Daily Gospel Reflections for Oct 11, 2026

SPEAKER_1 (0:12)

11th, 2026 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

SPEAKER_2 (0:23)

Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables. Sing. The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king. Who may they Let's...

Thank you. You're invited to the wedding feast. But they would not come.

Again, he sent out other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feast! But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise. And the rest grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them.

The king heard that he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren't worthy. Go, therefore, to the intersections of the highway and the road to the city. To the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the wedding feast. Those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests.

SPEAKER_1 (1:51)

The Gospel of the Lord Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables saying, The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. In today's Gospel, Jesus describes a king preparing a wedding feast for his son. Everything is ready. The invitations have already gone out. When the time comes, servants are sent to tell the guests that the feast is waiting for them. Yet, the response is surprising. They refused to come. It is easy to wonder why anyone would turn down an invitation from a king. This was not an ordinary meal. It was a celebration prepared for the king's son. And being invited would have been an honor. Yet, Jesus is not really asking us to think about a wedding invitation. He is asking us to look at how we respond to God. God invites us into His life again and again. We hear His word. We receive opportunities to pray, to forgive, to serve, to change direction, or to return to something we have neglected. Sometimes His invitation comes through scripture. Sometimes it comes through another person. At other times, it appears through a situation that makes us realize something in our lives needs to change. At other times, it appears through a situation that makes us realize something in our lives needs to change. The difficulty is not always that we reject God outright. Most of us would never say, I do not want God in my life. Our refusal can be much less obvious. We tell ourselves that we will pray later. We know we should forgive someone, but we keep postponing it. We sense that we should reach out to someone, yet another day passes. We know a habit is pulling us away from God, but changing it feels inconvenient. We tend to respond, just not today.

That can become our own version of refusing the invitation.

There is something striking about the king in Jesus' parable. He has already prepared the feast before sending his servants. The guests are not being asked to create the celebration themselves. They are simply being invited to come. This reminds us that our relationship with God does not begin from what we can accomplish for Him. God is the one who invites. He prepares a place for us and asks us to enter.

Yet, an invitation still requires a response. We can spend years believing in God while keeping certain parts of our lives outside His reach. We may attend Mass, pray regularly, and try to live well, yet still have areas where we resist what He is asking.

Perhaps, there is a grudge we have protected for too long. Perhaps, there is a decision we know we need to make. Perhaps, God has been drawing us back to prayer after a period of neglect, but we keep finding reasons not to begin.

Sometimes, we wait because we think responding to God requires a dramatic change. Often, it begins much smaller. It can mean giving Him ten minutes instead of reaching for our phone. It can mean sending a message we have delayed. It can mean admitting we were wrong. It can mean returning to confession, opening scripture again, or choosing not to repeat something we know is harmful.

The invitation in today's Gospel also reminds us not to assume there will always be a more convenient moment. We can become so used to God's presence that His invitations begin to feel ordinary. We hear the same gospel passages, receive the same opportunities to pray, and tell ourselves there will always be another chance. But faith is lived in the response we make today.