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.
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