A reading from the Book of Ezekiel
36:23-28
Thus says the LORD:
I will prove the holiness of my great name,
profaned among the nations,
in whose midst you have profaned it.
Thus the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD,
when in their sight I prove my holiness through you.
For I will take you away from among the nations,
gather you from all the foreign lands,
and bring you back to your own land.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you
to cleanse you from all your impurities,
and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you,
taking from your bodies your stony hearts
and giving you natural hearts.
I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes,
careful to observe my decrees.
You shall live in the land I gave your ancestors;
you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
From the Gospel according to 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.?
With the narrative of the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, in today?s Gospel passage (cf. Mt 22:1-14), Jesus outlines the plan that God envisaged for humanity. The king who ?who gave a marriage feast for his son? (v. 2) is the image of the Father who prepared for the entire human family a wonderful celebration of love and communion around his only begotten Son. Twice the king sends his servants to call the invited guests, but they refuse; they do not want to go to the feast because they have other things to think about: fields and business. We often also put our interests and material things ahead of the Lord who calls us ? and he calls us to a feast. But the king in the parable does not want the hall to remain empty, because he wants to offer the treasures of his kingdom. So he tells his servants: ?Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find? (v. 9). This is how God reacts: when he is rejected, rather than giving up, he starts over and asks that all those found at the thoroughfares be called, excluding no one. No one is excluded from the house of God. (?)
However, the Lord places one condition: to wear a wedding garment. (?) The wedding garment (?) symbolizes the mercy that God freely gives us, namely, grace. Without grace we cannot take a step forward in Christian life. Everything is grace. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 11 October 2020)
Gospel and Word of the Day – 20 August 2026 –
A reading from the Book of Ezekiel
36:23-28
Thus says the LORD:
I will prove the holiness of my great name,
profaned among the nations,
in whose midst you have profaned it.
Thus the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD,
when in their sight I prove my holiness through you.
For I will take you away from among the nations,
gather you from all the foreign lands,
and bring you back to your own land.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you
to cleanse you from all your impurities,
and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you,
taking from your bodies your stony hearts
and giving you natural hearts.
I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes,
careful to observe my decrees.
You shall live in the land I gave your ancestors;
you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
From the Gospel according to 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.?
With the narrative of the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, in today?s Gospel passage (cf. Mt 22:1-14), Jesus outlines the plan that God envisaged for humanity. The king who ?who gave a marriage feast for his son? (v. 2) is the image of the Father who prepared for the entire human family a wonderful celebration of love and communion around his only begotten Son. Twice the king sends his servants to call the invited guests, but they refuse; they do not want to go to the feast because they have other things to think about: fields and business. We often also put our interests and material things ahead of the Lord who calls us ? and he calls us to a feast. But the king in the parable does not want the hall to remain empty, because he wants to offer the treasures of his kingdom. So he tells his servants: ?Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find? (v. 9). This is how God reacts: when he is rejected, rather than giving up, he starts over and asks that all those found at the thoroughfares be called, excluding no one. No one is excluded from the house of God. (?)
However, the Lord places one condition: to wear a wedding garment. (?) The wedding garment (?) symbolizes the mercy that God freely gives us, namely, grace. Without grace we cannot take a step forward in Christian life. Everything is grace. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 11 October 2020)
A reading from the Book of Ezekiel
36:23-28
Thus says the LORD:
I will prove the holiness of my great name,
profaned among the nations,
in whose midst you have profaned it.
Thus the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD,
when in their sight I prove my holiness through you.
For I will take you away from among the nations,
gather you from all the foreign lands,
and bring you back to your own land.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you
to cleanse you from all your impurities,
and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you,
taking from your bodies your stony hearts
and giving you natural hearts.
I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes,
careful to observe my decrees.
You shall live in the land I gave your ancestors;
you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
From the Gospel according to 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.?
With the narrative of the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, in today?s Gospel passage (cf. Mt 22:1-14), Jesus outlines the plan that God envisaged for humanity. The king who ?who gave a marriage feast for his son? (v. 2) is the image of the Father who prepared for the entire human family a wonderful celebration of love and communion around his only begotten Son. Twice the king sends his servants to call the invited guests, but they refuse; they do not want to go to the feast because they have other things to think about: fields and business. We often also put our interests and material things ahead of the Lord who calls us ? and he calls us to a feast. But the king in the parable does not want the hall to remain empty, because he wants to offer the treasures of his kingdom. So he tells his servants: ?Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find? (v. 9). This is how God reacts: when he is rejected, rather than giving up, he starts over and asks that all those found at the thoroughfares be called, excluding no one. No one is excluded from the house of God. (?)
However, the Lord places one condition: to wear a wedding garment. (?) The wedding garment (?) symbolizes the mercy that God freely gives us, namely, grace. Without grace we cannot take a step forward in Christian life. Everything is grace. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 11 October 2020)