REFLECTION FOR TODAY
With supernatural intuition, Blessed Josemaria untiringly preached the universal call to holiness and apostolate. Christ calls everyone to become holy in the realities of everyday life. Hence work too is a means of personal holiness and apostolate, when it is done in union with Jesus Christ.
-- Pope John Paul II at the beatification of Josemaria Escriva
READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: Isaiah 25:6-10
(God Prepares a Banquet)
6 Here on Mount Zion the Lord Almighty will prepare a banquet for all the nations of the world—a banquet of the richest food and the finest wine.
7 Here he will suddenly remove the cloud of sorrow that has been hanging over all the nations.
8 The Sovereign Lord will destroy death forever! He will wipe away the tears from everyone's eyes and take away the disgrace his people have suffered throughout the world. The Lord himself has spoken.
9 When it happens, everyone will say, “He is our God! We have put our trust in him, and he has rescued us. He is the Lord! We have put our trust in him, and now we are happy and joyful because he has saved us.”
(God Will Punish Moab)
The Lord will protect Mount Zion, but the people of Moab will be trampled down the way straw is trampled in manure.
Psalms: Psalm 23:1-6
(The Lord Our Shepherd)
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need.
2 He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water.
3 He gives me new strength. He guides me in the right paths, as he has promised.
4 Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me. Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me.
5 You prepare a banquet for me, where all my enemies can see me; you welcome me as an honored guest and fill my cup to the brim.
6 I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life; and your house will be my home as long as I live.
Second Reading: Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20
12 I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little.
13 I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.
14 But it was very good of you to help me in my troubles.
19 And with all his abundant wealth through Christ Jesus, my God will supply all your needs.
20 To our God and Father be the glory forever and ever! Amen.
Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14 or Matthew 22:1-10
Matthew 22:1-14
(The Parable of the Wedding Feast)
1 Jesus again used parables in talking to the people.
2 “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son.
3 He sent his servants to tell the invited guests to come to the feast, but they did not want to come.
4 So he sent other servants with this message for the guests: ‘My feast is ready now; my steers and prize calves have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!’
5 But the invited guests paid no attention and went about their business: one went to his farm, another to his store,
6 while others grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them.
7 The king was very angry; so he sent his soldiers, who killed those murderers and burned down their city.
8 Then he called his servants and said to them, ‘My wedding feast is ready, but the people I invited did not deserve it.
9 Now go to the main streets and invite to the feast as many people as you find.’
10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, good and bad alike; and the wedding hall was filled with people.
11 “The king went in to look at the guests and saw a man who was not wearing wedding clothes.
12 ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ the king asked him. But the man said nothing.
13 Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him outside in the dark. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.’”
14 And Jesus concluded, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”
OR
Matthew 22:1-10
1 Jesus again used parables in talking to the people.
2 “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son.
3 He sent his servants to tell the invited guests to come to the feast, but they did not want to come.
4 So he sent other servants with this message for the guests: ‘My feast is ready now; my steers and prize calves have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!’
5 But the invited guests paid no attention and went about their business: one went to his farm, another to his store,
6 while others grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them.
7 The king was very angry; so he sent his soldiers, who killed those murderers and burned down their city.
8 Then he called his servants and said to them, ‘My wedding feast is ready, but the people I invited did not deserve it.
9 Now go to the main streets and invite to the feast as many people as you find.’
10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, good and bad alike; and the wedding hall was filled with people.
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