Jesus tells the parable in Scripture of the individuals who receive an invitation to a Wedding Feast, but many of them find excuses for not attending.
Then Jesus said to him, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.’ Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ Then the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.’” (Luke 14:15-24)
The invitation mentioned in this parable is also the invitation given to each of us. We too are, at times, too spiritually crippled, blind and lame to encounter Christ in contemplative prayer. This encounter requires a true prayer from the heart, prayer that must come from the center of our being, which can also mean from the very center of our brokenness. If prayer is to be effective, we cannot remain on the surface of things, but we must make time to get to the ‘heart’ of the matter in each of our lives.
There is a similar tale to this Biblical parable told by the famous Christian writer, C.S. Lewis. I was reminded of this in a homily I heard one Sunday. Many readers of this reflection will have heard the story, but I will attempt to expand upon it a little, (though not too much, as I don’t think C.S. Lewis needs much help from me).
It seems there was a gathering of Satan and some of his top demons, strategizing on how to draw more souls into hell. One ambitious young demon suggested the best way to draw more unfortunate souls to their demise would be to convince them there is no God. Satan, standing on a stage in front of the audience of demons, shook his head and said, “No, no, there is already too much proof that He does exist, so that won’t get us very far.”
Another demon quickly piped up and said, “Well then, let’s get them to believe there is no hell. We could use the media to convince gullible souls that there really are no consequences for their actions, and that in the end everything is acceptable.”
Satan rubbed his chin and, looking out across the menacing gathering, said, “Not bad, but with all the destruction we have been wreaking on humanity, I think many of them are beginning to realize that hell is a reality.”
Another demon raised his hand and, when Satan pointed to him, offered this little bit of advice. “Well, Satan,” the demon stammered, “maybe we could just get them to believe that you do not exist.” After bowing his head in silence for a moment, Satan laughed a deep and sinister laugh. He leaned forward, looking at the assembly of demons, and said, “Any one of those human souls who does not believe that I exist is already on its way here. Besides,” he added, “I don’t know if my pride could take having large numbers of souls not believe in me.”
Finally, a tall old graying demon stood up in the middle of the crowd, and everyone fell silent and gave him the floor. It was clear he had gained their respect over the centuries. In a deep, gravelly voice, the ancient demon said, “None of this will be necessary my evil friends, as there is only one thing we need convince these poor souls of.”
Satan, looking inquisitively across the room, asked, “And just what is that?”
“We need only convince them,” the old demon paused for effect, “that there is no HURRY.”
“We need only convince them,” the old demon continued, “that there is no need for them to hurry to reform their lives; there is no need for them to hurry to seek God; there is no need for them to hurry to prepare themselves to meet God.
“It is quite simple: in the morning we can convince them they have much work and many chores to do and they do not have time to ask God what He may want from them that day. In the afternoon, we can convince them that they have to get a good meal and spend time with friends, so there is no time to read spiritual books or stop by a Church. In the evening, we will convince them they have had a long hard day, that they deserve their rest and recreation; there is no time for prayer or any need to thank God for another day on earth. In short, there is no HURRY.
“We will simply convince them that they will have plenty of time to do all that Holy stuff when they don’t have so many other things to deal with, or when they are older, or when they have more time, etc, etc. And then, eventually... inevitably... they will run out of time.”
Satan nodded his approval, and the meeting was adjourned.
Please pray this week that we might all find the time to pray and seek God while He still may be found.
“For he says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthian 6:2)
[Disclaimer: This reflection is offered by a person who is, at times, downright lazy and very often a skilled procrastinator. So any similarities the reader might find to be true of themselves is purely coincidental.]
Copyright ©2025, Deacon Mark Danis
Image credit: “Parable of the Great Banquet,” Brunswick Monogrammist (National Museum in Warsaw), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons