Liturgical Readings for : Monday, 19th August, 2024
Monday of 20th week of Ordinary Time, Year 2
Optional Memorial of St John Eudes, priest
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of the Prophet Ezekiel 24:15-24
Ezekiel is to be a sign for you
The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows,
‘Son of man, I am about to deprive you suddenly of the delight of your eyes. But you are not to lament, not to weep, not to let your tears run down. Groan in silence, do not go into mourning for the dead, knot your turban round your head, put your sandals on your feet, do not cover your beard, do not eat common bread.’
I told this to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening, and the next morning I did as I had been ordered. The people then said to me,
‘Are you not going to explain what meaning these actions have for us?‘
T
I replied, ‘The word of the Lord has been addressed to me as follows,
“Say to the House of Israel: The Lord says this.
I am about to profane my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the delight of your eyes, the passion of your souls. Those of your sons and daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword. And you are to do as I have done;
you must not cover your beards or eat common bread;
‘you must keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet;
you must not lament or weep.
You shall waste away owing to your sins and groan among yourselves.
Ezekiel is to be a sign for you. You are to do just as he has done.
And when this happens, you will learn that I am the Lord.”
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Deut 32
Response You forget the God who fathered you
1. You forget the Rock who begot you, unmindful now of the God who fathered you.
The Lord has seen this, and in his anger cast off his sons and his daughters. Response
2. ‘I shall hide my face from them,’ he says and see what becomes of them.
For they are a deceitful blood, children with no loyalty in them. Response
3 They have roused me to jealousy with what is no god, they have angered me with their beings of nothing:
I, then, will rouse them to jealousy with what is no people, I will anger them with an empty-headed nation.’ Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 118: 34
Alleluia, alleluia!
Train me to observe your law, to keep it with all my heart.
Alleluia !
Or Mt 5: 3
Alleluia, alleluia!
How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia !
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 19:16-22 Glory to you, O Lord
If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
There was a man who came to Jesus and asked,
‘Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’
Jesus said to him,
‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’
He said, ‘Which?’
‘These:’ Jesus replied
‘You must not kill. You must not commit adultery. You must not bring false witness. Honour your father and mother, and: you must love your neighbour as yourself’
The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?’
Jesus said,
‘If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me’.
But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Monday Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 19:16-22
The question the young man asked Jesus in today’s gospel reading, ‘What good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ was a question of great importance to him. Here was a serious young man who wanted to live as well as he could, in a way that was in accordance with God’s will. It is clear from his conversation with Jesus that he was already living a very good life. Jesus put before him the commandments that have to do with how we relate to others, and he could confidently say that he had kept all these commandments. Yet, he felt there was something more he could be doing, ‘What more do I need to do?’ It is admirable when people who are living good lives want to live even better lives. We sense that desire within ourselves. We may be living well, in ways that are in keeping with God’s desire for our lives, but we sense there is another step we could take. We could launch further out into the deep. We could be more generous in response to the Lord’s call. That realisation can leave us a little unsettled, just as the young man was unsettled, in spite of all his good qualities. This sense of feeling unsettled is ultimately something good. It brings home to us that the Lord is always calling us beyond where we are in some way.
In the gospel reading, the young man couldn’t respond to the Lord’s call to him to go beyond where he was. In his case, it would have involved letting go of his great wealth, giving it to the poor and following Jesus in a very radical way. As a result, he went away sad. The Lord’s call to us to go beyond where we are, to grow in our relationship with him, will take a different form for each one of us. The ‘more’ the Lord is calling us into will always take account of our own unique circumstances and situation in life. If we can discern what that call of the Lord means for me personally and respond to it, then we will find life, both in the here and now and in eternity.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
