Feast for Fulfillment

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to ponder the promise of our invitation to the Great Feast and the preparation we pursue to accept the call to join the eternal banquet.

All invited to the Banquet

The Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah praises God’s plan to save His people in Zion.

* [25:1–9] These verses praise God for carrying out his plan to destroy the enemy and to save the poor of his people in Zion (14:32), and they announce the victory banquet to be celebrated in the Lord’s city.

* [25:6] This mountain: i.e., Jerusalem’s mountain, Zion. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 25 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 23 is a prayer to acknowledge our care by the Good Shepherd.

* [Psalm 23] God’s loving care for the psalmist is portrayed under the figures of a shepherd for the flock (Ps 23:1–4) and a host’s generosity toward a guest (Ps 23:5–6). The imagery of both sections is drawn from traditions of the exodus (Is 40:11; 49:10; Jer 31:10).

* [23:1] My shepherd: God as good shepherd is common in both the Old Testament and the New Testament (Ez 34:11–16; Jn 10:11–18).

* [23:3] Right paths: connotes “right way” and “way of righteousness.”

* [23:5] You set a table before me: this expression occurs in an exodus context in Ps 78:19. In front of my enemies: my enemies see that I am God’s friend and guest. Oil: a perfumed ointment made from olive oil, used especially at banquets (Ps 104:15; Mt 26:7; Lk 7:37, 46; Jn 12:2).

* [23:6] Goodness and mercy: the blessings of God’s covenant with Israel. (Psalms, PSALM 23 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians is a thanksgiving for support of the mission of Paul.

* [4:10–20] Paul, more directly than anywhere else in the letter (cf. Phil 1:3–5), here thanks the Philippians for their gift of money sent through Epaphroditus (Phil 2:25). Paul’s own policy was to be self-sufficient as a missionary, supporting himself by his own labor (1 Thes 2:5–9; 1 Cor 9:15–18; cf. Acts 18:2–3). In spite of this reliance on self and on God to provide (Phil 4:11–13) Paul accepted gifts from the Philippians not only once but more than once (Phil 4:16) when he was in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1–9), as he does now, in prison (my distress, Phil 4:14). While commercial terms appear in the passage, like an account of giving and receiving (Phil 4:15) and received full payment (Phil 4:18), Paul is most concerned about the spiritual growth of the Philippians (10, 17, 19); he emphasizes that God will care for their needs, through Christ. (Philippians, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus presents the Parable of the Wedding Feast.

* [22:1–14] This parable is from Q; see Lk 14:15–24. It has been given many allegorical traits by Matthew, e.g., the burning of the city of the guests who refused the invitation (Mt 22:7), which corresponds to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70. It has similarities with the preceding parable of the tenants: the sending of two groups of servants (Mt 22:3, 4), the murder of the servants (Mt 22:6), the punishment of the murderers (Mt 22:7), and the entrance of a new group into a privileged situation of which the others had proved themselves unworthy (Mt 22:8–10). The parable ends with a section that is peculiar to Matthew (Mt 22:11–14), which some take as a distinct parable. Matthew presents the kingdom in its double aspect, already present and something that can be entered here and now (Mt 22:1–10), and something that will be possessed only by those present members who can stand the scrutiny of the final judgment (Mt 22:11–14). The parable is not only a statement of God’s judgment on Israel but a warning to Matthew’s church.

* [22:2] Wedding feast: the Old Testament’s portrayal of final salvation under the image of a banquet (Is 25:6) is taken up also in Mt 8:11; cf. Lk 13:15.

* [22:3–4] Servants…other servants: probably Christian missionaries in both instances; cf. Mt 23:34.

* [22:7] See note on Mt 22:1–14.

* [22:10] Bad and good alike: cf. Mt 13:47.

* [22:11] A wedding garment: the repentance, change of heart and mind, that is the condition for entrance into the kingdom (Mt 3:2; 4:17) must be continued in a life of good deeds (Mt 7:21–23).

* [22:13] Wailing and grinding of teeth: the Christian who lacks the wedding garment of good deeds will suffer the same fate as those Jews who have rejected Jesus; see note on Mt 8:11–12. (Matthew, CHAPTER 22 | USCCB, n.d.)

Barbara Dilly reflects today on the Alleluia passage Ephesians 1: 17-18, that is proclaimed before the Gospel.

“May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts, so that we may know what is the hope that belongs to our call.”...

 We are called to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit to move beyond just the facts of what we believe to be true to a deeper personal relationship with God from a heavenly viewpoint. As I grow older, growing toward greater confidence and wisdom in the hope of the future glory promised by God seems like a good discipline. It is exciting to trust we can even better know how much God loves and values us as we place our hope in sharing in the glorious riches in Christ Jesus from a heavenly perspective. May we all pray to know what is the hope that belongs to our call. (Dilly, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes A guest with no wedding garment, by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD)

"But since you have already come into the house of the marriage feast, our holy church, as a result of God's generosity, be careful, my friends, lest when the King enters he find fault with some aspect of your heart's clothing. We must consider what comes next with great fear in our hearts. But the king came in to look at the guests and saw there a person not clothed in a wedding garment. What do we think is meant by the wedding garment, dearly beloved? For if we say it is baptism or faith, is there anyone who has entered this marriage feast without them? A person is outside because he has not yet come to believe. What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love? That person enters the marriage feast, but without wearing a wedding garment, who is present in the holy church. He may have faith, but he does not have love. We are correct when we say that love is the wedding garment because this is what our Creator himself possessed when he came to the marriage feast to join the church to himself. Only God's love brought it about that his only begotten Son united the hearts of his chosen to himself. John says that 'God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son for us' (John 3:16)." (excerpt from FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 38.9) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler reflects on the texts for today. Scholars consider that part of the first section of the Book of Isaiah, Chapters 24 -27, were not written by Isaiah. In this chapter, God’s invitation is universal in tone and even death is destroyed by the Messianic Banquet. In Phillipians, the community has sent money to Paul in prison under house arrest. Paul exercised caution in accepting support. He was concerned with accusations of currying favour. In the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the King's Wedding, the feast is refused by all sorts of busy people and the street people do show up proclaiming that the Jewish people refused and the ones who are accepted are the Gentiles. Note the one who had not been accepted declined to wear wedding garments. Friar Jude has been told garments were available at the door. In Matthew, the judgment of God, who is merciful, is proclaimed, but there will be a final accounting and need to get our act together.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Isaiah 25:6-10 comments that God has prepared an extravagant banquet for us. Now it’s up to us to join in the feast. Will we accept his invitation eagerly, or will we give in to indifference, like the guests in today’s Gospel? Invited to a wedding banquet by a king, they were distracted by their own affairs and refused to go. They missed out on so much and settled for so little!

Jesus is inviting you to a banquet today—to the greatest banquet in the world. Like the king in today’s Gospel, he is prepared to nourish you on the finest of foods—his own Bread of life! What do you need to receive from him? Don’t be afraid to ask as you come forward to receive him with humble gratitude, confidence, and expectation. He will give himself to you completely. He may even surprise you by giving you more than you ask. God longs to provide for all peoples—and that includes you!

“Thank you, Lord, for preparing a feast for me today. Jesus, I receive you!” (Meditation on Isaiah 25:6-10, 2026)

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, considers how the spiritual journey of “homecoming” requires holding the tension between the past and future. In Homer’s Odyssey, it’s the same home, the island Ithaca, that is both the beginning and the end of the journey. Carl Jung offered this concise, momentous insight: “Life, so-called, is a short episode between two great mysteries, which yet are one.” [1]  

To understand better, let’s look at the telling word  homesick. This usually connotes something sad or nostalgic, an emptiness that looks either backward or forward for satisfaction. I use it in an entirely different way. I propose that we are both sent and drawn by the same force, which is precisely what Christians mean when they say the Cosmic Christ is both alpha and omega. We are both driven and called forward by a kind of deep homesickness, it seems. There is an inherent and desirous dissatisfaction that both sends and draws us forward, and it comes from our original and radical union with God. What appears to be past and future is in fact the same home, the same call, and the same God, for whom ‘‘a thousand years are like a single day’’ (Psalm 90:4) and a single day like a thousand years. (Rohr, n.d.)

We ask the Spirit to guide our preparation today as we participate in the celebration of Thanksgiving in Canada this weekend that resonates with the texts today that indicate we are invited to share in a spiritual banquet of plenty beyond our experience of generosity and love.

References

Dilly, B. (n.d.). Daily Reflection October 11, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-october-11-2026 

Isaiah, CHAPTER 25 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/25? 

Matthew, CHAPTER 22 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/22? 

Meditation on Isaiah 25:6-10. (2026, October 11). The Word Among Us. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/10/11/1691368/ 

Philippians, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/philippians/4?12 

Psalms, PSALM 23 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/23?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Home Is Where We Begin. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/home-is-where-we-begin/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). They Would Not Come to the Feast! Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/