Thursday, 20th Week in Ordinary Time
Daily Readings: Judges 11:29-39 & Matthew 22: 1 – 14
Reflection Date: August 19
Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven/Kingdom of God to life's realities or persons in authority. Of all the many examples that we find through the parables, the most beautiful heaven images in the scriptures are the banquet and wedding celebration given by the King for his son. Jesus' parable seems to focus on an angry king who ends up punishing those who refused his invitation and who mistreated his servants. Today's parable of Jesus contains two parts:
The first part has to do with the original guests invited to the feast who put their interests above his. Nevertheless, Jesus directed this warning to the Jews of His time, both to convey how much God wanted them to share in the joy of His kingdom but also to give a warning about the consequences of refusing His Son, their Messiah and Savior.
But then the Jews were blinded by their own pride, arrogance, prejudices, and thereby they failed to recognize the Messiah in their midst.
The second part of the parable focuses on those who would never have considered getting an invitation, like the Gentiles and the sinners. This is certainly an invitation of grace – undeserved, unmerited favor and kindness shown to them by God. But this invitation also contains a warning for those who refuse it or approach the wedding feast unworthily. That is the only prerequisite, so to say, to enter the banquet.
Through the prophet Ezekiel (Ez. 36: 23 – 28), God tells us that he wants to give us a new heart and put a new spirit in us. God invites every one of us to His banquet that we may share in His joy.
Joseph Cardozo SJ | Contributor
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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