28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 15th October 2023

All are invited, all are welcome
We all love a good meal with our friends and family. Whenever we share
a meal with those we love, there is a sense of joy, community and belonging
which is experienced by those around the table. Stories are told and new
memories are created.
The same was true at the time of Jesus. We know from the gospels, that
Jesus sat and ate with many people. To share a meal with another person
then was sign of equality. All those around the table were seen as equals as
they often ate from the same plate or bowl. However, if you were sick in
any way, you were not allowed to sit at the table with others, even members
of your own family. To be sick was to be seen as a sinner who was being
punished by God. The Pharisees, Scribes and the Jewish elders decided who
could come into Temple, the synagogue and sit at the table to share a meal.
If a person didn’t reach the standard that they laid down, then they were
ignored, dismissed and unable to eat with others.