Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Thursday of the 20th week in ordinary time, August 20, 2026, Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church

Delivered by Vici from the Parish of Saint John the Baptist in the Archdiocese of Jakarta, Indonesia. Ezekiel 36: 23-28; Rs psalm 51: 12-15.18-19; Matthew 22: 1-14.A NEW HEART AND A NEW SPIRIT Our meditation today has the theme: A New Heart And ANew Spirit. Human heart has its spiritual dimension, from which the activitiessuch as feeling, willing and choosing come. Meanwhile, human spirit is thespiritual element of human person that connects himself with God. When he ispraying or meditating on the Word of God, his spiritual activity becomesdominant, wherein all his attention is in union with the divine. There are occasions when the condition of one's heartand spirit is considered old or out of date. This means that if his heart andspirit are below the standard of the Lord, namely an old type of human personthat is enslaved by sin and evil. The Lord wills that this type must bereplaced with a new person of man, namely the one who is renewed and redeemedin the Spirit of God. In general, the scriptures give us the truth, that theperson of Jesus Christ has made new the face of the earth and particularly thepeople who take part in His being the Son of God and in His mission, are trulymade new. There was a boy who was too naughty at home that hascaused him a big setback in his study at the junior high school near his home.Surely he became frustrated and his parents were mostly anxious about theirson's study situation. They responded to this by bringing the boy to the schooldormitory at the beginning of the new school year. Priests and religiousbrothers took care the boys who were members of this dormitory. On the firstday at the dormitory, this teenager soon experienced a situation of confictwithin himself. The condition of the dormitory, the rules, togetherness withhis fellow students, and the assistance from priests and brothers; all theseseemed to make him unable to follow his own will as he used to be in the past,such as laziness, grumbling, protesting, insulting, stealing, fighting. This conflict did not discourage him. However, thelife in the dormitory for him was a good challenge, especially since heremembered that in the beginning he was given encouragment that he would obtaingood achievement in his study. He just lived out this new life day by day andwanted that the promise would come true. During the holidays after school yearand while at home, his family noticed the fact that this boy had completelychanged. His mother asked him: "What made you change, son?" Heresponded the mother by pointing out to the cross of Jesus hanging on the wall. This is an example of a new heart and a new spirit.The prophet Ezekiel explained that God would come and walk around to forgiveHis people who were already so sinful. They would be released from their oldlife, and be given a new life, with their hearts and spirits made new. Whenevery time we accept and fulfill God's will to do His work, we are made newagain. Let's always accept His invitation to work in His Kingdom!Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... O Lord Jesus, may we always fulfill Yourword and invitation to the Father's will. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord bewith you ... In name of the Father ...