Reflection for August 19, Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 22:1-14

Gospel: Matthew 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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Reflection:

The story is told about a father would always wake up early every Sunday to prepare himself to go to church for Holy Mass. He would patiently wait to hear the church bells to toll. And the moment he hears it he would tell his family that the tolling of church bells is the invitation of the lord let us respond and go to church for Mass.  

As we move on with our lives in this world. There would be people who would invite us to attend Holy Mass. However, because of our many preoccupations we don’t give an ear to many of them we just hear them and not take them seriously. If only we would take time to listen, we would be entitled to many blessings including the gateway to heaven.  

For example, what blessing/s does your attendance at Holy Mass gives you? When you attend Holy Mass you have a foretaste of heaven while you’re still in this world. You’re also healed of your emotional, spiritual and physical sickness.  

This is true; observe those who regularly attend daily Mass. They are mostly senior citizens; they are mostly retired yet they are not tired neither sick. In fact, they are physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy to regularly attend daily Mass.  

But we are in the midst of this calamitous covid-19 pandemic many of us are not able to be physically present at Holy Mass. What are we going to do? We have to watch online Mass/TV Mass.   

In our gospel, the king gave a wedding banquet.  So he told his servants to call the invited guests to the feast but because of their many preoccupations they refused to heed the call. And in the process they missed to be in the presence of the king. The king who could have given them something that they would very much treasure for the rest of their lives. The king who could have given them protection and security. And the king who could have been their close friend.  

Let us not refuse God’s call for us to be closer to HIM. We have nothing to lose but everything to gain if we would only listen to HIS invitation to be present at His wedding banquet which is none other than the celebration of the Holy Mass. – Marino J. Dasmarinas