It’s usually nice to receive a wedding invitation, especially from someone we really like.  It means a lot to us and it also shows that the person thinks highly of us;  and wishes us to be present on such an important occasion for them.   For this reason we should reply;  saying if we are coming or if we are not. The story in the gospel today is very strange and hard to accept. The king sends out invitations, when they find excuses for not coming, he responds with anger and then at the end when he invites everyone and finds one person without a wedding garment, he throws him out into the darkness. Flannery O’Connor, one of the great catholic fictional writers of the 20^th. Century defends her sometimes violent stories with the phrase: “In the land of the deaf you have to shout”. In a very secularized world, that has lost the sense of God you have to shake people into awareness. This is the balance between the use of a carrot or a stick in tackling  certain challenges. Jesus compares the kingdom of God with a great wedding feast; the Father of the groom invites many wedding guests;  but sadly those who are invited do not come;  they promised to come and they do not.  They all had excuses and they had more important things to do.  The great feast is ready, the musicians are in place, but the wedding venue is empty. The host sends out his messengers again; this time they are insulted, mistreated and even killed. Eventually he sends messengers out to invite everyone they meet, on the street, at the crossroads, to come to the banquet. Strangers, our neighbours, poor and rich,  criminals and honest people,  young and old. They come and they take the places of those who were invited and did not come. This could be our story, we could be like the first ones, God pours out his goodness and generosity and we respond with indifference,  with ingratitude and broken promises.  Maybe we are the other ones who were not on the first list, but get invited later. We can ask ourselves: what have I done with Jesus’ invitation?  did I treasure it or have I forgotten it or lost it?  Are there so many other things I have got to do,  that I have not got time to respond? Is the invitation at the bottom of the drawer, where I may never see it again? It is never too late, let us open it today, and say: “here I am Lord,  I’m coming’!  Let us remember at the table of the Lord everyone is welcome, no one is excluded,  Every time we sit at our table, with family, with friends or with strangers, with saints or with sinners,  Jesus is there,  the silent listener, the invisible guest, our faithful friend. Let us not just be called, let us be chosen.