Articles

Thursday August 20

Thursday of 20th Week of Ordinary Time

CALLED TO THE FEAST

Introduction

Israel had profaned God’s name among the nations, making it look weak when he had to send Israel into exile. Now Ezekiel consoles them when they are in exile. He will again restore his people, giving them a new heart and a new spirit.
All are invited to the kingdom of God, even repeatedly, the good and the bad alike. Salvation is open to all. But they should be willing, they must respond to the call. And once they respond, they should be consistent. They must share in the death struggle of Christ against evil, to live with the life of Christ. The force to live the Christ life is indeed given to us in the Eucharistic meal. There the Lord prepares us for the royal marriage feast.

Opening Prayer

Merciful Father of all people,
you open the doors of your kingdom
to invite us all, good and bad alike,
to share the life of Jesus, your Son.
Give us the wisdom and the strength
to respond to your generous call
with the whole of our being.
Help us to go the loyal way
to you and to one another
of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Reading 1 EZ 36:23-28

Thus says the LORD:
I will prove the holiness of my great name,
profaned among the nations,
in whose midst you have profaned it.
Thus the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD,
when in their sight I prove my holiness through you.
For I will take you away from among the nations,
gather you from all the foreign lands,
and bring you back to your own land.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you
to cleanse you from all your impurities,
and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you,
taking from your bodies your stony hearts
and giving you natural hearts.
I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes,
careful to observe my decrees.
You shall live in the land I gave your ancestors;
you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Responsorial Psalm 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19

R. (Ezekiel 36:25) I will pour clean water on you and wash away all your sins.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. I will pour clean water on you and wash away all your sins.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.
R. I will pour clean water on you and wash away all your sins.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. I will pour clean water on you and wash away all your sins.

Alleluia PS 95:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 22:1-14

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people in parables saying,
"The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who gave a wedding feast for his son.
He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast,
but they refused to come.
A second time he sent other servants, saying,
'Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet,
my calves and fattened cattle are killed,
and everything is ready; come to the feast."'
Some ignored the invitation and went away,
one to his farm, another to his business.
The rest laid hold of his servants,
mistreated them, and killed them.
The king was enraged and sent his troops,
destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
Then the king said to his servants, 'The feast is ready,
but those who were invited were not worthy to come.
Go out, therefore, into the main roads
and invite to the feast whomever you find.'
The servants went out into the streets
and gathered all they found, bad and good alike,
and the hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to meet the guests
he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.
He said to him, 'My friend, how is it
that you came in here without a wedding garment?'
But he was reduced to silence.
Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet,
and cast him into the darkness outside,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'
Many are invited, but few are chosen."

Commentary

Faith ultimately is a matter of the heart, not simply feast days and rituals. Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel speaks of a new era wherein the Lord will renew the religious spirit within us. The law will not be written on stone tablets but on the flesh of the human heart. Cleansed of our impurities, we will respond to God from inner conviction and with a true sense of personal purpose. Religion, to be authentic, must go beyond externals and emanate from the very core of our being.
Many of the people in today’s parable saw the wedding invitation as simply another calendar event, not a divine calling to be taken with the utmost seriousness. While not as guilty as those who refused, the improperly clothed guest lacks a true appreciation of what God is offering. The lesson should strike us as being particularly meaningful.
The fact that we are identified as Christian or Catholic says very litde in and of itself. But we all know what it means to take faith seriously. We have met it in people many times. The kind word, availability, service to others, as well as love of the Eucharist.
With these values in place, we are properly dressed for the wedding. We will never be embarrassed by being improperly clothed. We have received that new Spirit within us, the first gift of the risen Christ.

Points to Ponder

Religious faith: stone tablets or a new heart
Excuses: God’s interests will come later
The wedding feast: being properly attired

Intercessions

– That the Lord may gather all peoples in one common praise of his name, we pray:
– That the lives of all Christians may radiate joy and hope and bring a feast of happiness to others, we pray:
– That the communities without priests, isolated and abandoned as they often feel, may receive the word of the Lord as their food and occasionally also the Lord’s body, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
in these signs of bread and wine
you invite us now to the table
of your Son Jesus Christ,
as a token and pledge
of your unending feast meal in heaven.
Give us the strength to respond to your call,
that we may become new in Christ
and live his life day after day,
until you let us share in his glory
for ever and ever.

Prayer after Communion

Loving Father,
we thank you for giving us your Son
as our food and drink
on the long road to you.
Through this Eucharist
make us resemble him more and more,
that we may respect and love him
in one another,
that we may be his image to the world,
and that you may recognize his traits in us
when you welcome us
to the everlasting feast of joy.
Grant us this through Christ our Lord.

Blessing

All are invited to the Lord’s feast meal, but not all come. Are some absent because we do not make them feel welcome? Let us do all we can to make people feel at home with us. May God bless you all, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.