Abbot and Doctor of the Church
Biographical Information about St. Bernard[1]
Readings for Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Ezekiel 34:1-11
The Prophet Ezekiel offers an indictment against the religious leaders of Israel (“shepherds of Israel”). He criticizes them for living in the comfort of their office and neglecting their roles (“pasturing themselves”) while the people wander without spiritual leadership. As a result of the leader’s laxness, the people have fallen prey to other religious practices, pagan practices leading to spiritual death (“So they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and became food for all the wild beasts”).
In consequence of this neglect on the part of the religious leadership, God promises to supplant them and save them from with a good shepherd (“I myself will look after and tend my sheep.”)– seen as a prediction of the Messiah, the Son of God who is God.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Psalm 23 is one of the most familiar in the entire Psalter. The NAB footnote does a nice job of summarizing the message contained: “God's loving care for the psalmist is portrayed under the figures of a shepherd for the flock (Psalm 23:1-4) and a host's generosity toward a guest (Psalm 23:5-6). The imagery of both sections is drawn from traditions of the exodus (Isaiah 40:11; 49:10; Jeremiah 31:10).”
Gospel Matthew 20:1-16
The parable of the Laborers Hired Late continues the dialogue from Matthew’s Gospel yesterday in which the same moral was expressed “the last will be first, and the first will be last.” The inference here changes slightly in that while in yesterday’s Gospel the Lord referred to those who would follow him into eternal life, today he broadens the scope to imply that those called later to faithful service would receive the same reward as those first called.
Reflection:
One of the very difficult lessons we learn as Christians is that not all of our brothers and sisters are at the same stage of the journey to Christ as we are. We look around us and see people who we think are on the wrong path all together. They don’t see the great worth of spiritual blessings we do. They may not worship with the same depth of feeling we do. We may believe they have totally missed the point. Yet they are all on the same journey.
The Lord makes it very clear that he came for all people, in fact, recalling the invitation he extended to St. Matthew, he paid more attention to the “lost sheep”, those who had lost their way, than to those safely on the right path. When he sends his disciples, he sends them to the whole world, not just to the people who worship and think the way they do. His call is, however, to conversion.
This is an important point. Many in our secular culture would tell us we are “elitist” or discriminating because we do not readily accept the moral interpretations of those who believe differently; who have chose to follow another path. They tell us that because they do not believe in prayer, we should not offend them by praying publicly, or that our own celebrations should be “more inclusive”. The problem we run into is that the appropriate moral behavior for Christians is laid out rather explicitly in sacred scripture.
If we apply those moral principles fairly and consistently across the faith community, there will be some who say they are excluded because they chose not to follow a precept. Let’s take for example the call to chastity. It has become an acceptable social norm for individuals to have sexual relations outside of the married state. The Church has said that this is wrong; that one is either married or chaste and if one is living the Sacrament of Matrimony, physical love is restricted to the partners; and further still the Church defines Marriage as the sacramental union between a man and a woman. This applies to all her members of the faith community. Unfortunately, with secular morality encouraging promiscuity, many, especially younger adults have gotten the impression that the Church somehow turns a blind eye to the violation of this moral principle.
Be assured, the Church still believes in the dignity and sanctity of the human person. Violation of this precept is considered sin and drives a wedge between the individuals in this state and God. The shepherds of our flock hold this to be true and teach it. To do otherwise would be to neglect their call to holiness and cause them to fall into the same trap as those condemned by God through Ezekiel.
The really good news is that even those who are on a path which has placed them at odds with the morality of the Church are still invited to conversion. We are all called to constantly review our own struggle on the path to holiness and to reform our lives. The Lord assures us today that even if we come to this realization late, we will receive the same reward and the Saints who have gone before us in faith. Thank God for His love and mercy.
Pax
[1] The picture today is “St. Bernard of Clairvaux” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
Biographical Information about St. Bernard[1]
Readings for Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Ezekiel 34:1-11
The Prophet Ezekiel offers an indictment against the religious leaders of Israel (“shepherds of Israel”). He criticizes them for living in the comfort of their office and neglecting their roles (“pasturing themselves”) while the people wander without spiritual leadership. As a result of the leader’s laxness, the people have fallen prey to other religious practices, pagan practices leading to spiritual death (“So they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and became food for all the wild beasts”).
In consequence of this neglect on the part of the religious leadership, God promises to supplant them and save them from with a good shepherd (“I myself will look after and tend my sheep.”)– seen as a prediction of the Messiah, the Son of God who is God.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Psalm 23 is one of the most familiar in the entire Psalter. The NAB footnote does a nice job of summarizing the message contained: “God's loving care for the psalmist is portrayed under the figures of a shepherd for the flock (Psalm 23:1-4) and a host's generosity toward a guest (Psalm 23:5-6). The imagery of both sections is drawn from traditions of the exodus (Isaiah 40:11; 49:10; Jeremiah 31:10).”
Gospel Matthew 20:1-16
The parable of the Laborers Hired Late continues the dialogue from Matthew’s Gospel yesterday in which the same moral was expressed “the last will be first, and the first will be last.” The inference here changes slightly in that while in yesterday’s Gospel the Lord referred to those who would follow him into eternal life, today he broadens the scope to imply that those called later to faithful service would receive the same reward as those first called.
Reflection:
One of the very difficult lessons we learn as Christians is that not all of our brothers and sisters are at the same stage of the journey to Christ as we are. We look around us and see people who we think are on the wrong path all together. They don’t see the great worth of spiritual blessings we do. They may not worship with the same depth of feeling we do. We may believe they have totally missed the point. Yet they are all on the same journey.
The Lord makes it very clear that he came for all people, in fact, recalling the invitation he extended to St. Matthew, he paid more attention to the “lost sheep”, those who had lost their way, than to those safely on the right path. When he sends his disciples, he sends them to the whole world, not just to the people who worship and think the way they do. His call is, however, to conversion.
This is an important point. Many in our secular culture would tell us we are “elitist” or discriminating because we do not readily accept the moral interpretations of those who believe differently; who have chose to follow another path. They tell us that because they do not believe in prayer, we should not offend them by praying publicly, or that our own celebrations should be “more inclusive”. The problem we run into is that the appropriate moral behavior for Christians is laid out rather explicitly in sacred scripture.
If we apply those moral principles fairly and consistently across the faith community, there will be some who say they are excluded because they chose not to follow a precept. Let’s take for example the call to chastity. It has become an acceptable social norm for individuals to have sexual relations outside of the married state. The Church has said that this is wrong; that one is either married or chaste and if one is living the Sacrament of Matrimony, physical love is restricted to the partners; and further still the Church defines Marriage as the sacramental union between a man and a woman. This applies to all her members of the faith community. Unfortunately, with secular morality encouraging promiscuity, many, especially younger adults have gotten the impression that the Church somehow turns a blind eye to the violation of this moral principle.
Be assured, the Church still believes in the dignity and sanctity of the human person. Violation of this precept is considered sin and drives a wedge between the individuals in this state and God. The shepherds of our flock hold this to be true and teach it. To do otherwise would be to neglect their call to holiness and cause them to fall into the same trap as those condemned by God through Ezekiel.
The really good news is that even those who are on a path which has placed them at odds with the morality of the Church are still invited to conversion. We are all called to constantly review our own struggle on the path to holiness and to reform our lives. The Lord assures us today that even if we come to this realization late, we will receive the same reward and the Saints who have gone before us in faith. Thank God for His love and mercy.
Pax
[1] The picture today is “St. Bernard of Clairvaux” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
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