When we don't do something that we know we should do, we usually seem to come up with an excuse. Take going to Mass, for example. You hear excuses all the time for why people don't go-- the Mass is boring, the homily is poorly prepared or poorly delivered, I don't get anything out of it, I'm too busy, the Mass times don't work for me.... The list goes on. There seem to be lots of excuses for why we can't come to the great feast of the Kingdom of God, which, of course, is what the Mass is. Jesus tells a story of the same kind of thing in today's Gospel, where a man invites people to a wonderful feast and, when everything is ready and the guests are told it is time to come, one by one they come up with excuses why they can't come. On reflection, the excuses seem terribly lame. One guest says he has bought a field and has to go examine it. Really? Who buys a field without looking at it first? And why does the field need to be examined immediately-- can't the examination wait until the next day? Another guest says he just bought 5 yoke of oxen, and must go evaluate them. Again, who does that and, if that is really the case, why not put the evaluation off for a day? Perhaps the most preposterous excuse is from the man who says he can't come because he just got married. He's certainly known about his upcoming wedding for some time, but only on the day of the feast does it occur to him that he's got a schedule conflict? Really? It is worth noting that all the "please excuse me" people are well-off, buying farms and oxen and getting married (never a cheap undertaking). It seem like they are so concerned about their own affairs that they can't be bothered with the man's feast. Only the poor can be found to attend. I wonder how often our excuse for missing the Eucharist is an "all about me" excuse- you know, my kids have sports, or I've got more important things to do, or I don't get anything out of it, or something like that. The result of the "all about me" excuses is that the person giving the feast puts the people on the "will not taste my dinner" list. Now I don't suppose God does that. I think He continues to reach out, even when we turn down the invitation to the banquet. But I do think we disappoint God when we don't show up to worship Him, and I know that every time we make an excuse for missing Mass, it gets easier to make an excuse next time, and pretty soon missing Mass becomes a regular habit. In effect, we put ourselves on the "do not invite" list. And that is a place we certainly don't want to be.