Occasionally, I’ll slip into a parish I’ve never visited before, pick up the bulletin, and find one of my Gospel reflections. My heart usually swells with a bit of affection for my creation. I imprint a bit of myself into my little “literary labors of love.” Anyone who has created something — a piece of writing, a garden, a meal, a child — knows that feeling. We love the things into which we put ourselves. We are happy when they return to us.

The Gospel this weekend tells us about the importance of an invitation. “Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.” In the last few weeks, we have had a lot going on at the parish.

We had the Fall Festival come and go, but there was a lot of work and preparation for months before that.

This parable of the landowner who planted a vineyard teaches us that God holds us accountable for the blessings that have been bestowed on us. To put it bluntly, God expects some return on the investment he makes in our lives. All God asks is that we give something back to the kingdom of God.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Earlier this month we heard these words on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary: “For today, the Virgin Mother of God was assumed to heaven as the beginning and image of your Church’s coming to perfection, and a sign of sure hope and comfort to your pilgrim people; rightly you would not allow her to see the corruption of the tomb since from her own body, she marvelously brought forth.

“Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain” writes Paul to the Christians in Philippi. To understand the depth of these words we need to see it in context. Paul was in prison awaiting trial. There were two possibilities before him: he might be released, but he also might be executed. So Paul says, whatever happens to me, whether I live or whether or I die, the important thing is that Christ will be honored in my body. And his rationale for saying so is that to him to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

In today’s Gospel, Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive?” Peter suggests seven times, but Jesus responds, “Not seven times but seventy-seven times.”

Jesus is not asking us to keep count. He is reminding us that forgiveness is not something we offer only when it is convenient or deserved. Forgiveness is a way of living.

A few summers ago, my family had a big reunion. It included my parents, my four siblings, and all their many children. One of my favorite moments was simply watching my parents’ contented faces as they took in all of us together, laughing, sharing food, singing, telling stories. They loved seeing their children happily together with each other.