Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
(Ezekiel
36:23-28; Matthew 22:1-14)
One of
America’s best poets recently published an article on religion and poetry. In it he observes that most of the Old
Testament is written in poetic verse and the New Testament is filled with
poetic images. References to these facts
may be found in the readings today.
The prophet
Ezekiel not only writes in verse; he also uses lovely images. He sees God’s restoration of Israel from
exile as God giving the people a new heart.
It will not be hard and ungrateful like the one that led them to their
ordeal. Rather, it will be fleshy so
that they might love unselfishly.
We see the
new heart in most of the people who come to the wedding feast in the
gospel. Jesus’ parable shows that the
second round of invitees are the poor and the outcasts whom the uninterested
first invitees would reject. Their
number is multiplied by gentiles who accept Jesus as their teacher and Lord. The group includes all who strive to live
Jesus’ law of love. The dolt who is
thrown out of the feast for not wearing a wedding garment shows that inclusion
has a requirement. Those admitted to the
banquet must conform to the spirit of the feast. They must love unselfishly like God. After all, the feast is really God’s Kingdom that
is shared with others out of love.
