DAILY READING and REFLECTIONS For Thursday, August 21, 2014 20th Week in Ordinary Time - Psalter 4 (White) Feast of St. Pius X, Pope Readings: Ezk 36:23-28; Ps 51:12-19; Matt 22:1-14 Response: I will pour clean water on you and wash away all your sins. Rosary: Luminouss Mysteries Key Verse: Many are invited but not all are chosen. SAINT OF THE DAY: Saint Pius X, Pope On June 2, 1835, Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto saw the light of earth at Riesi, Province of Treviso, in Venice; on August 20, 1914, he saw the light of heaven; and on May 29, 1954, he who had become the two hundred fifty-ninth pope was canonized St. Pius X. Two of the most outstanding accomplishments of this saintly Pope were the inauguration of the liturgical renewal and the restoration of frequent communion from childhood. He also waged an unwavering war against the heresy and evils of Modernism, gave great impetus to biblical studies, and brought about the codification of Canon Law. His overriding concern was to renew all things in Christ. Above all, his holiness shone forth conspicuously. From St. Pius X we learn again that the folly of the Cross, simplicity of life, and humility of heart are still the highest wisdom and the indispensable conditions of a perfect Christian life, for they are the very source of all apostolic fruitfulness. His last will and testament bears the striking sentence: I was born poor, I have lived in poverty, and I wish to die poor. READINGS FROM THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE: READING 1, Ezekiel 36:23-28 23 I am going to display the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am Yahweh -- declares the Lord Yahweh -- when in you I display my holiness before their eyes. 24 For I shall take you from among the nations and gather you back from all the countries, and bring you home to your own country. 25 I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed; I shall cleanse you of all your filth and of all your foul idols. 26 I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. 27 I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep my laws, and respect and practice my judgments. 28 You will live in the country which I gave your ancestors. You will be my people and I shall be your God. RESPONSORIAL PSALM, Psalms 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19 12 Give me back the joy of your salvation, sustain in me a generous spirit. 13 I shall teach the wicked your paths, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodshed, God, God of my salvation, and my tongue will acclaim your saving justice. 15 Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will speak out your praise. 18 In your graciousness do good to Zion, rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will delight in upright sacrifices,-burnt offerings and whole oblations -- and young bulls will be offered on your altar. GOSPEL, Matthew 22:1-14 1 Jesus began to speak to them in parables once again, 2 The kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his sons wedding. 3 He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. 4 Next he sent some more servants with the words, Tell those who have been invited: Look, my banquet is all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding. 5 But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. 7 The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. 8 Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, 9 go to the main crossroads and invite everyone you can find to come to the wedding. 10 So these servants went out onto the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment, 12 and said to him, How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment? And the man was silent. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, Bind him hand and foot and throw him into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. 14 For many are invited but not all are chosen. REFLECTIONS: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God) OPENING PRAYER: God our Father, may we love you in all things and above all things and reach the joy you have prepared for us beyond all our imagining. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. ON READING 1: Ezekiel 36:23-28 (Restoration; return from exile, Inner Renewal) In this second last section of the book, the prophet uses a series of metaphors to paint the scene of a restored Israel. The oracles have an eschatological dimension to them, particularly the latter ones (38:1-39:29). Overall, what we are given here is a song celebrating hope; nothing is impossible to the Lord: he is able to renew Israel (36:16-38), by giving her a new heart and a new spirit (v. 25); he can make the people come back to life (37:1-14); and the unity between this new people and their Lord will he almost like the way things were in Eden (37:15-28) -- so wonderful that it will astonish the nations ( 37:28 ). The final oracles (38:1-39:29) are a dramatic climax that convey an idea of the vicissitudes of the chosen people up to when their fortunes will be permanently restored. The empires seem to be those determining the course of events, but that is not the case: the Lord is always in control and, when the end comes, his victory will be so amazing that not only Israel but all other nations, too, will know that he truly is the Lord. In these oracles, which continue the proclamation of Israels restoration - urification, we can see the core of Ezekiels teaching, namely, that the Lord, who is above all things, is the one who determines the election, punishment and restoration of his people. People have an obligation to accept the gifts that God offers; they must acknowledge that the Lord is sovereign and free, and render him due worship. This teaching can be seen in the announcement about restoration and a return to the promised land (vv. 16-24) and in the Lords promise of inner renewal (vv. 25-38). They defiled it by their ways (v. 17): the peoples straying, their sins, defiled the promised land, the most precious of all the gifts God had given them. As Ezekiel explains it, their exile was a necessary punishment (v. 19), but it is also a condition for restoring to the land its lost honour. The holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations (v. 22): when the pagan nations saw the Israelites being deported, they thought that the God of Israel had been defeated or, at least, that he had failed to protect his people. In this sense the exile caused the name of the Lord to be profaned among the nations. The return of the people to the promised land was a necessary part of their deliverance (v. 24), but it was also needed to vindicate the name of the Lord (v. 22). This theology of the Name of God carries over into the New Testament, where we find it as a petition in the Our Father (cf. Mt 6:9; Lk 11:2, and from there it becomes part of the whole Christian tradition. The Catechism of the Council of Trent has this to say about these verses of Ezekiel: Many people judge the truth of religion and of its Author by the deeds and lives of Christians. Those who truly profess their faith and put it into practice in their lives carry out the most valuable apostolate, provoking in others the desire to glorify the name of the heavenly Father (Roman Catechism, 4, 10, 9). You shall be clean[sed] (v. 25): Ezekiel views the renewal of Israel from the perspective of divine worship -- sprinkling with water and other purification rites being a sign of inner change. This passage can be read as an announcement of the effects of Baptism: Baptism, by the power of God, remits and pardons all sin -- the original sin that we inherited from our first parents, and all our personal sins, no matter how grave and terrible they may seem to us, no matter how grave and terrible they were. This truth was foretold long ago by the prophet Ezekiel, through whom the Lord God spoke: I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses (Ezek 36:25) (ibid., 2, 2, 42). A new heart and a new spirit (v. 26): renewal affects a persons disposition (heart) and motivation (spirit). The Israelites will have a completely new life-force: as a result, their conduct will be perfect (v. 27), the Covenant will never again be broken (v. 28), and the land, also cleansed of defilement, will he abundant in the fruit it yields (v. 30). Gods patent initiative in repatriating and renewing Israel is a proof of his disinter- ested love for his people. Jesus makes this very clear, for example, in his discourse on the bread of life: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him (Jn 6:44). Our salvation flows from Gods initiative of love for us, because he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins (Jn 4:10) (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 620). ON THE GOSPEL: Matthew 22:1-14 (The Parable of the Marriage Feast) Today’s Gospel presents the parable of the banquet which we also find in the Gospel of Matthew and of Luke, but with significant differences, which result from the point of view of each Evangelist. The background which leads both Evangelists to repeat this parable is the same. In the communities of the first Christians, both those of Matthew and those of Luke, the problem of living together between the converted Jews and the converted pagans, continued to be very alive. The Jews had ancient norms which prevented them from eating together with the pagans. Even entering into the Christian communities, many Jews kept the ancient custom of not sitting at the same table with the pagans. Thus, Peter had conflicts in the communities of Jerusalem, because he had entered the house of Cornelius, a pagan, and for having eaten together with him (Ac 11, 3). This same problem existed, though in a diverse way, in the communities of Luke and of Matthew. In Luke’s community, in spite of the difference in race, of class and of gender, they had a great ideal of sharing and of communion (Ac 2, 42; 4, 32; 5, 12). For this reason, in Luke’s Gospel (Lk 14, 15-24), the parable insists on the invitation addressed to all. The master of the feast, angry and upset because the first guests, who were invited, did not arrive, sends his servants to call the poor, the cripple, the blind, and invites them to participate in the banquet. But there is still place. Then, the master of the feast orders that all be invited, until his house is full. In Matthew’s Gospel, the first part of the parable, (Mt 22, 1-10) has the same objective as that of Luke’ Gospel. It succeeds in saying that the master of the feast orders to let the “good and the bad” enter (Mt 22, 10). But at the end, he adds another parable (Mt 22, 11-14) concerning the wedding garment, which insists on that which is specific of the Jews, the need of purity in order to be able to present oneself before God. In this parable Jesus reveals how intensely God the Father desires the salvation of all men--the banquet is the Kingdom of heaven --and the mysterious malice that lies in willingly rejecting the invitation to attend, a malice so vicious that it merits eternal punishment. No human arguments make any sense that go against Gods call to conversion and acceptance of faith and its consequences. The Fathers see in the first invitees the Jewish people: in salvation history God addresses himself first to the Israelites and then to all the Gentiles (Acts 13:46). Indifference and hostility cause the Israelites to reject Gods loving call and therefore to suffer condemnation. But the Gentiles also need to respond faithfully to the call they have received; otherwise they will suffer the fate of being cast into outer darkness. The marriage, says St. Gregory the Great (In Evangelia Homiliae, 36) is the wedding of Christ and his Church, and the garment is the virtue of charity: a person who goes into the feast without a wedding garment is someone who believes in the Church but does not have charity. The wedding garment signifies the dispositions a person needs for entering the Kingdom of heaven. Even though he belongs to the Church, if he does not have these dispositions he will be condemned on the day when God judges all mankind. These dispositions essentially mean responding to grace. Matthew 22, 1- 2: The invitation addressed to all. Some manuscripts say that the parable was told for the chief priests and for the elders of the People. This affirmation can serve even as a key for the reading, because it helps one to understand some strange points which appear in the story which Jesus is telling. The parable begins like this: “The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding”. This initial affirmation recalls the most profound hope: the desire of the people to be with God always. Several times the Gospel refers to this hope, suggesting that Jesus, the son of the King, is the bridegroom who comes to prepare the wedding (Mk 2, 19); Rev 21, 2; 19, 9). Matthew 22, 3-6: The invited guests do not want to come. The king invites in a more insisting way, but the guests do not want to come. “But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business; and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. In Luke what prevents them form accepting the invitation are the duties of daily life. The first one says: I have bought a piece of land and must go to see it. The second one: I have bought five yoke of oxen and am on my way to try them out. The third one: I have just got married and so am unable to come! (cf. Lk 14, 18-20). According to the norms and customs of the time, those persons had the right and even the duty not to accept the invitation they had received (cf. Dt 20, 5-7). Matthew 22 7: An incomprehensible war! The reaction of the king before the refusal is surprising. “Then the king was furious and he despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town”. How is such a violent reaction to be interpreted? The parable was told for the chief priests and for the elders of the people (Mt 22, 1), for those responsible for the nations. Many times, Jesus had spoken to them about the need for conversion. He even shed tears over the city of Jerusalem and said: “If you too had only recognized on that day the way to peace! But in fact it is hidden from your eyes. Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise fortifications all round you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on every side; they will dash you and the children inside your walls to the ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you, because you did not recognize the moment of your visitation”. (Lk 19, 41-44). The violent reaction of the king in the parable probably refers to the fact of the prevision of Jesus. Forty years later, Jerusalem was destroyed (Lk 19, 41-44; 21, 6;). Matthew 22, 8-10: The banquet was not cancelled. For the third time, the king invites the people. He tells his servants: “The wedding banquet is ready, but those invited were unworthy; go to the main crossroads and invite everyone you can find to come to the wedding. Going out on the streets, those servants collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with gusts.” The bad who were excluded because they were considered to be impure from participation in the worship with the Jews, are now invited, specifically, by the king to participate in the feast. In the context of that time, the bad were the pagans. They also, are invited to participate in the wedding feast. Matthew 22, 11-14: The wedding garment. These verses tell us that the king went into the wedding hall and saw someone who was not wearing a wedding garment. And the king asked: “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And he was silent. The story says that the man was bound hands and feet and thrown into the darkness outside. And the story concludes: “Many are invited but not all are chosen”. Some scholars think that it is a question of a second parable which was added to lessen the impression which one has after the first parable, which speaks about “the good and the bad” who enter into the feast (Mt 22, 10). Even if one admits that it is not the observance of the Law which gives us salvation, but rather faith in the gratuitous love of God, that, in no way, diminishes the need for purity of heart as a condition to be able to appear before God. The Second Vatican Council reminds us of the doctrine of the last things, one aspect of which is covered in this verse. Referring to the eschatological dimension of the Church, the Council recalls our Lords warning about being on the watch against the wiles of the devil, in order to resist in the evil day (cf. Eph 6:13). Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed (cf. Heb 9:27), we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed (cf. Mt 25:31-46) and not, like the wicked and slothful servants (cf. Mt 25:26), be ordered to depart into the eternal fire (cf. Mt 25:41), into the outer darkness where men will weep and gnash their teeth (Lumen Gentium, 48). These words in no way conflict with Gods will that all should be saved (cf. 1 Tim 2:4). In his love for men, Christ patiently seeks the conversion of every single soul, going as far as to die on the cross (cf. Mt 23:37; Lk 15:4-7). St Paul teaches this when he says that Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph 5:2). Each of us can assert with the Apostle that Christ loved me and gave himself for me (Gal 2:20). However, God in his infinite wisdom respects mans freedom: man is free to reject grace (cf. Mt 7:13-14). FINAL PRAYERS: Do not thrust me away from your presence, do not take away from me your spirit of holiness. Give me back the joy of your salvation, sustain in me a generous spirit. (Ps 51,11-12) Lord, today may I only make choices based on what better leads to you deepening your life in me. Amn. Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. -- St. Jerome The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever in everlasting silence; and in silence the soul has to hear it. -- St. John of the Cross
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 01:08:19 +0000
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