Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah pictures God preparing a feast on the mountain and wiping every tear from every face; Jesus tells of a king's wedding feast where the invited refuse to come, so the invitation goes out to anyone the servants can find. The banquet is ready. The question is whether we come, and whether we come dressed for it.

Isaiah foretells a feast of rich food and choice wine on God's holy mountain, where he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples and swallow up death forever, wiping away every tear. Psalm 23 answers with the Lord as shepherd who prepares a table and lets goodness and kindness follow all the days of life. Paul, writing from prison, says he has learned the secret of being well-fed and going hungry, of having abundance and being in need, and that he can do all things through him who strengthens him. In the Gospel, Jesus tells of a king who gives a wedding feast for his son; the invited guests refuse to come, so the king sends his servants into the main roads to gather anyone they can find, good and bad alike, until the hall is filled - but one guest without a wedding garment is bound and cast out.

Lord Jesus, you prepare a table before us in the sight of our foes: Lord, have mercy. Christ Jesus, you invite the good and the bad alike to your wedding feast: Christ, have mercy. Lord Jesus, you swallow up death and wipe away every tear: Lord, have mercy.

Introduction: Father, you have prepared a feast that no veil of death can cover. Hear the prayers of your people as we come before your table:

1. For the Church, that she would go out to the main roads and invite everyone, good and bad, to the wedding feast; we pray to the Lord.
2. For those who govern, that they would work for a world where every table has enough; we pray to the Lord.
3. For all who mourn, that the Lord who swallows up death forever would wipe away every tear; we pray to the Lord.
4. For those who feel unworthy of God's invitation, that they would come anyway and be clothed in his mercy; we pray to the Lord.
5. For engaged couples preparing for marriage, that they would prepare their hearts as carefully as their wedding day; we pray to the Lord.
6. For the hungry in our community, that they would find a place at someone's table this week; we pray to the Lord.
7. For all who have died, especially [name], that they now feast at the table where death has been swallowed up forever; we pray to the Lord.

Concluding prayer: Father, you prepare a table for us and wipe away every tear. Receive the prayers of your people, clothe us for the wedding feast of your Son, and bring us at last to the place where death is no more. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.