It's designed so that you can pick and choose the bits that you fancy and hopefully you can print! Please bear with me for the next couple of weeks while I sort out any any teething problems.
28th Sunday in Ordinary time Year A
Summary
First Reading
Isaiah 25:6-10
Isaiah tells us that the Lord will prepare a banquet for all his people and he will wipe away their tears. He goes on to say that the Lord will destroy death and that we will exult and rejoice because he has saved us.
Psalm
22. R. v.6
The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want.
Second Reading
St Paul to the Philippians 4:14-14, 19-20
St Paul tells us that when God is there in our lives we can overcome all difficulties. He also thanks others for being near to help him.
Gospel
Matthew 22:1-14
This Gospel shows Jesus telling the story of a king who is giving a wedding feast for his son. The guests who were invited don't come at the right time and are busy with other things so he sends his servants to call them. The invited guests are abusive to the king's servants and kill them. The king is furious and sends his soldiers to kill the ungrateful guests and to burn their town.
Next the king sends his servants out into the "highways and by-ways" to collect all the guests they can "good and bad alike". Many people come and enjoy the feast but one man does not put on a wedding garment and refuses to speak to the king. The king commands his servants to throw the man out of the feast into the dark where there will be "grinding and gnashing of teeth".
At the end of this Gospel, St Matthew reports Jesus' words to his audience "For many are called, but few are chosen".
Discussion
Just like last week's Gospel, we hear Jesus using a parable about a father, a son and his servants to explore the relationship between God and his people. The king's actions seem rather drastic and we feel especially sorry for the guest who was excluded on account of his clothes. This perhaps illustrates the importance of respect for God and the seriousness with which we should treat the journey towards salvation.
Imagery associated with food runs through all the readings and the Psalm today. It reminds us that God is as essential for life as food. We are invited to his feast each week in the Eucharist but also to work on his harvest and accept his invitation every day (and wear the correct garment!).
St Paul echoes the Psalmist who claims that God will always look after us and protect us from our foes.
Think about why Jesus uses parables to help us understand his message.
What does comparing the king to God and the king's son to Jesus suggest to us?
Who can we compare the other characters in the story to?
Consider other times when a marriage or a feast is mentioned in the Gospels.
Activity for Mass
This activity explores the different names we use for God and the different ways we look at him.
Look at the text of the Mass:
click here
If possible print it out and use a highlighter to mark all the different names we use for God. Alternatively, use the list below and tick after the name every time you hear it at Mass.
Lord Jesus Christ
Holy Spirit
God the Father
Almighty God
Lamb of God
Heavenly King
The Holy One
Lord God
Son of God
Consider why we have all these different names for God and what they might mean. In today's psalm the Lord is called a shepherd. In the Gospel God is compared to a king and Jesus could be compared to the king's son.
Messiah
Saviour
Rabbi
Other Activities and useful resources
Listen to "The Lord's My Shepherd" at
traditional performance on youtube
or
performance of Rutter setting on youtube
Consider the imagery surrounding a shepherd and think of some examples in the Gospels where Christ is compared to a shepherd. Does the image of God as a shepherd in the psalm fit with the actions of the king in the Gospel?
This week's question
Q. Are the readings the same in all churches on Sundays?
Tune in next week for the answer and some musings!
Have a good week!
Maria
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