Wednesday, August 20, 2014

 

Thursday 20TH Week in Ordinary Time

August 21, 2014
Thursday 20TH Week in Ordinary Time
[Memorial, St. Pius X]

Ez 36: 23-28 / Ps 51: 12-13, 14-15, 18-19 / Mt 22: 1-14

Reading: Ez 36: 23-28
I will make known the holiness of my great Name, profaned among the nations because of you, and they will know that I am Yahweh when I show them my holiness among you. For I will gather you from all the nations and bring you back to your own land. Then I shall pour pure water over you and you shall be made clean - cleansed from the defilement of all your idols. I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I shall remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I shall put my spirit within you and move you to follow my decrees and keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you shall be my people and I will be your God.

Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14
Jesus went on speaking to them in parables: "This story throws light on the kingdom of heaven. A king celebrated the wedding of his son. He sent his servants to call the invited guests to the wedding feast, but the guests refused to come. Again he sent other servants ordering them to say to the invited guests: 'I have prepared a banquet, slaughtered my fattened calves and other animals, and now everything is ready; come then, to the wedding feast. But they paid no attention and went away, some to their fields, and others to their work. While the rest seized the servants of the king, insulted them and killed them. The king became angry. He sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city. Then he said to his servants: 'The wedding banquet is prepared, but the invited guests were not worthy. Go, then, to the crossroads and invite everyone you find to the wedding feast.' The servants went out at once into the streets and gathered everyone they found, good and bad alike, so that the hall was filled with guests. The king came in to see those who were at table, and he noticed a man not wearing the festal garment. So he said to him: 'Friend, how did you get in without the wedding garment?' But the man remained silent. So the king said to his servants: 'Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the dark where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Know that many are called, but few are chosen."

Reflection:
For those who love to eat, it's difficult to imagine anyone passing up a good meal, let alone an invitation to a feast fit for royalties. God invites everyone to His heavenly banquet. He excludes no one. But we must behave like invited guests and not as gate crashers. Even if God's invitation does not exclude anyone, we must honor it with our behavior of faith. In today's gospel, Jesus tells us that it is the Father that decides whom He will call, and only the Father chooses who will stay at the feast. As His servants, we have now become his friends because of Jesus. He welcomes all who choose to answer His call. The generosity of our King knows no bounds. God is a gracious King who wants to bless all of us, and bless us abundantly. All that He asks is that we accept His invitation, and that we "dress" for the occasion - by learning to live and to love like Christ. It is our choice. May we learn to hear His call to celebrate, to accept His blessings, to welcome those that the Lord sends our way in order to prepare us with our meeting with our King.

Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary
... for families who are in need of healing
... for world peace and reconciliation
... for the birthday intentions of
* Mary Jane Billanes
* Linda Tan

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

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