Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection August 22, 2024
Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time
22nd August 2024 (Thursday)
Psalter: Week 4
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Ezekiel 36:23-28
Thus says the Lord: I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Psalm 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19 (R. Ezekiel 36:25)
R/. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. Today, harden not your hearts, but listen to the voice of the Lord.
R/. Alleluia.
Gospel : Matthew 22:1-14
At that time: Again Jesus spoke to chief priests and elders of the people, in parables, saying, “The Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called but few are chosen.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Thursday – Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time
Guidelines: God’s invitation is free and constant. It is to enjoy the banquet of His blessings. But it depends on our openness to attend and experience it
1. God wants to feast us with the banquet of His graces. This banquet can indicate His rich word and also the Eucharistic banquet. This invitation can be in different forms. It is His whispering voice in our conscience. It is His messages and counsels through persons. It is His signs and tests through different situations. It is the inspiration and insights in prayer moments and spiritual activities.
2. But how do we respond to these invitations for the abundant banquet of God? Do we also act like the specially invited persons in the gospel? All of them reject the invitation to the banquet. Some are on their own business, and some others ill-treat and kill the servants who come to invite them. Are we also so busy with our worthless pursuits or needless preoccupations? Do we also despise and discard God’s invitations and abuse His grace?
3. We need to remember that none of us merits His banquet. It is free and gratuitous. We may be weak and unworthy. That does not matter. He invites us to enter and enjoy His banquet. But once we are at the banquet, do we fit ourselves for the occasion? Where is our wedding garment? Are we so careless and callous that we take for granted the immense privilege of the banquet?
4. The wedding garment is the spirit of renewal, a right disposition, a new heart, and a new spirit. This is the renewed spirit of which God speaks in the first reading from Ezekiel. It is that clean water sprinkled on us, which cleanses us from all our uncleannesses. It is that heart of flesh in the place of the heart of stone. It is that Spirit of God that is out within us, which causes us to walk in His statutes and to obey His rules carefully.
5. Often many do not realize the immensely incomparable value of God’s word and sacraments. So foolishly they neglect or reject them in preference to otherworldly pursuits and self-interests. That will surely invite loss of grace and ruin.
Practice: Mary’s queenship that we celebrate today is not a thing of status or power or prestige and glory, but it is an assurance that she reigns over us, not only as a mother who loves us, but also as a queen who takes care of us, guides us and leads us to her Son, and to the same heavenly glory
