Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
God’s Story
Other Celebrations for this Day:
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. Before the exile, Ezekiel had warned the people against the punishment awaiting them. When the exile had come, he consoled them and gave them the hope that God would live again among his people with all his glory.
Gospel. The Lord abhors duplicity and hypocrisy, particularly in religious leaders. The scribes had rendered a real service by becoming the teachers of Israel during the exile, when the priesthood was on the decline, but later they had gradually turned religious living into a complicated, intellectualistic, legalistic and casuistic system of observances, which they themselves did not fully practice. It had become the pride and boast of the pious Pharisees to observe them all and, in this way, to work their own salvation. Because of this pride, they lacked the true spirit of humility and openness to God’s plans.
Opening Prayer
Lord God, you are pure grace.
You fill with your forgiveness and life
those who recognize their own emptiness
and the need for your mercy.
Grant us not to call attention
to ourselves and the good you allow us to do
but to serve you and the people
in the unsophisticated simplicity of our hearts
and to give all glory and honour to you
for the life and grace you bring us
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
First Reading
The Glory Returns
He took me to the gate facing east.
Then I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east, accompanied by a sound like the roar of the ocean, and the earth was illuminated with His glory.
This vision resembled the one I had seen when He came to destroy the city, and also the one I saw on the bank of the river Chebar. Then I threw myself to the ground.
The glory of the Lord arrived at the temple through the east gate.
The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; the glory of the Lord was filling the house.
And I heard someone speaking to me from the temple while the man was standing beside me.
The voice said:“Son of man, you have seen the place of my throne, where I will place the soles of my feet, and I will live among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel, including their kings, will no longer defile my Holy Name with their prostitution,
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 85:9ab, 10, 11-12, 13-14
R. (see 10b) The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD–for he proclaims peace.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You have but one Father in heaven;
you have but one master, the Christ.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Invective Against the Scribes and Pharisees
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
So, you should do and follow everything they say; but do not imitate their actions, for they do not do what they preach.
They burden people with heavy loads and load them onto their shoulders, but they themselves won’t lift a finger to move them.
They do everything to be noticed by others: wearing large bands of the law around their foreheads and robes with oversized tassels.
They enjoy the front seats at banquets and the best spots in the synagogues,
and they love being greeted in the marketplace and called ‘Master’ by others.
But you, do not let yourselves be called Master, because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters.
Neither should you call anyone on earth Father, because you have only one Father—he who is in heaven.
You should not be called Master, because you have but one master, the Messiah.
Let the greatest among you be the servant of all.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Prayers of the Faithful
– For the People of God, that with courage and honesty we may take to heart the task of renewal and reconciliation, so as to show to the world of today the true face of Christ, we pray:
– For all who seek God with a sincere heart, for all who search for truth and justice, that their hunger may be satisfied, we pray:
– For all Christian communities, that we may be reliable and truthful with one another and that our unity and friendship may be genuine, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord God, merciful Father,
in these simple signs of bread and wine
you give us the servant of all,
your Son Jesus Christ.
Fill us with his Spirit
of unpretentious service.
Help us to recognize him
as our only source of truth and life,
that you may be our only God and Father
now and for ever.
Prayer after Communion
Lord God,
we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ.
He was straightforward
in all he said and did;
he practiced the message he brought to others
and it cost him his life.
Help us to believe his good news
with the whole of our being
and to live by it day after day
in simple sincerity, without any display.
May you thus recognise
the love of your Son present in us
and give us a share in your happiness forever.
Blessing
We believe in Jesus and in his gospel. Let our lives not contradict our faith, but let our lives tell the story of that faith, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
Matthew 23: 1-12
The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Living the Gospel Without Masks
We honour today the queenship of Mary. In her we recall the destiny of each human person. God has predestined us to share image of his Son (Rom 8:28). Mary was the first one to share this image in its fulness. Mary, therefore, prophetically exclaimed: “all generations will call me blessed.” In this way, the greatest paradox and reward we find in her, in the humble servant of the Lord.
“Christ was raised in glory to the right hand of the Father, while Mary herself would be raised to that same glory in the Assumption, enjoying beforehand, by a unique privilege, the destiny reserved for all the just at the resurrection of the dead” (John Paul II). Mary’s unique privilege throws clear light on our destiny.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus delivers one of his sharpest critiques, not of unbelievers, but of religious leaders—the scribes and Pharisees—who preach righteousness but fail to live it. “They preach but do not practice,” warns Jesus. The tragedy here is not their teaching, but the hypocrisy behind it. They carry the Law of Moses on their lips but not in their hearts.
Jesus challenges all of us—especially those in positions of leadership in the Church, in the family, or in society—to lead not with titles or words, but with lives that inspire. Authority in the Christian sense is never about domination; it is rooted in service, humility, and good example. “He who is greatest among you shall be your servant.”
There is real danger when authority becomes performance. Jesus exposes the desire for public recognition—the best seats, the loudest greetings, the need to be admired. In our world today, where visibility and status are often equated with success, Christ’s call to simplicity and fraternity is revolutionary.
What makes a leader credible is not how well they command, but how well they serve. St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest, reminds us of this. In Auschwitz, he did not preach from a pulpit, but gave his life in exchange for another man’s. His authority came not from title, but from sacrificial love. Like Jesus, he laid down his life for his friends.
Today, Jesus calls us to strip away the masks of spiritual pride and reclaim our identity as brothers and sisters—servants of one another. The more we empty ourselves of ego, the more room we make for God to work through us.
May Mary, the humble handmaid of the Lord, help us follow her Son with sincerity, letting our lives—not just our words—proclaim the Gospel.