Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection August 20, 2024
Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time
20th August 2024 (Tuesday)
Psalter: Week 4
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Ezekiel 28:1-10
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God: Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god—you are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you; by your wisdom and your understanding you have made wealth for yourself, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; by your great wisdom in your trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart has become proud in your wealth— therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you make your heart like the heart of a god, therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendour. They shall thrust you down into the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas. Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who kill you, though you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those who slay you? You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.”
Deuteronomy 32:26-27ab, 27cd-28, 30, 35cd-36ab (R. 39c)
R/. It is I who deal death and give life.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. Though Jesus Christ was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
R/. Alleluia.
Gospel : Matthew 19:23-30
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
Daily Gospel Reflection
Tuesday – Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time
Guidelines: The meaning of life does not consist in possessing but in dispossessing
1. We live in a world that seeks to gain and possess riches. For it believes that riches make one happy and fulfilled, great and honourable. But today both the readings serve us a clear warning against wealth and possessions.
2. Jesus cautions us that the pursuit of riches will lead to the loss of the kingdom of heaven. He declares categorically, “How difficult it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!” “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God”.
3. The problem is not the mere fact of having riches. All the rich people are not automatically and ipso facto disqualified from the kingdom of God. It is the fact of excessive craving for them and being attached to them.
4. It is when whole life revolves around money and possessions. It is placing one’s excessive trust in them and giving the highest priority to material things. It is replacing God with money.
5. The problem is also the evil consequences that proceed from riches. First of all, an unbridled desire for them leads one easily to employ any false means to get rich. Thus, deception, manipulation, and corruption are the most immediate dangers.
6. Further, they can easily lead one to feel self-sufficient, greater than others, and become arrogant, despising others. Besides, attachment to riches may easily make one negligent and mediocre toward God because it does not feel the need for God.
7. Further, riches become the easiest doorsteps for shallow and deviant pleasures and harmful gratifications. The lure of money makes one caught up only with the material dimension of life. One who is tainted by the materialistic perspective of life gets his vision blurred and narrowed, Accordingly, he will not value much values and relationships.
8. In contrast to such a possessive mentality, Jesus advocates the spirit of dispossession, detachment, and following Jesus. This becomes clear from Peter’s question, “We have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?”, and Jesus’ answer that all such persons shall be “rewarded a hundredfold along with eternal life, being the highest reward”
9. In the midst of a possessed and possessing world, St Bernard, a model for 163 monasteries of the Cistercian reform, lived a life of dispossession because Christ is the greatest possession.
Practice: Sharing is an investment with profit while accumulating is like the loss of capital with no interest. Self-emptying is the royal road to getting the divine filling
