Articles

Monday August 17

Monday of 20th Week of Ordinary Time

HE WENT AWAY SAD

Introduction

When his wife dies, Ezekiel is not allowed by God to mourn. This is a symbolic action prefiguring that when the temple will be destroyed and many of the people killed at the total destruction of the city and the going into exile, no one will be left to mourn.
We probably pity the young man in today’s gospel for not having the courage to give up his wealth for a higher good. He was a just man, full of good will, eager for more than an average, contented life. Yet when Jesus’ call is directed to him, he cannot decide to give up his possessions to become fully happy. But are we better than he? Are we willing to share, also when it hurts, also at a cost of ourselves?

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
we are eager to follow your Son
wherever he leads us,
but not if we have to give up
our little or big attachments to things or persons.
God, give us the mentality of your Son
and his Spirit of courage,
that with Jesus we may not count the cost
of giving ourselves to people and to you.
Be you our only God and our all
now and for ever.

Reading 1 EZ 24:15-23

The word of the LORD came to me:
Son of man, by a sudden blow
I am taking away from you the delight of your eyes,
but do not mourn or weep or shed any tears.
Groan in silence, make no lament for the dead,
bind on your turban, put your sandals on your feet,
do not cover your beard, and do not eat the customary bread.
That evening my wife died,
and the next morning I did as I had been commanded.
Then the people asked me, "Will you not tell us what all these things
that you are doing mean for us?"
I therefore spoke to the people that morning, saying to them:
Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
Say to the house of Israel:
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I will now desecrate my sanctuary, the stronghold of your pride,
the delight of your eyes, the desire of your soul.
The sons and daughters you left behind shall fall by the sword.
Ezekiel shall be a sign for you:
all that he did you shall do when it happens.
Thus you shall know that I am the LORD.
You shall do as I have done,
not covering your beards nor eating the customary bread.
Your turbans shall remain on your heads, your sandals on your feet.
You shall not mourn or weep,
but you shall rot away because of your sins and groan one to another.

Responsorial Psalm DEUTERONOMY 32:18-19, 20, 21

R. (see 18a) You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you.
You forgot the God who gave you birth.
When the LORD saw this, he was filled with loathing
and anger toward his sons and daughters.
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
"I will hide my face from them," he said,
"and see what will then become of them.
What a fickle race they are,
sons with no loyalty in them!"
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
"Since they have provoked me with their 'no-god'
and angered me with their vain idols,
I will provoke them with a 'no-people';
with a foolish nation I will anger them."
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.

Alleluia MT 5:3

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 19:16-22

A young man approached Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?"
He answered him, "Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.
If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."
He asked him, "Which ones?"
And Jesus replied, "You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
honor your father and your mother;
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself."
The young man said to him,
"All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?"
Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me."
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.

Commentary

The prophetic action called for in today’s reading is unusual, and perhaps hard to comprehend. The wife of the prophet dies. He is told to forego all the customary signs of mourning. This is to be a foretaste of the people’s response to the desecration of the temple and the massacre of many of the citizens still living in the country. This is to be seen as the people’s just deserts for their abandonment of Yahweh. It will be a loss without mourning or the customary signs of grief. It was so difficult for Israel to learn its lesson. Repeatedly the people’s conduct led to disaster. And here the prophet is told to act it out.
The Gospel today is also a story of refusal. The young man prefers his riches to the company of the Lord. But how similar this is to our own conduct? What is sin but a refusal of Christ in the interests of something else? It is vitally important for our sense of Christian values to be sharpened, to be vitally alive to God’s will, not to be taken by surprise.
But there is one important difference. When we fail, God is always willing to forgive. To return to the Lord is the story of conversion, and we are told of the joy in heaven that accompanies such a step. Our mistakes in life are numerous and regrettable. But our homecoming is a moment of joy. Let us never become discouraged.

Points to Ponder

God’s fidelity to an unfaithful Israel
Sorrow for sin
The joy of reconciliation

Intercessions

– For people who have a hard time to share their riches, that the Lord open their eyes to the needs of people, we pray:
– For those who hear the Lord calling them to special vocations in the Church, that they may generously answer that call, we pray:
– For all of us, that we may appreciate God’s gifts with gratitude and use them for the good of all, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
with this bread and this wine
we welcome your Son in our midst.
As he places himself into our hands,
entirely and without holding anything back,
may he give us the strength
to go with him all the way,
without looking back
and without counting the cost,
for he is our Lord for ever.

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
you have satisfied our hunger
for food that lasts.
Let it be a hunger that cannot be stilled
for you, for people, for life in its fullness.
Give us the courage to sacrifice everything
for Jesus and his gospel,
that with him we may give you
not only the best of what we have
but our whole selves, our all,
by the power of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing

“What do I lack?” We think perhaps that, in good faith and without boasting we have done much for the Lord. Have we given ourselves? What is there that we could not give up? May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.