Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

419 Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

CCC Cross Reference:
Mt 19:16-19 2052; Mt 19:16-17 2075; Mt 19:18 2400; Mt 19:21 2053

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Reading 1
Ez 24:15-23

The word of the Lord came to me:
Son of man, by a sudden blow
I am taking away from you the delight of your eyes,
but do not mourn or weep or shed any tears.
Groan in silence, make no lament for the dead,
bind on your turban, put your sandals on your feet,
do not cover your beard, and do not eat the customary bread.
That evening my wife died,
and the next morning I did as I had been commanded.
Then the people asked me, “Will you not tell us what all these things
that you are doing mean for us?”
I therefore spoke to the people that morning, saying to them:
Thus the word of the Lord came to me:
Say to the house of Israel:
Thus says the Lord God:
I will now desecrate my sanctuary, the stronghold of your pride,
the delight of your eyes, the desire of your soul.
The sons and daughters you left behind shall fall by the sword.
Ezekiel shall be a sign for you:
all that he did you shall do when it happens.
Thus you shall know that I am the Lord.
You shall do as I have done,
not covering your beards nor eating the customary bread.
Your turbans shall remain on your heads, your sandals on your feet.
You shall not mourn or weep,
but you shall rot away because of your sins and groan one to another.

Responsorial Psalm
Deuteronomy 32:18-19, 20, 21

R. (see 18a) You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you.
You forgot the God who gave you birth.
When the Lord saw this, he was filled with loathing
and anger toward his sons and daughters.
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
“I will hide my face from them,” he said,
“and see what will then become of them.
What a fickle race they are,
sons with no loyalty in them!”
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
“Since they have provoked me with their ‘no-god’
and angered me with their vain idols,
I will provoke them with a ‘no-people’;
with a foolish nation I will anger them.”
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.

Gospel
Mt 19:16-22

A young man approached Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.
If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He asked him, “Which ones?”
And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
honor your father and your mother;
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The young man said to him,
“All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.

Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

First reading

Ezekiel 24:15 - 24

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, I am about to deprive you suddenly of the delight of your eyes. But you are not to lament, not to weep, not to let your tears run down. Groan in silence, do not go into mourning for the dead, knot your turban round your head, put your sandals on your feet, do not cover your beard, do not eat common bread.’ I told this to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening, and the next morning I did as I had been ordered. The people then said to me, ‘Are you not going to explain what meaning these actions have for us?’ I replied, ‘The word of the Lord has been addressed to me as follows, “Say to the House of Israel: The Lord says this. I am about to profane my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the delight of your eyes, the passion of your souls. Those of your sons and daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword. And you are to do as I have done; you must not cover your beards or eat common bread; you must keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you must not lament or weep. You shall waste away owing to your sins and groan among yourselves. Ezekiel is to be a sign for you. You are to do just as he has done. And when this happens, you will learn that I am the Lord.”’

Responsorial Psalm:
Deuteronomy 32:18-21

You forget the God who fathered you.

You forget the Rock who begot you,
unmindful now of the God who fathered you.
The Lord has seen this, and in his anger
cast off his sons and his daughters.

You forget the God who fathered you.

‘I shall hide my face from them,’ he says
‘and see what becomes of them.
For they are a deceitful brood,
children with no loyalty in them.

You forget the God who fathered you.

‘They have roused me to jealousy with what is no god,
they have angered me with their beings of nothing;
I, then, will rouse them to jealousy with what is no people,
I will anger them with an empty-headed nation.’

You forget the God who fathered you.

Gospel

Matthew 19:16 - 22

And there was a man who came to him and asked, ‘Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said, ‘Which?’ ‘These:’ Jesus replied ‘You must not kill. You must not commit adultery. You must not bring false witness. Honour your father and mother, and: you must love your neighbour as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?’ Jesus said, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible

Monday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time

From: Ezekiel 24:15-23

Death of Ezekiel's wife
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[15] Also the word of the Lord came to me: [16] Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep nor shall your tears run down. [17] Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of mourners." [18] So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded.

[19] And the people said to me. "Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?" [20] Then I said to them, "The word of the Lord came to me: [21] 'Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the desire of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. [22] And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of mourners. [23] Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and groan to one another.

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Commentary:

24:15-27. The first part of the book ends here with this moving passage revealing the prophet's feelings about the death of his wife. All this -- the sudden death of his wife, the fact that he does not publicly mourn her, his profound, silent grief -- is the supreme symbol of what the siege of Jerusalem involved. Ezekiel's wife must have been still quite young, "the delight of your eyes" (v. 16; cf. Lam 2:4), and she must have died suddenly. She is a symbol of the temple, of which the people were so proud; no one could have imagined it would he destroyed. Mourning was a function of the person's social status and the regard in which he or she was held (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 3:31; 14:2; 15:30, 32), but even the humblest in society would put on a veil and wear that sign of mourning at funeral meals, at the "bread of mourners" (v. 17). However, Ezekiel was not to weep for his wife; nor should the exiles show any public sign of grief; this would show that the misfortunes that befell Jerusalem were a private affair between themselves and God.

The mention of the prophet's name (v. 24), which has not appeared since the title of the book (1:3), gives these verses the stamp of his authority. The same is true of vv. 25-27 which tell the prophet that on the very day of his wife's death the fugitive will arrive reporting the destruction of Jerusalem, and Ezekiel will recover his power of speech (cf. 3:25-27 and 33:21-22).

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From: Matthew 19:16-22

The Rich Young Man
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[16] And behold, one man came up to Him (Jesus), saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" [17] And He said to him, "Why do you ask Me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." [18] He said to Him, "Which?" And Jesus said, "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, [19] Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." [20] The young man said to Him, "All these I have observed; what do I still lack?" [21] Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven; and come, follow Me." [22] When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.

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Commentary:

17. The Vulgate and other translations, supported by a good many Greek codices, fill this verse out by saying, "One alone is good, God."

20-22. "What do I still lack?" The young man kept the commandments that were necessary for salvation. But there is more. This is why our Lord replies, "if you would be perfect..." that is to say, if you want to acquire what is still lacking to you. Jesus is giving him an additional calling, "Come, follow Me": He is showing that He wants him to follow Him more closely, and therefore He requires, as He does others (cf. Matthew 4:19-22), to give up anything that might hinder his full dedication to the Kingdom of God.

The scene ends rather pathetically: the young man goes away sad. His attachment to his property prevails over Jesus' affectionate invitation. Here is sadness of the kind that stems from cowardice, from failure to respond to God's calling with personal commitment.

In reporting this episode, the evangelists are actually giving us a case study which describes a situation and formulates a law, a case study of specific divine vocation to devote oneself to God's service and the service of all men.

This young man has become a symbol of the kind of Christian whose mediocrity and shortsightedness prevent him from turning his life into a generous, fruitful self-giving to the service of God and neighbor.

What would this young man have become, had he been generous enough to respond to God's call? A great apostle, surely.

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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

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