THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

29 OCTOBER 2023

 

          Today, Jesus is in the temple teaching.  He had entered triumphantly into Jerusalem.  The crowds people welcome him.  But the religious leaders are opposed to him.  He had silenced the Sadducees.  Now, their conservative opponents, the Pharisees try to trip him up.  A scholar of the law, asks what appears to be an innocent question.  It is not.  “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”  The Pharisees had developed 613 laws from the Law of Moses.  284 are “thou shalt” commandments.  365 are “thou shalt not” commandments.  The scribe has a formal education in all of these commandments and knows them well.  He is testing Jesus, a rabbi from Nazareth with no formal education.  He wants to expose Jesus as a self-taught teacher ignorant of the Law of Moses.

            Jesus walks right through his trap.  He quotes Deuteronomy 6:5.  “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  It is a command prayed by faithful Jews every day – the Shema Israel.  Without hesitating, he quotes Leviticus 19:18.  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Then he says, “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

            The brilliance of his answer lies in his radical connection of these two commandments.  The law is very specific about what it means to love God.  Loving God involves the heart, the center of a person’s being.  Loving God involves the soul, the life form itself.  Loving God includes the mind, which gives understanding and strength to make the right decisions.  Those same qualities apply to loving neighbor.  Love is not just a warm feeling or a strong emotional attachment.  Love involves our entire person centering our lives on God and on our neighbors created in God’s image.  Authentic love is the decision to want the best for another for the sake of the other, whether we like the person or agree with the person.

            Our first reading gives two of the 365 “shall nots” from the Law of Moses.  Both have to do with those on the margins of society.  The first applies to aliens, widows, and orphans.  They have no family ties to support them.  God has a special care for them, especially since their ancestors had been aliens in Egypt themselves.  The second applies to the poor.  Poor neighbors must rely on the generosity of those with more resources to survive.  When those with more resources lend money, they look for collateral to make sure that they will be repaid.  For  the poor, the only collateral they have is their clothing.  The commandment insists that clothing cannot be kept as collateral overnight, because that is the poor person’s only blanket.

            As we apply these two closely connected commandments to our daily lives, we too must be conscious of our responsibility to love those who are at the margins of society today.  Many of our ancestors had come to this country as immigrants.  The plight of refugees has become a divisive political issue.  But our parish is sponsoring refugee families who have been properly vetted through Catholic Charities.  On this first weekend of the month, we can support our Saint Vincent de Paul Society in providing food and necessary funds for those who come to us in need.  We support Father Larry and his parish in Uganda, knowing that they will never be able to repay us.  The same support goes to our sister parish of Saint Adalbert and our Palestinian Christian friends in the Holy Land.  When we respond to their needs, either individually or through our parish, we are keeping the greatest commandment, the command to love God and neighbor.        

 

 

TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

22 OCTOBER 2023

 

          In the Ancient Near East, pagans regarded their gods as territorial.  Each god was thought to be in charge of a distinct territory.  However, the Prophet Isaiah reminds his people that the one true God is not territorial.  The one true God has remained faithful to his people in captivity in Babylon, even though the temple, God’s dwelling place, has been destroyed.  God remains with his people, even though they had been unfaithful to the Covenant.

            Today, Isaiah speaks in God’s name to tell his people that they have been forgiven.  God will return them to the Promised Land, and God will do it in a completely unexpected way.  The one true God will use a pagan king who knows nothing about God to allow his people to return.  God exercises his absolute power by choosing King Cyrus as the “anointed one” (literally, as the messiah).  God will use Cyrus to reveal to the nations that there is only one true Lord.

            This truth is at the heart of the conflict in today’s Gospel.  Jesus has been teaching in the temple during the last week of his life.  Many of his parables have been very unflattering to the religious leaders of the people.  So, the Pharisees are trying to get even with him.  They are joined by the Herodians, the supporters of King Herod who owes his power to the occupying Romans.  The two groups have nothing in common, except that they are both opposed to Jesus and his teaching in the temple.

            Their disciples approach Jesus and try to flatter him, telling him what a great teacher he is.  Then they pose a question to trap him.  “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”  If he answers that it is lawful, the Pharisees will use his response to deny that he is the Messiah.  How could a Jewish Messiah support a ruthless and cruel occupation force?  If he answers that it is not lawful, the Herodians will turn him over to the Romans and accuse him of sedition.

            Instead of falling into their trap, he asks for a coin that pays the census tax.  He already has the upper hand, because those disciples should not be carrying a Roman coin.  The coin has the image of Caesar with the inscription:  Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus, high priest.”  These same disciples charge a hefty fee to worshippers coming to the temple to purchase coins without that image.  In fact, earlier that week, Jesus had overturned the money changers’ tables in the temple area.  He answers by saying, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

            In essence, he is giving the same message that Isaiah had given to his people in exile in Babylon centuries before.  There is only one true God who remains with his people.  God has made everyone in his image, even Caesar.  Jesus reveals himself as the Son of God who will be sacrificed, not on a sacred altar in the temple, but on an execution hill outside the city.  He will be raised on the third day from the dead.  That death and resurrection will reconcile all people made in God’s image to the Father. 

            As Americans, we often interpret this familiar response to speak of the separation of church and state.  Of course, as citizens of this country, we support our government by voting and paying taxes.  However, his answer goes well beyond a separation of church and state.  We are made in God’s image.  Everything we have is a gift from God.  In gratitude, we give back to the Lord a generous portion of what he has given to us.  Does this sound familiar?  It should, because this is exactly what we mean in describing stewardship as a way of life through prayer, service, and sacrificial giving.

 

 

TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

15 OCTOBER 2023

 

          Isaiah speaks of a mountain on which God will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure choice wines.  On this mountain, he will destroy the veil that veils all people.  He will destroy death forever and wipe away the tears of every face.

            Ironically, this prophecy is not fulfilled on the top of a glorious mountain filled with light and glory.  It is fulfilled on Mount Calvary, when Jesus is stripped of his clothes and crucified like a common criminal.  It is a very dark day.  Most of his closest disciples have abandoned him.  There seems to be no hope.  As he dies, Jesus laments that his Father has abandoned him.  The power of death and sin seems to have prevailed.  But, three days later, in the light of the resurrection, it becomes clear that Jesus has destroyed the power of death by entering into it.  His Father has not abandoned him.  Jesus has won the victory by his utter faithfulness to the will of the Father.  He promises that those who die with him will rise with him.

            Jesus tells this parable of the wedding feast to the chief priests and elders of the people in the temple during the last week before his crucifixion.  His parable states that everyone is invited to the kingdom of God, which he has been proclaiming and which he will seal with his death and resurrection.  But the invited guests make all kinds of excuses for not coming.  Then, the king sends out a second invitation, which is also ignored.  So, the king sends his servants to invite anyone whom they encounter in the streets to come to the wedding feast.

            Saint Matthew records this parable after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in the year 70, some forty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The parable makes it clear that Jesus has invited everyone, even the chief priests and elders of the people, to be part of the kingdom of God and share the rich feast of his death and resurrection.   However, they have refused the invitation, along with all those who had heard the prophecy of Isaiah and continue to wait for it to be fulfilled.  Gentiles have taken their place and participate in the Eucharist, sharing fully in the Paschal Mystery; the Lord’s dying and rising.

            It is easy to hear this parable and judge those who rejected the invitation.  “They really blew it,” we might say.  But this response is missing the point of the parable, the living Word of God, spoken to us today.  The last thing we need these days is any kind of antisemitism.  We may have been joined to the Kingdom of God when we were baptized.  But there have been times when we received a call from the Lord to spend more time in prayer or give ourselves in humble service.  There are other times when we walked away from an opportunity to be a good neighbor to someone.  We make excuses or claim to be too busy.  That is why it is important for us to pay attention to the man who is thrown out in the darkness.  He does not violate some strict dress code.  By neglecting to wear the wedding garment, he does not engage in the work of the kingdom.  When we were baptized, we were clothed with a white garment.  We were told to wear that garment.  We wear our baptismal garment when we put our faith into action.

We gather today at the Eucharist, a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure choice wines.  The Mystery of the Lord’s dying and rising is made present here as we remember it.  The Lord feeds us to strengthen our resolve to put our faith into action.  At the end of time, the Lord will enter the world for final judgment, just as the king entered the wedding feast.  He will expect us to wear the wedding garment of repentance and participation in the life of the Church.  We thank God for inviting us to be part of the Kingdom.  We must choose to be intentional disciples and put on Christ as on the day of our baptism.

 

TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

8 OCTOBER 2023

 

          In his last week before his crucifixion, Jesus is in the temple and tells this parable to the chief priests and elders of the people.  They are the religious leaders in charge of temple worship.  They are skeptical of his teaching authority.  They understand the context of this parable.  They know that Israel is often pictured as God’s vineyard.  They would pray the same psalm which we just prayed, thanking God for transplanting his vine from Egypt to the Promised Land.  They would know the song which Isaiah sang as our first reading:  that God planted his people on a fertile hillside and did all the work for the vineyard to produce good grapes.  They would agree with Isaiah about the reason for the wild grapes.  Their ancestors had been unfaithful to the Covenant mediated by Moses at Mount Sinai in the Exodus.  They would see the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians as the result of their infidelity.

            But Jesus is not talking about their ancestors.  He is addressing this parable to them.  In the parable, he reminds them that God has sent prophets through the centuries to speak the truth to Israel, the tenants of the vineyard.  But their ancestors had ignored the true prophets and killed many of them.  Now, he speaks of God sending his own son to the vineyard to obtain its produce.  When they agree that the tenants should be put to a wretched death, Jesus quotes Psalm 118 and points out that he is the stone rejected by the builders.  He is the cornerstone.  Because they refuse to listen to him, the kingdom of God will be taken away from them and given to a people that will produce good fruit.

            We can easily make the same mistake that the chief priests and elders made.  We can say, “Wow, those religious leaders really blew it.  They were blind to the message of Jesus.  We are glad that the kingdom is given to us.”  But Jesus is addressing this parable to us.  This is the living Word of God.  We are the current tenants of the vineyard, of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus challenges us to see whether we are producing good fruit.

            This month of October is dedicated to the respect for human life.  It might provide some questions about how we are tending the Lord’s vineyard.  How are we helping mothers to make the decision to give life to their unborn children?  In what ways do we support families who are raising children with disabilities?  What are we doing to welcome the immigrant fleeing from oppression?  How do we make sure that elderly people are not alone in bearing their burdens?  How do we support the terminally ill and give them the courage to face death with faith?       

            These are just a few ways we can bear fruit in a culture which does not put much value on the sanctity of human life.  We live in a polarized society that is often hostile to faith and discourages genuine dialogue and respect for each other.  In the first century, the community of faith in Philippi faced similar challenges.  Saint Paul gives them and us good advice.  He says that worry and anxiety are wastes of time and energy.  They drain the hope of believers.  Instead, he tells us to engage in prayer and petition, giving thanks for all that has been given to us.  When we follow his advice, then we can see the Kingdom of God already present more firmly in our midst.  With eyes of faith, we can embrace what is true and honorable, what is just and pure, what is lovely and gracious. 

            Unlike the listeners of the parables of Isaiah and Jesus, we can listen to the Word of God proclaimed and change our ways.  The Lord has carefully planted faith, hope, and love in our midst.  He is looking for good fruit.  And our culture needs the fruit that we can provide.