SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Thursday - August 19, 2021

Thursday - August 19, 2021

If you are wise, then, know that you have been created for the glory of God and your own eternal salvation. This is your goal; this is the center of your life; this is the treasure of your heart. May you consider truly good whatever leads you to your goal and truly evil whatever makes you fall away from it. 

-- St Robert Bellarmine

August 19, 2021

Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 422

 

Reading 1                                                     Jgs 11:29-39a

The Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah.

He passed through Gilead and Manasseh,

and through Mizpah-Gilead as well,

and from there he went on to the Ammonites.

Jephthah made a vow to the LORD.

“If you deliver the Ammonites into my power,” he said,

“whoever comes out of the doors of my house

to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites

shall belong to the LORD.

I shall offer him up as a burnt offering.”

 

Jephthah then went on to the Ammonites to fight against them,

and the LORD delivered them into his power,

so that he inflicted a severe defeat on them,

from Aroer to the approach of Minnith (twenty cities in all)

and as far as Abel-keramim.

Thus were the Ammonites brought into subjection

by the children of Israel.

When Jephthah returned to his house in Mizpah,

it was his daughter who came forth,

playing the tambourines and dancing.

She was an only child: he had neither son nor daughter besides her.

When he saw her, he rent his garments and said,

“Alas, daughter, you have struck me down

and brought calamity upon me.

For I have made a vow to the LORD and I cannot retract.”

She replied, “Father, you have made a vow to the LORD.

Do with me as you have vowed,

because the LORD has wrought vengeance for you

on your enemies the Ammonites.”

Then she said to her father, “Let me have this favor.

Spare me for two months, that I may go off down the mountains

to mourn my virginity with my companions.”

“Go,” he replied, and sent her away for two months.

So she departed with her companions

and mourned her virginity on the mountains.

At the end of the two months she returned to her father,

who did to her as he had vowed.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                              40:5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10

 

R.    (8a and 9a)  Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

 

Blessed the man who makes the LORD his trust;

    who turns not to idolatry

    or to those who stray after falsehood.

R.    Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,

    but ears open to obedience you gave me.

Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not;

    then said I, “Behold I come.”

R.    Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me.

To do your will, O my God, is my delight,

    and your law is within my heart!”

R.    Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

I announced your justice in the vast assembly;

    I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.

R.    Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

 

Alleluia                                                                      Ps 95:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

If today you hear his voice,

harden not your hearts.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

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.”

 

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INVITING OTHERS TO THE BANQUET

When Jesus told the parable in today's Gospel reading, he was addressing those who stubbornly refuse to enter into a right relationship with their Messiah. Through the voice of the king who gave a wedding feast for his son, God the Father speaks: "You have been invited to the Eucharistic banquet of the Savior, but you're saying no and therefore you're going to face terrible consequences. Some of you think you're religious enough and don't need to change. There are terrible consequences for you, too."

 

Have you ever experienced that sort of person? Perhaps you've invited someone into a healthy, Godly friendship with you, but he's rejected you or she's tried to be your friend under the terms of her own unhealthiness and immorality.

 

As Christians, we're called to bring Christ into the world by being invitational, open to new relationships so that we can reveal God's love to more people and help them discover Jesus in the banquet of Holy Communion. But what if the people you invite say no? Or what if they say yes for the wrong reasons, unwilling to be transformed by the holiness of your love?

 

Jesus shows us in this parable that God does not drag the unwilling into his celebrations (not even to Mass). Sure, he gives people (until they die) unlimited opportunities to repent and join the party, but his banquet is meant for true friends. Only the true friends of Christ want to be changed by the transforming power of the Eucharistic feast. When people say no to this wonderful opportunity, he lets them fall deeper into the pits they're digging. He lets them meet up with the terrible consequences they're creating so that they eventually become desperate enough and humble enough to want to change.

 

God deals similarly with those who are faking it, i.e., those who want God's love, kindness, patience, eternal life, etc. and who claim to be Christian but really don't want to be Christ-like. They come to Mass without any desire to be transformed by it. He tells them, "ENOUGH! You don't belong here and you can't trick me into thinking that you do. Get out of here until your terrible consequences awaken you to the truth, and humble you!"

 

Because we are true friends of Christ, we care about those who are not yet enjoying the banquet of his love, and so we invite them to join us, but we must not force them as if we're responsible for their decisions. Sometimes all we can do is be living examples of the blessings that come from friendship with Christ and involvement in parish life. Sometimes the best invitation is the joy we experience from celebrating his Eucharistic banquet. (Ahhh, do you experience this joy? Is it obvious?)

 

As this parable shows, we must not waste our time mourning the rejection and fakery of those who are unfit to join us in the banquet. If we follow God's example, we will go out again and again to seek those who really do want to be holy. We will go out of our way to make new friends, inviting both the good and the bad while letting the stubborn ones reap what they sow, so that we can enjoy the fellowship of those who take seriously the call to celebrate the Eucharist-centered life. 

 

Today's Prayer

 

My Lord, You show me Your love every morning. You meet me every day to call me. Let nothing distract me from giving You the place You want in my life. May Your Word fill all my being without measure, and may this union between You, my brothers and sisters, and me, be my peace, fullness and joy. Amen.

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God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”