Twentieth Week

20th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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In today’s Gospel the wedding feast reminds us of Heaven, but also that although everyone is invited to the party, some in the end will not be found worthy to participate in it. After receiving a lot of rejection and hostility from those who were first on the list of invitees, the king broadened his invitation and, as the parable says, the good and the bad arrived. If this parable speaks to us of Heaven it’s also a reminder that God is merciful and good, but in the we have to do our part, even a little, if we want to be saved. Salvation is not automatic.

The man with no wedding garment had no answer for the king’s question: there was no excuse he could offer, and if the king was displeased, it means something was expected of that man that he didn’t do. That wedding garment symbolizes having done something to partake and appreciate the marriage feast. This poor man shows no signs of celebration whatsoever. Maybe he represents that Christian who goes through the motions all their life, but never really seeks to help himself or others to get to Heaven. We have to give Our Lord something to work with. The man with no wedding garment managed to get to the banquet hall, but he didn’t go far enough to stay.

Let’s thank Our Lord today for inviting us to his Heavenly Banquet by welcoming his invitation and getting ready for the party through a holy life.

Readings: Judges 11:29–39a; Psalm 40:5, 7–10; Matthew 22:1–14.

20th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord reminds us that it doesn’t matter when we start to help to extend the Kingdom of heaven, but that we extend it. We’ll be rewarded fairly, even generously, for our labors, and we shouldn’t fall into envy if it seems someone has had an easier time of it or came late to the party. In Jesus’ time a day’s wage was exactly that: it enabled the worker to live for a day. There was not much surplus wealth, and charging someone interest for borrowing something was a sin known as usury.

The workers who came late to the vineyard needed a full day’s wage in order to provide for themselves and for their families. Anyone who is trying to support their family through a part time job knows it is not the same as a full time job. The landowner is helping people who really need it. An attitude of envy sees someone else’s gain as our loss. We should be thankful for the ability to earn a living for ourselves and our families, and also be grateful when someone else in difficulty receives a little help too.

Let’s count our blessings today and be thankful to Our Lord not only for the blessings we receive, but for those he has given to others as well. That’s the best remedy to envy.

Readings: Judges 9:6–15; Psalm 21:2–7; Matthew 20:1–16.

20th Week in Ordinary Time,Tuesday

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Today’s Gospel must be understood in the aftermath of yesterday’s regarding the young man who did not want to give up his possessions. The disciples were taken aback by what happened: in the mentality of the time, material wealth was a sign of having the blessing of God, and Our Lord told the young man that it was an obstacle to attaining eternal life. We can succumb to the same mentality today: we think that if we are successful, healthy, and worry-free, God is blessing us. Those are gifts to be thankful for, but problems and difficulties are gifts as well, because they help us to imitate Christ through taking up our cross to follow him. That’s the lesson Our Lord is trying to teach us today.

If Our Lord asks us to separate ourselves from our loved ones, our possessions, or our country for his sake, he promises that we will be blessed a hundred fold and inherit eternal life. This is not just an investment with a promise of a good return; it is a promise that those people and places that we love will also be blessed through our sacrifice. We becomes part of a larger family that does not exclude the biological family from which we must spend time apart, and we are promised a greater home than we could have ever imagined, our true home: Heaven.

Let’s not be shy about separating from the people we love if Our Lord asks it of us, knowing that it will not only be an act of love for him, but a blessing for our loved ones as well.

Readings: Judges 6:11–24a; Psalm 85:9, 11–14; Matthew 19:23–30.

20th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday

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Today’s Gospel reminds us that if we try to please God and seek eternal life a moment will come when we ask a potentially scary question, like the young man did today, “What do I still lack?” It’s no coincidence that today’s First Reading speaks of idolatry and the misfortunes of Israel when they chose other gods and, when God delivered them through the judges, lapsed back into their old ways. If the spiritual life is easy, it’s a moment to ask, like the young man, what we are lacking. We know Our Lord teaches us that we must lose our life in order to save it, and take up our cross every day and follow him. The cross implies that tough choices for the sake of Our Lord have to be made.

The young man today made the wrong choice. He had tried to live the commandments, but he was attached to his possessions. Our Lord made him choose, and that revealed an idolatry we can suffer from today: putting people, situations, and things before God. If something separates us from God, it separates us from eternal life and any true happiness we could have achieved. Under the weight of this idolatry it’s no wonder that the young man went off sad when he didn’t opt for Christ: deep down he knew eternal life was at stake, and he blew it.

Don’t be afraid to ask Our Lord the question today in your own spiritual life: “Lord, what do I lack?” No matter how costly it appears, it will lead to eternal happiness for you and for others. Take the next step and trust in Our Lord’s help.

Readings: Judges 2:11–19; Psalm 106:34–37, 39–40, 43ab, 44; Matthew 19:16–22. See also 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Monday, Year I

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time,Cycle B

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In today’s First Reading we see Wisdom personified as a woman who invites the uninstructed to come to her banquet and receive nourishment in order to attain life and understanding. Wisdom is associated with life and knowledge. The Second Reading also encourages the Christians to live wisely, trying to understand the will of the Lord and not just seeking the immediate and irresponsible pleasures of a fleeting drunken banquet, but, rather a celebration that fills with the Spirit, a liturgical celebration of hymns to the Lord and thanksgiving to the Father through Christ.

The Second Reading aptly summarizes the discourse we’ve been considering over the last few Sundays regarding the Eucharist: instead of seeking the fleeting pleasure of wine and remaining in ignorance, Our Lord is inviting his listeners to be filled with the Spirit and to partake of the banquet of his Body and his Blood and to grow in knowledge through faith in him. If the First Reading personified Wisdom and its benefits in terms of a woman inviting to a fine meal, Our Lord today is not speaking metaphorically or symbolically, as the consternation of his listeners shows at the thought of eating his flesh. With Jesus they’re receiving an invitation from the Wisdom of God in person (see 1 Corinthians 1:24), and he is saying that he is the banquet they need for eternal life and communion with God. Through communion with him they will enjoy wisdom and will enjoy eternal life, but they must have faith in the knowledge he is trying to impart to them.

As we receive Our Lord in the Eucharist today, the Wisdom of God in person, let’s thank him for coming in person to nourish us and ask him to fill us with his Spirit so that we praise him “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”

Readings: Proverbs 9:1–6; Psalm 34:2–7; Ephesians 5:15–20; John 6:51–58.