Liturgical Readings for : Wednesday, 21st August, 2024
Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle 2
Memorial of St Pius X, pope
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of the Prophet Ezekiel 34:1-11
I am going to take my flock back from them and I shall not allow them to feed my flock.
The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows,
‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them,
“Shepherds, the Lord says this:
Trouble for the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shepherds ought to feed their flock, yet you have fed on milk, you have dressed yourselves in wool, you have sacrificed the fattest sheep, but failed to feed the flock.
You have failed to make weak sheep strong, or to care for the sick ones, or bandage the wounded ones. You have failed to bring back strays or look for the lost.
On the contrary, you have ruled them cruelly and violently. For lack of a shepherd they have scattered, to become the prey of any wild animal; they have scattered far. My flock is straying this way and that, on mountains and on high hills; my flock has been scattered all over the country; no one bothers about them and no one looks for them.
Well then, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.
As I live, I swear it – it is the Lord who speaks
– since my flock has been looted and for lack of a shepherd is now the prey of any wild animal, since my shepherds have stopped bothering about my flock, since my shepherds feed themselves rather than my flock, in view of all this, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.
The Lord says this:
I am going to call the shepherds to account.
I am going to take my flock back from them and I shall not allow them to feed my flock. In this way the shepherds will stop feeding themselves. I shall rescue my sheep from their mouths; they will not prey on them any more.
For the Lord says this: I am going to look after my flock myself and keep all of it in view.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 22
Response The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
1. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit. Response
2. He guides me along the right path; he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff; with these you give me comfort. Response
3. You have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil; my cup is overflowing. Response
4. Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 118: 135
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Let your face shine on your servant, and teach me your decrees.
Alleluia!
or Heb 4: 12
Alleluia, Alleluia!
The word of God is something alive and active:
it can judge the secret emotions and thoughts.
Alleluia !
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 20:1-16 Glory to you, O Lord
Why be envious because I am generous?
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Now the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day, and sent them to his vineyard. Going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place and said to them,
“You go to my vineyard too and I will give you a fair wage“.
So they went. At about the sixth hour and again at about the ninth hour, he went out and did the same.
Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing round, and he said to them,
“Why have you been standing here idle all day?” “
Because no one has hired us” they answered.
He said to them, “You go into my vineyard too“.
In the evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff,
“Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last arrivals and ending with the first”.
So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward and received one denarius each. When the first came, they expected to get more, but they too received one denarius each. They took it, but grumbled at the landowner.
“The men who came last” they said “have done only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day’s work in all the heat.“
He answered one of them and said,
“My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the last comer as much as I pay you.
Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?”
Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Wednesday, Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 20:1-16
Most of us react instinctively against any form of behaviour that we consider to be unfair or unjust. If we think we are being treated unfairly, unjustly, we can feel especially irate. It is probably that instinct in us that leaves us feeling a bit uneasy about the story that Jesus tells in today’s gospel reading. We can easily sympathize with the complaint of the workers who bemoan the fact that those who only worked an hour got the same wages as those who worked all day. Yet, whereas those workers were operating out of the category of justice, the employer was operating out of the category of generosity. He wasn’t unjust to those who worked all day; he paid them what he agreed with them. He was simple extremely generous to those who only worked an hour.
Perhaps Jesus was saying to us through this parable that God’s generosity cannot be contained within the categories of human justice; it explodes those categories. God does not deal with us according to our efforts, on the basis of what we deserve. There is nothing calculating about God’s generosity. Perhaps we are all encouraged to identify with those who worked only an hour; we are all, in a sense, latecomers. The parable assures us that God’s generosity will surprise us and leave us humbled.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
