TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

15 OCTOBER 2017

          Jesus tells this parable to the religious leaders in Jerusalem during the last few weeks of his life, just before they bring him to Pontius Pilate and have him executed.  So, there is a certain sense of urgency and a great deal of violence.  By the time Saint Matthew had recorded this parable in his Gospel, the Romans had destroyed the holy city, set on Mount Zion.  The original readers of this parable would have read it in the light of the prophecy of Isaiah.  Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the veil that had veiled all peoples had been removed.  Death was destroyed by the death of the Son of God.  Clothed with a white garment as they had emerged from the waters of Baptism, they feasted on the rich food of the Eucharist on the holy mountain of faith in Jesus Christ.  Even though their Jewish brothers and sisters had all been invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb, many had ignored the invitation.  With Jerusalem and the temple destroyed, the Gentiles had responded and had taken the seats at the table of the Lord.

            In hearing this parable today, we might be tempted to judge those who had rejected the message of Jesus Christ.  We can become smug and brag that we have not made the same mistake. We have responded to the Lord’s invitation and have passed through the waters of Baptism.  We are seated here on God’s Holy Mountain, sharing in the Supper of the Lamb who was slain (pictured on the front of our Altar).  However, this is the living Word of God addressed to us today.  That web of death has certainly been destroyed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  In telling this parable to us, the Lord invites us to take a good look at the veils that we place around ourselves, and the webs that we weave in our lives.

            The parable says that the king went out and invited everyone, both good and bad, to his son’s wedding feast.  The Lord has chosen us, not because we have been better than anyone else, or not because we have earned his invitation.  He called us to faith because he loves us and wants us to join him in the heavenly banquet.  Jesus Christ may have destroyed the ultimate veil of death.  We have to remove the veil that convinces us that there is no need to share in his dying on a daily basis.  We have to die to ourselves, to our own selfish interests, to our own destructive habits, so that we can share in rising to be one with Christ and with our brothers and sisters.  The warning is clear.  If we do not share in his dying, then we will not share in his rising.

            That is how we can understand what happened to the man who is kicked out of the wedding banquet.  There is no secret dress code in the Kingdom of God!  Instead, we were clothed with a white garment on the day we were baptized.  That exterior garment signified that the internal relationship we have in Jesus Christ.  We continue to wear that garment when we participate in the daily task of dying to ourselves.  Just calling ourselves Catholics and sitting here at Mass will not suffice.  The Lord calls us to stop making excuses and take steps to remove those veils and webs that separate us from him and each other. 

            In hearing this parable, we have to be careful not to interpret it too literally.  God is not an angry king who destroys people who do not respond.  God does not get angry in the same sense that king in the parable becomes angry.  God’s invites everyone and wants everyone to share in his banquet.  But he respects our fee will to refuse and walk away from his banquet.  His “anger” represents his passionate desire for everyone to respond.  That is why we held our 8^th graders “captive” all day today.  We want to help them to understand God’s desire for them to be part of his Kingdom.  We want to do everything possible to help them prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation.  We want to help them to dust off the white garment given to them at their Baptism and wear it proudly today.  In helping them, we must respond ourselves.

TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

8 OCTOBER 2017

          Because Saint Matthew wrote his Gospel to Christians who had been converts from Judaism, his earliest readers would have immediately understood the imagery he uses.  As the Responsorial Psalm proclaims, the people of ancient Israel saw themselves as a vine transplanted by God from Egypt into the Promised Land.  With this image, Isaiah reminds his people that they had become his vineyard not because of their own efforts, but because of God’s choosing them as his people.  It was God had terraced the fertile hillside, spaded it and removed the stones, planted the choicest wines, and set up a watchtower to protect the vineyard from animals and thieves.  He had even hewed out a wine press, to transform the grapes into the choicest wine.

            Isaiah tried to warn God’s Chosen People that they would be overrun, not because of any defect on God’s part, but because they had chosen to ignore the terms of the Covenant made through Moses.  But they did not listen, and the Assyrians destroyed their kingdom.  Jesus speaks a similar warning to the religious leaders of his day.  His Father had sent prophets to warn their ancestors to remain faithful to the Covenant.  They had rejected them.  Now they are about to take God’s Only Son outside the city walls and kill him.  They think that the produce belongs to them, instead of God.  Like the brothers of Joseph who sell him into slavery out of greed and jealousy, they resort to violence. 

            It is easy to judge the mistakes of the religious leaders and congratulate ourselves for being the new tenants of the Kingdom of God.  This parable of Jesus is not only directed to them.  It is directed to us.  As the current tenants of God’s vineyard, we cannot make the same mistake and think that everything belongs to us.  That happens when a young man makes his final car payment and thinks, “Now it’s all mine.”  He forgets that his father had cosigned for the car loan and made the first payments when he was in college.  A mother asks her two year old to share his cookie with his younger brother.  The child forgets that his mother had given him the cookie in the first place.  A football player is enshrined in the Hall of Fame and talks about how hard work got him this far.  He forgot all the unsung linemen who opened the way for him to run for touchdowns.  A man looks at his huge portfolio and boasts that he has worked hard to become wealthy.  He forgot the blessings he enjoyed being born into a family of means and intelligence.

            Whenever we forget that we are tenants of the Kingdom of God and not the owners, we can easily fall into the violence of the tenants in the parable.  In thinking everything is ours, we can become very greedy and go to any lengths to protect what we think is ours.  However, when we recognize that everything is a gift from God, we give thanks for the abilities that God has given us and work together with the Lord to produce much fruit in our world.

            When the Lord comes to claim the produce of the vineyard, he will not care about wealth or fame or pleasure or any of those things that we define as success.  The Lord will be looking for fruit.  Saint Paul makes a list of the fruits which are part of the Kingdom of God.:  peace, truth, honor, justice, purity, loveliness, graciousness, and union with God.  He writes to the Philippians (and to us) from his prison cell.  As the Apostle to the Gentiles and a faithful tenant, he has worked tirelessly for God’s Kingdom.  In facing his own execution, he encourages the Philippians to have no anxiety, knowing that they face persecution from the Romans and hatred from their Jewish brothers and sisters.  They can be free of any anxiety, because God is in charge, and they are the tenants.  The same is true of us, if we take today’s parable to heart and work as faithful tenants of God’s Kingdom in our midst.

            

TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

1 OCTOBER 2017

          When Saint Paul wrote to the Church at Philippi, he encouraged them to live in harmony with one another.  Because this is the living Word of God, he is writing to us, the Church of Saint Pius X in Granger.  To live in harmony with one another, we must avoid selfishness and vainglory.  When we are selfish, we think only of our own wants and needs and ignore the needs of others.  Because Saint Paul defines vainglory as “empty glory,” we must avoid trying to act like God, bringing glory to ourselves.  In acting like God, then we make our own rules.  Instead of conforming ourselves to God’s standards, we make up our own and do what we want.

            In contrast to acting out of empty glory, Saint Paul gives the example of Jesus Christ, who is God.  He emptied himself and became one of us, taking on every part of our human condition, except for sin.  Not only that, but he submitted himself to enter into that dark cloud that hangs over each one of us – the cloud of death.  He endured a humiliating and painful death, trusting that the Father would raise him up and reveal his true identity.

            Saint Paul calls us to live that same self-emptying love in the way we work and live together as a parish.  Unlike Jesus Christ, we are not sinless.  That is why today’s parable can be so helpful.  Both sons are guilty of sin.  The first son refuses to go into the vineyard.  In the honor and shame culture of his day, he shows great disrespect for his father and shames him in public.  But, he changes his mind and goes.  The second son honors his father by agreeing in public to obey him.  But in the end, he does not go, and he does not obey.

            If we are honest, we can see ourselves in both sons.  Sometimes, we are like the second son.  We have a positive attitude and are filled with enthusiasm.  We hear the call to be good stewards and offer service to the parish and sign up for several ministries.  But, when the time comes, we find ourselves too busy with other things and neglect to bring the food for a funeral dinner or show up to be trained as a liturgical minister.  At other times, we are like the first son.  We complain when another parishioner gets up to talk about stewardship of service.  It is easier to go to the Mass in another parish, rather than listening to another talk on stewardship.  But, then we see the needs of a neighbor in trouble and go to the next Saint Vincent de Paul meeting, or we realize the importance of teaching the faith to our children and volunteer as a catechist.

            When we entered into this Mass, we honestly admitted that we are sinners in need of God’s mercy.  But then we heard the Lord speaking to us through his Word, calling us to a self- emptying love that impels us to be servants living in harmony in our parish.  On this first Sunday in October, known as Right to Life Sunday, we are given some specific ways to be servants of the culture of life.  Like the second son, we often talk about respecting the dignity of life from the moment of conception through natural death with action.  The first son encourages us to do more than talk.  For example, the Women’s Care Center welcomes pregnant women who come to them and offers specific ways to help them carry their babies to term.  Hannah’s House provides housing and support to young women who are expecting.  Those who serve the needs of the elderly either in nursing homes or in their own homes need more help.  The Creation Care Team explores ways in which we can respect and preserve God’s gift of creation.  The Social Justice Committee is studying the sin of racism and ways to heal that divide in our country.

            When we open our hearts and minds to the needs of those around us, we can imitate the example of the first son and put into action what we talk about as the second son.  When we combine the best qualities of both sons, we model ourselves on the example of Jesus Christ.  Even though he is God, he did not regard equality with God something to be grasped at.

TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

24 SEPTEMBER 2017

          This parable of Jesus grabs our attention, as it grabbed the attention of his original listeners.  It was not easy to make a living in that world.  A father who wanted to feed his family had to show up at the marketplace early in the morning.  With luck, a landowner would hire him to begin working at 6:00.  He would work all day under the hot sun until 6:00 that evening.  In return for his hard work, he would receive one denarius – enough to feed his family for one day.  He would have to repeat this every day, except for the Sabbath.

            The parable does explain why there are more workers showing up in the marketplace throughout the day.  Maybe they have difficulties that keep them from coming earlier, or maybe they do not have a good work ethic.  Whatever the reason, the landowner invites the latecomers to work in his vineyard at 9:00, at noon, at 3:00, and even one hour before quitting time.  That is when Jesus gets their attention.  The landowner hands out the daily wage – beginning with the last ones hired.  They receive the usual wage of one denarius.  The word spreads quickly through the line of those waiting to be paid.  Those at the end of the pay line are shocked to hear that those who had labored only one hour receive the same wage as they who had worked all day.  It is not fair, they complain.  And we have to shake our heads in agreement.  It is not fair.

            But Jesus is not talking about fair labor practices.  He is talking about the kingdom of heaven.  Like the landowner, the Lord is more interested in calling people to work in his vineyard than what their labor can produce.  At this Mass, we thank God for calling us to labor in his vineyard, in this parish community.  It is not always easy, but we are learning how to work together, to worship together, and to enter into a community of faith together. 

            For whatever reason, there are still lots of folks out there who are still waiting to be invited to work in the Lord’s vineyard.  Maybe they live in the same cul-de-sac and surprised us when they showed up at church with their second grader for First Communion. Maybe they are so busy with travel teams that they can’t find time to join us.  Maybe they are members of our family who have lost interest in any kind of organized religion.  Maybe they were hurt by someone or something in the parish and stay away because they are angry. 

            Whatever the reason their reason for staying away, the Lord is inviting us to be landlords going out into the marketplace searching for workers in the vineyard, because we are the Body of Christ in this time and in this place.  The Lord has given us some important tools.  The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is a wonderful way for people to take a step in faith and begin the process of inquiring whether the Catholic Church is the right place for them.  We have found that Christ Renews His Parish has been an effective tool in renewing the faith of lots of people in this parish and connecting them more firmly with the parish community.  If you have participated in one of these processes or another ministry that has drawn you more closely into the mystery of Christ’s love, go into the marketplace, go to what Pope Francis calls the peripheries.  To do that, we have to go beyond our comfort zones and risk rejection.  Don’t yell at them.  Don’t preach to them.  Don’t judge them.  Just tell them what a great joy it is to be in relationship with Jesus Christ.  Invite them to come and see for themselves, as the Samaritan woman at the well did after her encounter with Jesus Christ.  Maybe they have been waiting to be invited.

            The prophet Isaiah is correct.  God’s ways are not our ways.  We can proclaim God’s ways and help people understand that laboring in the Lord’s vineyard is a wonderful opportunity. It does not matter when they respond to the invitation.  When they do, they learn that putting themselves last will allow the Lord to put us first in the kingdom of heaven.

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

17 SEPTEMBER 2017

          Last Sunday, Jesus taught how to respond when someone in our community sins against us.  Instead of putting the offense on Facebook for everyone to see, he tells us to confront the person.  Once we move past our emotions of anger, a loving confrontation with that person might resolve the issue.  If that doesn’t work, we should gather two others to attempt a negotiation.  We do this when someone we love is in denial about a destructive behavior, and we hope that the person will respond to treatment.  If that does not work, Jesus says that we should go to the Church – talk to the pastor or call the Bishop.  If that does not work, we need to treat the person as a Gentile or tax collector –someone outside our community of faith.  Even this most drastic step is intended to bring reconciliation, because Jesus welcomed Gentiles and tax collectors into his company.  As difficult as these steps may be, Jesus tells us to take them, because we trust that the risen Christ is in our midst, wherever two or three are gathered.

            Peter had been with Jesus long enough to know his teachings on mercy and forgiveness.  Now, he asks how many times he needs to forgive.  Peter thinks he is being generous when he suggests seven times: a Biblical number implying a large number.  But Jesus doubles down and insists that we need to forgive seventy times seven: a limitless number of times.  And to help Peter understand, he tells the parable of the king who forgives the debt of his servant who owes him a huge amount – 100,000 talents.  A talent was the weight that a soldier could carry on his back – 100 pounds.  It would take an army of 100,000 soldiers to pay off this guy’s debt!  The servant could never have paid him back.  But having been forgiven of a debt he could never have paid back, this same servant confronts a fellow servant who owes him 100 denarii.  Instead of forgiving that debt, he throws him into prison.  Because of his lack of mercy, the king responds by handing him over to be tortured.  His lack of mercy becomes his undoing.

            The point of the parable is clear.  As Saint Paul tells us, Jesus Christ gave us his entire life and died on a cross to forgive our debts, to reconcile us with the Father.  We could never pay off the debt of our sins.  He forgave those who murdered him with his last breath and extends that mercy to us.  Saint Paul encourages us to live and die for the Lord.  If we have the courage to forgive another person, then we experience with the Lord a taste of his death, letting go of resentment and anger.  But in dying to our resentment and anger, we also experience a taste of his resurrection, rising to move on without being hindered by bitterness, hatred, and anger.

            We often misunderstand what Jesus means by forgiveness.  In forgiving someone who has hurt us badly, we are not nullifying the damage done.  Nor are we required to be best buddies and continue to allow that person to harm us.  Maybe forgiving that person might mean avoiding any contact.  The act of forgiving moves us past the anger and resentment resulting from the harm done to us.  It may take a very long time, but we know we have forgiven when we can move forward without harboring those angry, hurtful feelings that make us bitter people with chips on our shoulders.

            As a confessor, I have learned a lot about mercy and forgiveness.  If you were ever concerned that the priest may judge the sin of a penitent, there is no need to worry.  We’ve heard just about everything.  In addition, we priests are also sinners in need of God’s mercy.  As a confessor, I think of the mercy that the Lord has given to me in so many times and ways.  And that is the grace of a truly good Confession.  We cannot make the mistake of the servant whose debt was forgiven.  Knowing the mercy we have received, we must move forward and extend that mercy to those who have harmed us, trusting in the Lord’s dying and rising.

TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

10 SEPTEMBER 2017

          If we can put the words of Jesus in modern terms, we can understand his words when someone sins against us:  don’t post it on Face Book!  If someone in the parish community does great harm to himself or herself or to other members of the community, Jesus tells us to approach that person with love and in private.  That is much more difficult than posting it on Face Book for all to see!  This approach allows the person to change.  If that does not work, then Jesus tells us to bring two or three witnesses to attempt an “intervention.”  If that does not work, then Jesus tells us to take it to the Church.  Today, that probably means going to the Bishop if the pastor does something stupid!

            However, today we go in the opposite direction.  Please turn your attention to the screen and listen to Bishop Rhoades, as he asks for our support for the Annual Bishop’s Appeal and explains how our funds are used.

TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

3 SEPTEMBER 2017

            Last Sunday, Simon Peter correctly identified the true identity of Jesus.  He is the Christ, the Messiah for whom his people had waited for centuries.  In response, Jesus pointed out that Simon Peter did not have a lucky guess.  He had been open to this inspiration from the heavenly Father.  It was a transforming moment for Peter, so transforming that Jesus changes his name to Peter (Petrus, or rock).  On the rock (Petra) of Peter’s faith, Jesus would build his Church.  Firmly established on that rock, the Church would stand firm and weather any storms.

            Today, Jesus explains what kind of Messiah he is called to be.  He is not the Messiah of the popular imagination.  He is the suffering servant.  He turns his face toward Jerusalem, to the city which had rejected the authentic prophets who spoke for God, and announces that he will save his people not by power or force, but by dying on a cross and being raised from the dead. 

Because we are so accustomed to artwork which depicts Jesus dying on a cross, it is difficult for us to imagine what this statement meant to Peter and the other disciples.  They had seen the horror of criminals and insurgents being executed in this most cruel and humiliating fashion.  They knew how the Romans had controlled rebellious people by perfecting this horrible way of dying.  Peter cannot imagine that this kind of death would befall the true Messiah for whom they had waited for so long.  So, Peter rebukes Jesus, “God forbid, Lord!  No such thing shall ever happen to you.”

            Jesus responds to him with anger and firmness.  He calls Peter “Satan,” because the “Rock” has become an obstacle, a “stumbling stone.”  After his forty day fast in the desert, Satan had urged Jesus to satisfy his hunger by changing rocks into bread.  He had offered to Jesus all the power and kingdoms of the earth without going through the cross.  Jesus had come to know that this is not the will of his Father.  He rejects this same temptation from Peter and tells him to get behind him.  In other words, he is offering Peter the chance to change.  He wants Peter and the other disciples to get behind him, to continue to follow him on his way to Jerusalem, to learn the truth of his mission, and to share in the life that will come from the resurrection.  Those who follow Jesus will have to share in his cross, trusting that self-sacrificing love will bring life.

            Jesus is not just speaking to a group of disciples a long time ago.  Because this is the living Word of God, he speaks to us.  He tells us that we too must embrace the cross and deny ourselves, even to the point of losing our lives.  Embracing the cross of Jesus Christ comes in many forms.  We experience the cross when a family member is diagnosed with cancer, or when we lose our job, or when we are confronted with so many of life’s disasters.  We see Christians in Africa and the Middle East literally embracing the cross of martyrdom.  But no matter what form the cross may be, embracing it is always a commitment to give ourselves in sacrificial love and putting that sacrificial love at the center of all of our efforts.

            That is not the message of our culture.  So much of our culture urges us to put ourselves first as number one, to surround ourselves with as many possessions as possible, and to use whatever violence we need to protect ourselves.  Saint Paul had tried that path, until he encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus.  That is why he tells us not to conform ourselves to this age.  He insists that following Jesus Christ and embracing the cross of sacrificial love will transform us.  Like Jeremiah the prophet, we may suffer hardship and even opposition.  But like Peter and the other disciples, we will also learn that embracing the cross of Jesus Christ brings a life that we could never imagine.