August 23, 2017
I hope you have a nice day today too.
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Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
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Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16
1 "For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard.
2 When he had agreed with the labourers for a denarius* a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
3 He went out about the third hour,† and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.
4 He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went their way.
5 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour,‡ and did likewise.
6 About the eleventh hour§ he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, 'Why do you stand here all day idle?'
7 "They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.'
"He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.'
8 When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the labourers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.'
9 "When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius.
10 When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius.
11 When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household,
12 saying, 'These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!'
13 "But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn't you agree with me for a denarius?
14 Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you.
15 Isn't it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?' 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen."
*20:2: A denarius is a silver Roman coin worth 1/25th of a Roman aureus. This was a common wage for a day of farm labour.
†20:3: Time was measured from sunrise to sunset, so the third hour would be about 9:00 AM.
‡20:5: noon and 3:00 P. M.
§20:6: 5:00 PM
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Judges 9:6-15
6 All the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem.
7 When they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, cried out, and said to them, "Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you.
8 The trees set out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.'
9 "But the olive tree said to them, 'Should I stop producing my oil, with which they honour God and man by me, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?'
10 "The trees said to the fig tree, 'Come and reign over us.'
11 "But the fig tree said to them, 'Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?'
12 "The trees said to the vine, 'Come and reign over us.'
13 "The vine said to them, 'Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?'
14 "Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'Come and reign over us.'
15 "The bramble said to the trees, 'If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'
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* The World English Bible
http://ebible.org/web/
◇ August 23, 2017 Daily Mass Reading
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_08_23.mp3
◇ Daily Readings August 23, 2017
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082317.cfm
◇ Liturgical Calendar
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/calendarday.php?date=2017-08-23
◇ Zondervan King James Audio Bible
http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/kjv/Matt.13
◇ King James Version Bible Online
http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/book.php?book=Matthew&chapter=13&verse=
◇ The New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE)
http://www.usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible/index.cfm
◇ Douay-Rheims Bible
http://www.drbo.org/
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