Come and join us tomorrow 15 October at 10.30 a.m. on the livestream or in person for our Parish Mass for the 19th Sunday after Trinity. Our readings are about banquets and particularly relate to the heavenly banquet which we attend at every Mass, and the marriage supper of the Lamb to which we will be invited at the end of Time. In the parable which Jesus tells, at the marriage feast for his son (representing Jesus the Son of God) the king (God the Father) kicks out a guest who does not have the appropriate wedding robe on. This sounds extremely mean to modern ears, but in those days etiquette required that wedding robes were provided by the host of the banquet; so the king had provided them but the guest had not bothered to ask for one, showing his complete disrespect for the king. We are reminded yet again that 'many are called, but few are chosen'.

We will continue to pray for all suffering in time of war, and particularly for the Israelis and Palestinians caught up in the dreadful conflict in the Holy Land. We pray also for those behind the scenes trying to negotiate peace and humanitarian aid. We pray to our great patron, St Michael the Archangel for the defeat of all evil:

Defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen