Sermons on the First Readings
When you and I send out invitations to events we are hosting, we typically include at the bottom of the invitation certain initials. "RSVP" is what we customarily print at the bottom of our invitations. It's an abbreviation for a French phrase, which means, "Please respond."
It's always disappointing, of course, when someone we had wanted to include in an event is unable to attend. But at least we want to know. We need to know who is coming and who is not. It is common practice to ask people to respond to invitations. "RSVP" -- please respond.