts are in a festive mood, unless we are willing to rejoice in the fact that He welcomes to this banquet all sinners and all poor wretches like ourselves.
Armand Veilleux