WEBVTT

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My dear children in Christ. Not too young to

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say that. So you're my beloved in the Lord. This

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is a busy time, isn't it? Busy time of year,

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getting ready for Christmas, family, and so forth.

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And in fact, the church celebrates, knowing that

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this is the case, celebrates this Sunday of...

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All the ancestors of Christ for this week and

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next week. It's as if they're gathering to come

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to the celebration. To join us. To be with us.

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To celebrate. There's lots to do. Right up to

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the great day itself. The day of the celebration

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of the birth of Christ. And the family church

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follows the celebration here in the temple. First

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we gather in the temple. Lots of services. We

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need them to prepare ourselves. We can't just

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step into Christmas, right? That's why we have

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a 40 -day period. Even the world knows that.

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They start during Halloween, but, you know, that's

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not quite reasonable. And after the celebration

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in the temple, we gather in our homes and with

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our friends, I hope, and some with the poor.

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But there's lots to do. So we hear our Savior

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tell a parable to help us prepare. I think it's

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always interesting to ask ourselves, where is

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Jesus when he speaks this parable? And who is

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he talking to? I think we can assume, when we

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read chapter 14 of Luke, that Jesus is at a banquet.

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And he tells this short little, some advice.

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He says, when you are invited to the banquet,

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don't go up and get the choice seats. You know,

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nowadays you go to a reception and you look at

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the board outside and it tells you what table

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you're at. So you're at table number 40, really

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far away. This is Jesus saying, don't switch

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with somebody up higher because a more important

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person will come and then you'll have to go.

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back down to number 40. Jesus isn't telling us

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etiquette for our next trip to an event, a reception.

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This is not about that. Jesus speaks about the

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kingdom of God almost exclusively. And he's there

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at a banquet with other rabbis and Pharisees.

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religious teachers and he's telling them about

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humility that the first will be last and the

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last will be first and if you think you're already

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in the kingdom think again so he's talking to

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them about this and a man says to him blessed

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is he who eats bread in the kingdom of heaven

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And Jesus, the man's on the right track. And

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then Jesus gives his parable. Now again, who

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is he speaking to? The Pharisees. The religious

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authorities. But who else is he speaking to?

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Us. Why bother reading it if he's not speaking

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to us? He's telling us. We take this story seriously,

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too. So he tells a parable about a man who invites

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guests to this feast in St. Matthew. It's the

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feast of his son, the wedding feast. These days,

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we learn that a friend or relative is engaged,

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going to get married because we get one of those

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save -the -date cards in the mail. Those are

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nice. That's not how it worked in the old days.

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Or in this parable. The invitation went out saying,

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you're invited to the feast. My son is getting

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married or whatever it might be. The invitation

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went out. No date would be specified. So much

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to do. And then the day comes and the servants

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go out and says, all is ready. Come to the feast

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now. We're ready. Come now. And this is a great

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honor. This is an incredible honor. All things

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are ready. Come now. The feast is today. What

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is this feast we're talking about today? What's

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the feast that Jesus talks about in this parable?

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It's the participation in the kingdom of God,

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in the life of God, in communion with God, with

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joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. In love and

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knowledge. It's deification. It's our transformation.

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St. Paul in Colossians, you heard the deacon

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read, put away, put to death all those things

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that are in the way. Put to death those things.

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We're created for this banquet. That's why we

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exist. To be deified, to be with God, to be made

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like him, to become children of the Most High.

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That's our life. So when Christ, who is our life,

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appears, says St. Paul, then we shall be with

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him how? Sitting around on the cloud, playing

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some kind of silly harp? We shall be with him

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in glory. When Christ, who is our life, appears,

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says St. Paul, we shall appear also with him

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in glory. This invitation to the banquet. You

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heard what happened. Come, all things are ready.

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This invitation is universal for all people.

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It's generous. Everyone, everyone, beginning

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with the Lord's own chosen people. They're the

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first to be invited. He's telling this parable

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especially to the Pharisees who already think

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that they have it made. They don't need to do

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anything else. God knows that the banquet is

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the perfect thing for us to be invited to. Why?

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Because we human beings are hungry creatures.

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We can be very lonely creatures. He invites us

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to fellowship with him, to joy, to be fed by

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him. He sends out an invitation. You've received

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it. It's like a little box of this invitation.

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A little box comes with it of hors d 'oeuvres.

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Think of that. You get a taste of what the banquet's

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going to be. So when the invitation arrives,

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there's going to be a taste of what the meal's

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going to be like. That's the liturgy. That's

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the liturgy. Communion with God and each other

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in fellowship without us sick, tired, or dead.

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We will rejoice. It's an invitation. It's not

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a threat. The Lord knows we need something sweet

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to be brought to him. And this banquet was expensive.

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Exorbitantly expensive. A feast to prepare costing

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beyond anything you can imagine. A very heavy

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price was paid. Paid on the cross. Picture now,

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Jesus knowing what would come. He tells this

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story. These people are listening to him. Picture

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him later, standing on the Mount of Olives, gazing

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out over the city of David. and hear his words,

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which St. Luke records. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

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the one who kills the prophets and stones those

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who are sent to her, how often I wanted to gather

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your children together as a hen gathers her chicks

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under her wings, but you were not willing. You

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hear the pain of the Lord, his heartbreak. that

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his chosen people would reject this invitation.

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The Lord gives us the freedom to reject anything.

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He doesn't give us freedom so that we can make

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bad choices, which is what we end up doing so

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often. That's not the purpose of freedom. And

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bad choices don't validate freedom. Those who

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refuse, refuse consciously. Not accidentally.

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The Lord knows the heart of each and every person.

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Nobody, please listen carefully, no one departs

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from God by accident. And God will not force

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anyone. Compared with the banquet, my dear friends,

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beloved in the Lord, everything else is trivial.

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If we don't have that first. All endeavors. All

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the distractions. Look at today's excuses. Look

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at them. One priest called this the parable of

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excuses. I purchased a field. I have to go look

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at it. Caught up in property. Caught up in possessions.

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Caught up in work. Caught up in anxiety and in

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relationships. Unlike some priests that I know,

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I can't say, well, in my former parish, let me

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tell you about a situation. I can't do that here

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because you know each other. All I can say, brothers

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and sisters, is that the invitation to the banquet

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is inconvenient. It's inconvenient if you put

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your field first, your oxen or your car or your

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tractor or your marriage first. Just let me say,

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I've seen marriages in which someone lost the

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kingdom for the sake of a marriage. The one who

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hears it says, I cannot give this invitation

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serious priority. I am busy. All can come. All

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can come. The house is huge. All are invited.

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The doors are open. All can come, not because

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we are good, not because we have done anything.

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The first guest turned down the invitation, and

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the father withdraws it, which is what it means

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when it says he is wroth and angry. And who comes

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to the banquet? Who comes? The poor, the maimed,

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the lame. and the blind, the homeless, on the

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highways and the hedges. That's us, the Gentiles,

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with darkened mind and futility of life, says

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St. Paul. And we enter the church in the biggest

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mess that we are, and we begin to live differently.

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And we're reborn from above. by the cross and

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by water and baptism with the Spirit. And we're

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transformed. How grateful we must be now as we're

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preparing for Christmas Day for the great love

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that God has shown us. We, who had nothing to

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do with God, did not know God. Gentiles, the

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law in Sinai was not given to us. It was given

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to a chosen group. We now belong to him also.

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We are his dear children also. We can dine with

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him at every divine liturgy, have a taste of

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the kingdom of that great festival that will

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occur when the Lord appears in glory. This is

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all the Christmas story, brothers and sisters.

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Joy in the birth of Jesus. joy in being invited

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to the house of God, the church, joy in partaking

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of the banquet of the Messiah, the Holy Eucharist,

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joy in the Christmas dinner too at home. Don't

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delay. Put nothing in the way. No excuses. They're

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not worth it. When the king of all, the one who

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made us, invites us to something, come with your

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whole heart, your whole mind. all your strength,

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and you will have that great gift. To our Lord

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be glory now and ever, to ages of ages. Glory

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to Jesus Christ.