GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 18TH AUGUST 2016
THURSDAY OF THE 20TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
1ST READING: Ezekiel 36:23-28
PSALM: Psalm 51:12-15, 18-19
GOSPEL: Matthew 22:1-14
THEME: THE WEDDING GARMENT
No one in his/her right mind would put on a pyjamas or nightgown and head towards the bank for a job interview. Your outward appearance is enough to disqualify you. You may be right in saying that the job advertisement did not specify the kind of dress you should wear. However, your outward appearance reflects your state of mind and your personality.
The last bit of the Parable of the Wedding Feast (i.e. the Gospel text for today) gives us a curious piece of information about a young man who was thrown out of the wedding feast (cf. Mt. 22:11-14). It is true that he had been invited for the feast (cf. Mt 22:8-10). However, he appeared at the feast without an appropriate garment. He was called but was not chosen because he did not make himself “choosable”. The text concludes by saying, “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Mt 22:14).
God loves everyone of us and offers salvation to all. However, he expects all those who respond to the invitation to dine at the table of salvation to take off their old dress and put on a new garment. In other words, the call of salvation is a call to repentance, a change of mind and heart, which is a necessary condition for entrance into the Kingdom (cf. Mt. 3:2; 4:17). The wedding garment is a life that conforms to the will of God (cf. Mt. 7:21-23).
Perhaps, let us all find time during the course of the day and prayerfully ask ourselves the question: Have I put on the garment of salvation? If not, “let us make hay while the sun shines.”
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I long to live for you alone and to find a place at the banquet of salvation. Help me repent from my evil ways and clothe me with the garment of salvation. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).