The Great Banquet, the Gracious Invitation, & the Eucharist

In the Gospel of St. Luke 14, a man stood up and loudly proclaimed, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God!" Jesus then tells the Parable of the Great Banquet; the Divine and most gracious invitation to come to the table God has prepared; upon which are the benefits of healing for the soul, the forgiveness of sin, and eternal life. Today, hearing the voice of the Early Church Fathers, we see that Christ our God was speaking of the Eucharist in the context of the Divine Liturgy, the Kingdom of God realized and manifest so that we may taste and experience the joy and peace of Paradise in the eternal now.