28th Sunday of the Year: We respond to God's banquet invitation

There are many versions of the fairy tale Cinderella.

Perhaps you read a book of it, perhaps you saw one of the many versions of the movies, the Disney classic.

At its core, there's some basic elements, right? Cinderella is now under the cruel thumb of her stepmother and the two stepsisters, and they make her life miserable.

Here she is trapped in her own home having to do the service.

She has to sleep by the fireplace in the midst of the cinders that come off.

She has to scrub floors, do all of this menial work.

She's belittled and mocked.

And then the news comes out the, the king is having this fantastic ball, and all the women in the entire kingdom are invited.

And so Cinderella hopes, and she puts together her own simple dress.

And right before everybody leaves for the ball, the stepsisters, in a cruel moment, rip it to shreds.

Too bad you can't come now.

And so as they're leaving to go to the ball, Cinderella is weeping in the garden.

Now, for all of her pain and suffering, she's still kind and patient, and she's really quite a strong woman and very fierce just in this horrific situation.

When [snap] bam, there comes the fairy godmother, and suddenly a pumpkin becomes a carriage, and the mice become the horses.

And she has this dazzling dress, sparkling slippers, and told, "This is good till midnight." And off she goes.

And she walks into the ball, and the prince can only see her.

Nobody else exists.

They dance the night away.

It's magic, it's awesome, it's incredible.

And she starts to hear the big clock chiming, and she's gotta run.

She in fact, she runs so fast the slipper is left behind.

She gets there and barely makes it back in time before it's just a pumpkin and some mice and the basic rags of her dress.

And of course, then the prince wants to go find them, seeking out this mysterious woman, and all he's got is this glass slipper.

Goes to everyone, everybody's trying to wear the slipper.

And ultimately we know the happy ending.