In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
From the dawn of Creation, God has shown great care for the creatures made in His image.
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’
— Genesis 1:28
And for these creatures made of the dust of the earth he was most concerned that mankind had food.
The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. …
Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’
— Genesis 2:8–9, 15–17
But at the dawn of our Creation, man rejects God: rejects His food and rejects His commandments. And so mankind must toil through the heat of the day of this Age. But at evening, in these Last Days, God sends out His Servant, His Angel, His Word, “to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for all is now ready.’”
And one says, “I have bought a field,” which is to say, “I will tie myself to the outcome of this Age.” And another says, “I have bought five yoke of oxen,” thus placing money—the love of money—before God. And yet another, “I have married a wife,” because he desires the fleeting pleasures of this life.
But this Age is coming to a close as the sun draws close to the horizon revealing the true Sun of Righteousness. For our God is a jealous God Who desires that His Banquet will be full.
Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame. …
Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as the sun is setting on this world the Lord is inviting us to His Banquet. Will we accept His invitation? Will we come? Or will we cast our lot in with the world which is perishing?
Let us, my dear ones, prioritise the Lord and His invitation. For what is promised is no mere meal after which we will grow hungry,
‘For the Bread of God is the Bread that comes down from Heaven and gives Life to the world.’
‘Sir,’ they said, ‘always give us this Bread.’
Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty. …
All those the Father gives Me will come to me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away. …
For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal Life, and I will raise them up at the Last Day.’
— John 6:33–35, 37, 40
Let us, therefore, dear brothers and sisters, come eagerly to the Banquet, let us neither dally nor delay, let us run to the Lord from whom we are offered the heavenly Bread and granted immortality.
To our crucified and risen God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who invites us to the Banquet to partake of Life, be all glory, honour and worship, together with His unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Timothy, my son, do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago, and now has manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, and therefore I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, and among them Phygelos and Hermogenes. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphoros, for he often refreshed me; he was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me eagerly and found me – may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesos.
— Second Timothy 1:8–18
The Lord said this parable: “A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; and at the time of the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for all is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and there is still room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. For many are called, but few are chosen.'”
— Luke 14:16–24