20240822 KEEPING THE NAME OF GOD HOLY
22 August 2024, Thursday, 20th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Ezekiel 36:23-28 |
I will remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh
The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘I mean to display the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. And the nations will learn that I am the Lord – it is the Lord who speaks – when I display my holiness for your sake before their eyes. Then I am going to take you from among the nations and gather you together from all the foreign countries, and bring you home to your own land. I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed; I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances. You will live in the land which I gave your ancestors. You shall be my people and I will be your God.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 50(51):12-15,18-19 |
I shall pour clean water over you and all your sins will be washed away.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
I shall pour clean water over you and all your sins will be washed away.
Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervour sustain me,
that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you.
I shall pour clean water over you and all your sins will be washed away.
For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse,
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.
I shall pour clean water over you and all your sins will be washed away.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:27 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Make me grasp the way of your precepts,
and I will muse on your wonders.
Alleluia!
Or: | Ps94:8 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 22:1-14 |
Invite everyone you can to the wedding
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. “Tell those who have been invited” he said “that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.” But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.” So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment, and said to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’
KEEPING THE NAME OF GOD HOLY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZEKIEL 36:23-28; MATTHEW 22:1-14]
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus instructed us to pray thus, “May your name be kept holy.” What do we mean in making this petition? What is the holiness of God? And how do we keep His name holy? The answer is found in today’s scripture readings. Through the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord said to the people, “I mean to display the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. And the nations will learn that I am the Lord – it is the Lord who speaks – when I display my holiness for your sake before their eyes.”
How, then, does God display His holiness? The fidelity of God’s love for His people is His holiness. For this reason, God sought to rescue His people from exile. He said, “I am going to take you from among the nations and gather you together from all the foreign countries, and bring you home to your own land.” If God did not save His people, then the pagans would come to the conclusion that the God of Israel was a powerless God, unable to help His people and hence abandoned them. This would only give the impression that the pagan gods were more powerful.
But the holiness of God is not just displayed in His works of wonders and mercy; it is also displayed through His people. If the name of God is tarnished, it is always because we do not live our lives in such a way that honours His name. When children do not behave themselves, they bring shame to their parents. How do we honour our parents? Not simply by taking care of them but by doing everything to make them proud of us, such as studying hard, working hard, doing well in life, etc. Likewise, as citizens too, we bring honour to the country by being victorious in international competitions, such as the Olympic Games, etc.
So in the case of Israel, they brought dishonour to God’s name because of their sinful way of life. They broke the laws of the Covenant. They were not living in harmony, mutual respect, and in integrity. Instead, they were cheating each other, manipulating the poor, the orphans and the widows. For this reason, if the Lord were to regain His glory, He also had to transform the people and not just bring them back to their homeland. Thus He said, “I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed; I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances. You will live in the land which I gave your ancestors. You shall be my people and I will be your God.” Indeed, for the holiness of God to be seen, His people must themselves live a life of holiness in truth and in love. They must rid themselves of false idols and be filled with the Spirit of God.
In the gospel, this fidelity of God is once again the theme of the parable told by Jesus. God, like the King, shows His generosity and patience by inviting us all to His wedding banquet. He sent His invites to everyone to come to His Son’s wedding banquet. This He did through the prophets who constantly appealed to the people to repent of their ways and return to the Covenant. But we read that in the history of Israel, if there was any repentance at all, it was short-lived. So the truth remains that many are invited to the wedding banquet, but few are interested to come. We are not receptive to His invitation to share in His joy and love, which the wedding banquet represents. Instead of being grateful to God’s messengers, we kill the prophets, like the Israelites and the Jewish leaders. Not only do we not take heed of the prophets’ call to repentance but we also kill the prophets of God in our lives, who are our superiors and friends, by rejecting them.
Yet, God shows His extreme patience and fidelity to us even when we do not respond to His invitation. “He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants.” There are many others who are not bad people. It is just that they are too absorbed in the affairs of the world. They do not have time for relationship. Like those in the gospel, they did not come, not because they were evil but simply because they were preoccupied with their daily affairs and their responsibilities. “One went off to his farm, another to his business.” By so doing, they were forfeiting the joy and happiness of life.
Life is more than work, making money and a name. These things cannot bring us ultimate joy. It is love and relationship, as in a wedding, that bring us great joy in life. All other things are only means to an end, which is love and relationship with our fellowmen and with God. The things of this world are not ends in themselves. It is a tragedy that so many people are so busy with their work, which has no end, and work themselves to death. No wonder they find life a chore, a burden, and are miserable because they slave and slave. They need to take a break to celebrate joy and love with God in prayer and with their friends.
But there is another group of people that will forfeit the joys of the kingdom. They are those converts who have been invited to the banquet but did not wear the garment. Although unworthy like those who were called by the wayside, the Lord welcomes us all and not just the Jews. He told His servants, “Go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.” So these servants went out onto the roads and got together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. Most of us belong to this group. Although we have been invited to the banquet and responded, that is to say, we have accepted the call to be Christ’s disciples and are baptized, many do not live out their discipleship in Christ. It is just a nominal faith, not a living faith. To come to the wedding without wearing the proper garments is an insult to the host. We dress up not just for ourselves but for others. So when we are invited to a celebration or an event, we need to dress up appropriately out of respect for our host.
As Catholics, it is not enough to be baptized but we must put on the garment of our Lord because we are baptized in Christ. This is what the prophet meant when he prophesied, “I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed; I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances.” We must acquire the Spirit of our Lord so that we too can be people of compassion and most of all, put the commandments into practice, not out of fear but out of love and conviction. In this way, when people see us as loving and caring Catholics, they will come to know the name of the Lord. So through our lives, words and deeds, we bring glory to His name. To pray that His name be kept holy means precisely this: that we want to live a life of holiness so as to display the holiness of God in us.
Finally, there is a warning as well to those who reject His invitation or those that have received His invitation but are careless or negligent in their faith. “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” We will not be saved simply because we are baptized Catholics unless we live out our faith. Just being baptized cannot give us the fullness of life, the joy and love of the kingdom unless we follow Jesus in reaching out, in caring for others and not just attending to our businesses and affairs, forgetting our loved ones and the poor and needy in our midst. Indeed, the Lord is warning us, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” We have many Catholics in Singapore, perhaps close to 400,000, but how many are really true blue Catholics who stand up for Jesus, are proud to be recognized as Catholics, and who in their daily life prove themselves to be worthy disciples of our Lord, glorifying Him and displaying His holiness?
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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