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| “St. Mary Crowned” (detail) from The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck, 1432 |
(Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time)
Reading 1: Judges 11:29-39a
The Spirit of the LORD came
upon Jephthah.
He passed through Gilead and Manasseh,
and through Mizpah-Gilead as
well,
and from there he went on to
the Ammonites.
Jephthah made a vow to the
LORD.
“If you deliver the Ammonites
into my power,” he said,
“whoever comes out of the
doors of my house
to meet me when I return in
triumph from the Ammonites
shall belong to the LORD.
I shall offer him up as a
burnt offering.”
Jephthah then went on to the
Ammonites to fight against them,
and the LORD delivered them
into his power,
so that he inflicted a severe
defeat on them,
from Aroer to the approach of
Minnith (twenty cities in all)
and as far as Abel-keramim.
Thus were the Ammonites
brought into subjection
by the children of Israel
When Jephthah returned to his
house in Mizpah,
it was his daughter who came
forth,
playing the tambourines and
dancing.
She was an only child: he had
neither son nor daughter besides her.
When he saw her, he rent his
garments and said,
“Alas, daughter, you have
struck me down
and brought calamity upon me.
For I have made a vow to the
LORD and I cannot retract.”
She replied, “Father, you
have made a vow to the LORD.
Do with me as you have vowed,
because the LORD has wrought
vengeance for you
on your enemies the
Ammonites.”
Then she said to her father,
“Let me have this favor.
Spare me for two months, that
I may go off down the mountains
to mourn my virginity with my
companions.”
“Go,” he replied, and sent
her away for two months.
So she departed with her
companions
and mourned her virginity on
the mountains.
At the end of the two months
she returned to her father,
who did to her as he had
vowed.
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Commentary on Jgs
11:29-39a
This selection
takes up the story of Jephthah who was a chieftain with a sullied past. Brought back from self imposed exile where he
formed a gang and raided neighboring communities, he was put in charge of the
Israelite’s defense against the Ammonites.
We join him at the onset were he clearly believes he has vowed human
sacrifice, a tradition of his pagan neighbors (see also 2
Kings 3:27).
Perhaps because
of this pagan vow, we see him punished as his only child, a young daughter,
becomes the object of this sacrifice.
Because bearing children is seen as the “greatest pride; to be childless
was regarded as a great misfortune. Hence Jephthah's daughter asks permission
to mourn the fact that she will be put to death before she can bear children.” [4]
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
40:5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10
R. (8a and 9a) Here
I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Blessed the man who makes the
LORD his trust;
who turns not to idolatry
or to those who stray after
falsehood.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come
to do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you
wished not,
but ears open to obedience
you gave me.
Burnt offerings or
sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”
R. Here I am, Lord; I come
to do your will.
“In the written scroll it is
prescribed for me.
To do your will, O my God, is
my delight,
and your law is within my
heart!”
R. Here I am, Lord; I come
to do your will.
I announced your justice in
the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips,
as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come
to do your will.
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Commentary on Ps 40:5, 7-8a, 8b-9,
10
This selection of
Psalm 40 has a teaching or didactic note as we hear the implied criticism of
any who had not turned from false wisdom of pagans, idolatry and
sacrifices. God’s harsh justice will be
celebrated.
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Gospel: 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.”
Commentary on Mt 22:1-14
In the second
section, we see the feast that was prepared for God’s chosen people, the Hebrew
Nation, those first invited, is left unattended. Therefore God’s mercy is extended to all
people of all nations. There is a
warning at the end. Those not clothed in
Christ who attempt to enter by deception will be punished severely.
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Reflection:
The part of the Parable of
the Wedding Feast we always seem to avoid thinking about is that short phrase
toward the end, in verses 11-14. It is
the part about the king coming to the one who was not “dressed in a wedding garment”. This whole
part seems, at least on the surface, to contradict the main thrust of the
story.
The King (whom we know to be
the Heavenly King – God) invites the Hebrews (the Chosen People) to the wedding
feast (The Kingdom of Heaven as stated at the beginning of the parable). This invitation is issued by Jesus himself
whom most of the Hebrews reject. They
cannot come to believe that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah
who comes, bringing salvation promised by the Law and the Prophets. They (the Hebrews) reject the wedding
invitation so the King instructs his servants (the Apostles and their
successors) to go out into the world and invite all peoples of all
nations. This part of the parable is
crystal clear.
Then we come to the wedding
banquet and the King discovers this person who is not dressed for the
occasion. What does this refer to? The proper garment, looking at the literal
situation, would be a clean white garment.
That was the traditional attire for a wedding in the day. Flowing from this allegory, there are several
conclusions we can draw about what a wedding garment should be in this heavenly
wedding feast.
The clean white garment is a
symbol used in baptism and remembered in ordinations. It is the efficacious sign that sins have
been forgiven and the one so attired has been freed from the poison of
sin. It is a state of absolute purity
achieved only through sacramental grace.
That indelible change in character facilitates later sacramental
intervention in Reconciliation. We are
sent to the cleaners, so to speak and our grace is restored. The garment is clean once more. We trust that as we finally pass from this
life to the next, we will have also received our final anointing. The last
rites of our faith have the effect of cleaning that garment one last time so
that upon entering that great hall we are appropriately dressed.
Still there is something more
that needs to be done. As clean as our
outer garment is, our soul must be spotless as well if we are to come before
our Lord and God. This perfection takes
a special time (we use the word time only because our language cannot describe
that transitory state outside of our understanding required to achieve
spiritual perfection). We call this
state purgatory, a time of purification.
When we come before the Lord, we must be completely transformed and
perhaps that is part of St. Matthew’s understanding of the Parable as well.
Today we contemplate that
wedding feast and our joy to be called to such rejoicing. We pray that our own attire may be found
appropriate and our place assured. We
pledge ourselves to the task of coming to that place of joy by following all
the Lord has asked of us – in essence, accepting his invitation.
Pax
[2]
The picture is “St. Mary Crowned” (detail) from The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van
Eyck, 1432
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
[4]
See NAB footnote on Judges 11:37
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