Thursday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary Time

Book of Ezekiel

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 fathers; you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Psalms

A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew

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 he 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."

St. Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga(Priest (1901-1952))

Saint Alberto Hurtado CruchagaPriest(1901-1952) Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga was born in Viña del Mar, Chile, on the 22nd of January 1901; he was orphaned when he was four years old by the death of his father. His mother had to sell, at a loss, their modest property in order to pay the family's debts. As a further consequence, Alberto and his brother had to go to live with relatives and were often moved from one family to another. From an early age, therefore, he experienced what it meant to be poor, to be without a home and at the mercy of others. He was given a scholarship to the Jesuit College in Santiago. There, he became a member of the Sodality of Our Lady and developed a lively interest in the poor, spending time with them in the most miserable neighborhoods every Sunday afternoon. When he completed his secondary education in 1917, Alberto wanted to become a Jesuit, but was advised to postpone in order to take care of his mother and younger brother. By working in the afternoons and evenings, he succeeded in supporting them. At the same time, he studied law at the Catholic University. In this period, he maintained his care for the poor and continued to visit them every Sunday. Obligatory military service interrupted his studies, but once he fulfilled this duty, he went on to earn his degree in August 1923. On the 14th of August 1923, he entered the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus in Chillán. In 1925, he went to Córdoba, Argentina, where he studied humanities. In 1927, he was sent to Spain to study philosophy and theology. However, because of the suppression of the Jesuits in Spain in 1931, he went on to Belgium and continued studying theology at Louvain. He was ordained a priest there on the 24th of August 1933, and in 1935 obtained a doctorate in pedagogy and psychology. After having completed his Tertianship in Drongen, Belgium, he returned to Chile in January 1936. He began his activity as professor of religion at Colegio San Ignacio and of Pedagogy at the Catholic University of Santiago. He was entrusted with the Sodality of Our Lady for the students, and he involved them in teaching catechism to the poor. He frequently directed retreats and offered spiritual direction to many young men, accompanying several of them in their response to the priestly vocation and contributing in an outstanding manner to the formation of many Christian laymen. In 1941, Father Hurtado published his most famous book: "Is Chile a Catholic Country?" The same year, he was asked to assume the role of Assistant for the Youth Movement of the Catholic Action, first within the Archdiocese of Santiago and then nationally. He performed these roles with an exceptional spirit of initiative, dedication and sacrifice. In October 1944, while giving a retreat, he felt impelled to appeal to his audience to consider the many poor people of the city, especially the numerous homeless children who were roaming the streets of Santiago. This request evoked a ready and generous response. This was the beginning of the initiative for which Father Hurtado is especially well-known: a form of charitable activity which provided not only housing but a home-like milieu for the homeless: "El Hogar de Cristo." By means of contributions from benefactors and with the active collaboration of committed laity, Father Hurtado opened the first house for children. This was followed by a house for women and then one for men. The poor found a warm home in "El Hogar de Cristo." The houses multiplied and took on new dimensions. In some houses, there were rehabilitation centers; in others, trade-schools, and so on. All were inspired and permeated by Christian values. In 1945, Father Hurtado visited the United States to study the "Boys Town" movement and to consider how it could be adapted to his own country. The last six years of his life were dedicated to the development of various forms in which "El Hogar" could exist and function. In 1947, Father Hurtado founded the Chilean Trade Union Association (ASICH) to promote a union movement inspired by the social teaching of the Church. Between 1947 and 1950, Father Hurtado wrote three important works: on trade unions, on social humanism, and on the Christian social order. In 1951, he founded "Mensaje," the well-known Jesuit periodical dedicated to explaining the doctrine of the Church. Pancreatic cancer brought him, within a few months, to the end of his life. In the midst of terrible pain, he was often heard to say, "I am content, Lord." After having spent his life manifesting Christ's love for the poor, Father Hurtado was called to the Lord on the 18th of August 1952. From his return to Chile after his Tertianship to his death, a matter of only fifteen years, Father Hurtado lived and accomplished all the works described above. His apostolate was the expression of a personal love for Christ the Lord; it was characterized by a great love for poor and abandoned children, an enlightened zeal for the formation of the laity, and a lively sense of Christian social justice. Fr. Hurtado was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 23rd, 2005.

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2022 / Catholic Missal of august 2022