The King of Rejected Meals

Reflection for October 11, 2026 - 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, Jesus shares the Parable of the Wedding Feast, which tells of God’s abundant generosity in opening salvation to all those who will accept it. Find today's readings here.

“She was the Queen of Rejected Meals.”

That’s what I want it to say on my tombstone. Etched in marble, deeply, so the wind and rain of a thousand years can never erase it.

Humor, you see, masks my despair. I’m sure many of you know the feeling of sweating over a hot stove for an hour to create a dish that a small, picky eater will push away, lips curled with disgust.

We’ve all made a feast no one wanted to come to.

It strikes me that “King of Rejected Meals” is an epithet which could likewise be scrawled on the empty tomb. Don’t mistake me — I’m not comparing myself to Christ! (And I’m definitely not comparing my sub-par beef-and-zucchini casserole to the Eucharist, the food of life.)

I’m just saying that a lot of evenings, when I’m clearing plates from the table, I wonder why I even bother. I wonder why I don’t just give in and let the kids eat potato chips and KitKats for every meal like they want.

Why don’t I? Well, mom guilt, for starters. But it’s more than that, really. It’s the certainty I have, underneath the resentment, that my efforts aren’t in vain, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Hope springs eternal, you see. How can we Christians help but be optimistic? We have been welcomed to a feast laid for others. We find our salvation in the ultimate rejected meal, in recognizing what true nourishment looks and feels and tastes like, even — especially! — when the rest of the world does not.

Maybe one day my kids will eat grilled chicken willingly. Who knows? Miracles happen every day.

©LPi