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Thursday – Twentieth Week – OT2
Readings: Eze 36:23-28; Mt 22:1-14.
Reading 1 (Eze 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.
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.”
Fr. Anthony Dinh Minh Tien, O.P.
I. THEME: We need to appreciate God’s grace.
People are easily tired of and not appreciate what they are too familiar with. When they are so used to with God’s blessings and privileges, they don’t appreciate them anymore. To help them to value these blessings and privileges, people need to change their environment where these good are taken away. Similarly in the spiritual life, when people are so familiar with liturgical programs of their community or local church, they become dry or cold reception. In such situations, people need a new wind to revive their eager spirit of the beginning.
Today reading illustrate people’s bad habit and insulted attitude. In the first reading, since the Israelites insulted God’s love and His protection, He let their enemy destroy what they had and bring them on exile. When they lived on exile, they had time to reflect and to recognize God’s love and all the priviledges He gave to them, they regretted and came back to Him. In the Gospel, Jesus used a parable to express God’s love for people. The Father sent him to the world to bring the Good News first to the Jews; but because they refused to receive them, the Good News is preached to all who welcome it.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you.
1.1/ God punished the Israelites and then had mercy on them: The Israelites are loved and specially chosen by God to inherit His blessings and privileges more than all other nations. For examples, He led them out of their slavery to the Egyptians; He gave them the Ten Commandments; and helped them to conquer all nations on their way to the Promise Land. They themselves were so proud and said that not a single nation on earth had a privilege that their god accompanied and gave them the law as their God. But when they became a strong and prosperous nation, they insulted God, worshipped foreign gods and violated all His commandments.
Instead of letting them die in their sins, God chose to save them and to prove His faithful love for them, as the prophet Ezekiel said, “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.”
In order for the Israelites to recognize their sins and to appreciate all privileges which He bestowed on them, He must punish them by let their enemies, Assyrians and Babylonians, destroy their nations and bring them on exile. During their time on exiles, they reflected their past and recognized God’s love and protection, the necessary of the temple and the keeping of His commandments, they repented. God forgave all their sins and gave them an opportunity to come back to rebuild the temple and to re-establish their nation.
1.2/ I will put my spirit within you: In today passage, Ezekiel foresaw that God not only let them back to their nation but also purifies and sanctifies them from inside so that they can become His people and are easy keeping of the law, as the prophet wrote, “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 fathers; you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
Two important things we can draw out from this passage: First, the water which shall be sprinkled on people is the water of Baptism. This water can purge out all of their sins. Second, the new heart and the new spirit is the Holy Spirit himself. He can guide people to understand all truth and warm people’s heart to recognize and to respond to God’s love for them. God’s law never changes, what needs to be changed is people’s heart. God shall take out their stony heart and replace it by a fleshy heart, a heart knows how to love. Once people love God above all, they shall carefully observe His law.
2/ Gospel: The heavenly banquet
2.1/ God prepared for people a heavenly banquet: The same thought as the first reading, Jesus wanted to tell the Jews that God gives them a privilege to listen to the Gospel first; but because of their hardness, the Gospel are preached to the Gentiles. To help them to understand this point, Jesus chose to tell them a parable as follows: “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.”
Since those who were invited, refused to attend, so their privilege were revoked. The king gave an order to invite all people to attend his banquet, even the passer-by, “’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.”
2.2/ The condition to attend the banquet: Many people have a reason to question that how can a passer-by have the wedding costume to wear as the king required? But the king can counter with his argument that one can refuse to attend; but when he agrees to come, he must properly have the wedding costume; moreover, there is only one who didn’t have the wedding costume. This means that whoever wants to enter the kingdom of heaven must meet the required conditions.
The last words of the passage are a warning statement for those who insult God’s blessings and privileges: “Many are invited, but few are chosen.” If they don’t know how to properly use God’s grace, He shall take them away and give to those who know how to benefit from them.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– Familiarity makes us bored and not appreciated what we have. We need to spend time to examine our conscience so that we may recognize God’s grace on our life, family and community.
– Sometimes we need to be changed to recognize and to value what we have; for examples: from rich to poor, freedom to slavery, healthy to sickness. Sufferings are needed to purify us.
– The most important thing we need to do is to change from our mind and heart, to put on a new heart and a new spirit. This is the Holy Spirit’s work, but he needs our co-operation.