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.

We had the ordination of 6 men to the permanent diaconate, including Dcn. JohnZamora, who was also assigned to St. Stanislaus, the youth group went to OnFire at the amusement park with thousands of other young Catholics, and we celebrated many saints, including two of my favorites: St. Terese of Lisieux and St. Francis of Assisi. We had a blessing of the animals, and we welcomed the Fall season-even though the heat remains with us.

The importance of an invitation affects us as we are invited to various events and activities, but also when we do the inviting. This Gospel is really talking about Jesus’ invitation to the heavenly banquet, which is a very important invitation that we should all be willing to accept and do our best to enter into that kingdom. But I want to create a challenge, for me and for the whole people of the parish-to be more bold in inviting our loved ones and acquaintances to Mass, to confession, to parish mission or events, and ultimately back to the Church and to an encounter with Jesus! This is your invitation to invite.

I leave you with this prayer from the parish prayer cards we handed out a few months ago:

Lord, Jesus, I place all my trust in you, and I will follow you as your disciple every day of my life. Come, Holy Spirit, I adore you, enlighten, guide, strengthen, and console me; never let me be departed from you.

Amen.

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