Clothed in Love

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to accept the invitation to be part of the transformation of our environment by seeking to be clothed in the love and compassion of Christ.

Signs of Love of Life

The Reading from the Prophet Ezekiel declares God’s desire for Regeneration of the People.

* [36:20–24] These verses make clear that Israel’s restoration is God’s initiative, independent of the people’s shame and repentance (v. 31). By their wickedness, Israel provoked the exile; its presence among the nations gave the impression that God could not protect his people. God’s gracious return of Israel to its land will restore his honor among these same nations.

* [36:25–26] God’s initiative to cleanse Israel (cf. 24:13–14) is the first act in the creation of a new people, no longer disposed to repeating Israel’s wicked past (chap. 20). To make this restoration permanent, God replaces Israel’s rebellious and obdurate interiority (“heart of stone”) with an interiority (“heart of flesh”) susceptible to and animated by God’s intentions (“my spirit,” v. 27). (Ezekiel, CHAPTER 36 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 51 proclaims nearness to God and living by the spirit of God

* [Psalm 51] A lament, the most famous of the seven Penitential Psalms, prays for the removal of the personal and social disorders that sin has brought. The poem has two parts of approximately equal length: Ps 51:3–10 and Ps 51:11–19…The second part (Ps 51:11–19) seeks something more profound than wiping the slate clean: nearness to God, living by the spirit of God (Ps 51:12–13), like the relation between God and people described in Jer 31:33–34. Nearness to God brings joy and the authority to teach sinners (Ps 51:15–16). Such proclamation is better than offering sacrifice (Ps 51:17–19). The last two verses express the hope that God’s good will toward those who are cleansed and contrite will prompt him to look favorably on the acts of worship offered in the Jerusalem Temple (Ps 51:19 [20–21]).

* [51:18] For you do not desire sacrifice: the mere offering of the ritual sacrifice apart from good dispositions is not acceptable to God, cf. Ps 50. (Psalms, PSALM 51 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches us change of heart and mind in the Parable of the Wedding Feast.

 

[22:1–14] This parable is from Q; see Lk 14:15–24. It has been given many allegorical traits by Matthew, e.g., the burning of the city of the guests who refused the invitation (Mt 22:7), which corresponds to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70. It has similarities with the preceding parable of the tenants: the sending of two groups of servants (Mt 22:3, 4), the murder of the servants (Mt 22:6), the punishment of the murderers (Mt 22:7), and the entrance of a new group into a privileged situation of which the others had proved themselves unworthy (Mt 22:8–10). The parable ends with a section that is peculiar to Matthew (Mt 22:11–14), which some take as a distinct parable. Matthew presents the kingdom in its double aspect, already present and something that can be entered here and now (Mt 22:1–10), and something that will be possessed only by those present members who can stand the scrutiny of the final judgment (Mt 22:11–14). The parable is not only a statement of God’s judgment on Israel but a warning to Matthew’s church.

* [22:2] Wedding feast: the Old Testament’s portrayal of final salvation under the image of a banquet (Is 25:6) is taken up also in Mt 8:11; cf. Lk 13:15.

* [22:3–4] Servants…other servants: probably Christian missionaries in both instances; cf. Mt 23:34.

* [22:7] See note on Mt 22:1–14.

* [22:10] Bad and good alike: cf. Mt 13:47.

* [22:11] A wedding garment: the repentance, change of heart and mind, that is the condition for entrance into the kingdom (Mt 3:2; 4:17) must be continued in a life of good deeds (Mt 7:21–23).

* [22:13] Wailing and grinding of teeth: the Christian who lacks the wedding garment of good deeds will suffer the same fate as those Jews who have rejected Jesus; see note on Mt 8:11–12. (Matthew, CHAPTER 22 | USCCB, n.d.)

Steve Scholer suggests that if we make a conscious effort to slow down our all too busy lives, filled with hectic but often unimportant interruptions, we will hear God’s silent ring, his constant call to us, not on our phones, but in our hearts.

Maybe that call comes while we are in prayer, and we just need to stop talking and listen more. Maybe that call comes when our neighbor needs help or our friend needs the proverbial shoulder to cry on. Or maybe that call comes when we least expect it, when we are frustrated or angry because things have not gone as we so carefully planned them to go. 

For those of us wise enough to not only hear God’s call but take action, great things are in store. No longer will we be tormented by our misdeeds from yesterday or a decade ago, for God forgives us. And with his unending mercy and forgiveness, how we choose to interact in his world changes, and love and kindness now take center stage. Accepting God’s call now makes each of us a child of God. 

So, as we go about our Daily Examen of Conscience and place ourselves in God’s presence, let us give thanks for God’s great and endless love for us. For God is calling us to be one of his chosen, to love and serve with all of our being. (Scholer, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes “A guest with no wedding garment,” by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD).

"But since you have already come into the house of the marriage feast, our holy church, as a result of God's generosity, be careful, my friends, lest when the King enters he find fault with some aspect of your heart's clothing. We must consider what comes next with great fear in our hearts. But the king came in to look at the guests and saw there a person not clothed in a wedding garment. What do we think is meant by the wedding garment, dearly beloved? For if we say it is baptism or faith, is there anyone who has entered this marriage feast without them? A person is outside because he has not yet come to believe. What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love? That person enters the marriage feast, but without wearing a wedding garment, who is present in the holy church. He may have faith, but he does not have love. We are correct when we say that love is the wedding garment because this is what our Creator himself possessed when he came to the marriage feast to join the church to himself. Only God's love brought it about that his only begotten Son united the hearts of his chosen to himself. John says that 'God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son for us' (John 3:16)." (excerpt from FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 38.9) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the texts for today.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Ezekiel 36:23-28 comments that when a person meets someone in whom they sense the mercy and love of the Lord, the encounter can be so powerful that they are moved to seek the Lord for themselves. They begin praying or searching the Scriptures or asking to learn more until they come to believe in Christ on their own.

This is the story of great saints like Edith Stein and Francis Xavier, as well as the story of everyday people whose lives are touched by the witness of a coworker, neighbor, or family member.

Of course, when we act out of pride or envy or callousness, we obscure that image of Christ. But today’s reading calls us, not to a human-generated perfection, but to an ever-growing and deepening relationship with the Lord. It calls us to let God continue to purify our hearts so that our lives testify to his love more and more.

May we all burn brightly with the love of Christ so that, through us, he can draw people out of their exile and back home to his presence!

“Lord, help me to become a testimony to your holiness so that others are drawn to you!” (Meditation on Ezekiel 36:23-28, n.d.)

Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev reflects on the central themes of the biblical prophets. Though each prophet has a unique style, they share God’s concern for justice in our fractured world:

Amos, Isaiah, Micah, and Hosea are just four of the fifteen prophets whose words have been preserved in Scripture. Each of these prophets possessed extraordinary vision. Perceiving their world as if through God’s eyes, these prophets were able to maintain a sustained focus on the suffering of the poor, to see the disaster that would inevitably come in the wake of profound, endemic injustice. At the same time, lifted by divine inspiration, each prophet possessed the moral imagination to transcend the brokenness of [their] own day and envision an alternative society. Even in the midst of crisis and imminent disaster, the prophets could see an inclusive economic and social order in which all beings would flourish.

These then are the three qualities inherent in every prophet and in the prophetic stream: an encounter with divine love and concern for the world, courage to name oppression, and moral imagination to articulate an alternative future. (Ward-Lev, n.d.)

We seek the guidance of the Spirit to empower our Baptismal anointing as priest, prophet, and leader to be clothed in love as we act as disciples of Christ in our daily environment.

References

Ezekiel, CHAPTER 36 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved August 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/36?23 

Matthew, CHAPTER 22 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/22? 

Meditation on Ezekiel 36:23-28. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved August 20, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/08/20/1650931/ 

Psalms, PSALM 51 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved August 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/51?12 

Scholer, S. (2026, August 20). Daily Reflection August 20, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved August 20, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-august-20-2026 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). They Would Not Come to the Feast! Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 20, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Ward-Lev, N. (n.d.). God Witnesses Injustice. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 20, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/god-witnesses-injustice/ 

Called by Name

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today exhort us to listen and hear how we are called by name to a deeper relationship with Christ.

Called to Love and Service

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles presents the first converts after Peter’s speech.

* [2:1–41] Luke’s pentecostal narrative consists of an introduction (Acts 2:1–13), a speech ascribed to Peter declaring the resurrection of Jesus and its messianic significance (Acts 2:14–36), and a favorable response from the audience (Acts 2:37–41). It is likely that the narrative telescopes events that took place over a period of time and on a less dramatic scale. The Twelve were not originally in a position to proclaim publicly the messianic office of Jesus without incurring immediate reprisal from those religious authorities in Jerusalem who had brought about Jesus’ death precisely to stem the rising tide in his favor. (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 2, n.d.)

Psalm 33 praises the greatness and goodness of God

* [Psalm 33] A hymn in which the just are invited (Ps 33:1–3) to praise God, who by a mere word (Ps 33:4–5) created the three-tiered universe of the heavens, the cosmic waters, and the earth (Ps 33:6–9). Human words, in contrast, effect nothing (Ps 33:10–11). The greatness of human beings consists in God’s choosing them as a special people and their faithful response (Ps 33:12–22). (Psalms, PSALM 33, n.d.)

In the Gospel of John, Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene.

* [20:11–18] This appearance to Mary is found only in John, but cf. Mt 28:8–10 and Mk 16:9–11.

* [20:16] Rabbouni: Hebrew or Aramaic for “my master.”

* [20:17] Stop holding on to me: see Mt 28:9, where the women take hold of his feet. I have not yet ascended: for John and many of the New Testament writers, the ascension in the theological sense of going to the Father to be glorified took place with the resurrection as one action. This scene in John dramatizes such an understanding, for by Easter night Jesus is glorified and can give the Spirit. Therefore his ascension takes place immediately after he has talked to Mary. In such a view, the ascension after forty days described in Acts 1:1–11 would be simply a termination of earthly appearances or, perhaps better, an introduction to the conferral of the Spirit upon the early church, modeled on Elisha’s being able to have a (double) share in the spirit of Elijah if he saw him being taken up (same verb as ascending) into heaven (2 Kgs 2:9–12). To my Father and your Father, to my God and your God: this echoes Ru 1:16: “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” The Father of Jesus will now become the Father of the disciples because, once ascended, Jesus can give them the Spirit that comes from the Father and they can be reborn as God’s children (Jn 3:5). That is why he calls them my brothers. (John, CHAPTER 20, n.d.)

Joan Blandin Howard comments that gardens attract lovers.  In the garden, Jesus and Mary Magdalen meet for the first time after Jesus’ death and resurrection.  In her grief, Mary does not recognize Jesus. Then Jesus speaks her name, “Mary.” That’s all – just her name, “Mary”. And Mary knows it is Jesus. The risen Christ greeting his beloved Mary.

I invite you to listen in the silence of your heart for Jesus speaking your name.  The Beloved speaking the name of His loved one.  Easter morning and the un-nameable is complete. In love, Jesus speaks my name, speaks your name, speaks our names- the homeless, the broken, the scabbed, the doubter, the gawker and the faithful. I am loved, I belong and I am dignified.

…. Listen for Jesus speaking your name. (Howard, 2023)

Don Schwager quotes “The Easter Alleluia,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Because there are these two periods of time - the one that now is, beset with the trials and troubles of this life, and the other yet to come, a life of everlasting serenity and joy - we are given two liturgical seasons, one before Easter and the other after. The season before Easter signifies the troubles in which we live here and now, while the time after Easter which we are celebrating at present signifies the happiness that will be ours in the future. What we commemorate before Easter is what we experience in this life; what we celebrate after Easter points to something we do not yet possess. This is why we keep the first season with fasting and prayer; but now the fast is over and we devote the present season to praise. Such is the meaning of the Alleluia we sing." (excerpt from commentary on Psalm 148, 1-2) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 20:11-18 asks “Why are you weeping? What worries, problems, or disappointments are weighing on your soul?” Whatever they are, know that Jesus sees them and wants to help us work through them. He wants to help draw our attention to his presence with us. He is there, standing right in front of us. He is risen, and heaven is opened for us!

This message applies not only to your literal death, but also to the “little deaths” you experience throughout your life: the ending of a relationship, for instance, or a necessary move from a familiar home. Jesus can bring new life out of situations like these. He can bring peace to your heart as you turn to him and tell him why you are weeping. He can convince you that sorrow and death don’t have the final word. Even in your darkest times, he is there, planting seeds of new life in you and working to lead you toward joy, both in this life and the next.

“Jesus, help me to remember that you are always with me, even when you seem absent.” (Meditation on John 20:11-18, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler describes the Baptism offered by Peter as our entrance into the life of the Trinity. The number of converts enumerated in the text may have been an exaggeration when the population of Jerusalem at the time is considered. Friar Jude connects the experience of Mary, when called by name, to the Song of Songs as the Apostle to the Apostles represents the Church searching for her lover.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces contemplative theologian Beatrice Bruteau (1930–2014) who describes the profound effect that our participation in the eternal life of God can have on us. For Bruteau, resurrection starts in our lives now and transforms our engagement with the world.

Our joy is not confined to ourselves but radiates out to all. Just as Jesus intended to enter into us, that his joy might be in us and our joy might be full (John 15:11), so neither can we contain our joy: our peace and happiness envelop all those around us. When we interact with people—or circumstances—we do not feel drained of energy, as we did when we were still obliged to protect and defend our ego-self. Perceiving creative action and interaction as reality itself, we feel ourselves fully living, full of the richness of God’s life, the interior fountain that never fails.  

The divine life now becomes natural for us, no longer something to be compared to an alternative. We are really “saved” when we no longer think of ourselves as “saved,” because there is no alternative. This is when profound incarnation takes place. The reality of God is intensely perceived as present in everything.… The kingdom is hidden right here, even in the passions and illusions of our superficial consciousness. When we are shaken awake, we see it. (Rohr, 2023)

We ask the Spirit to assist us in recognizing the name by which we are called to join the workers in the field of the Lord.

References

Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 2. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 11, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/2?36 

Howard, J. B. (2023, April 11). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved April 11, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/041123.html 

John, CHAPTER 20. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 11, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/20? 

Meditation on John 20:11-18. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved April 11, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/04/11/654773/ 

Psalms, PSALM 33. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved April 11, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/33?4 

Rohr, R. (2023, April 11). A New Energy and Joy — Center for Action and Contemplation. Daily Meditations Archive: 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-new-energy-and-joy-2023-04-11/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 11, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=apr11