25th Sunday - Justice or Mercy?

"You too, go into my vineyard . . . "

Matthew 20: 1-16

The Word:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092026.cfm

A hard-working parish priest, after a lifetime of ministry, died and went to heaven.  When he got there, he was assigned an attractive two bedroom house to serve as his heavenly abode.  He was rather pleased with his house until he took a walk around the neighborhood and ran into a parishioner who had been a cab driver and now was living in a mansion with a swimming pool and tennis courts.  The priest went directly to St. Peter to complain.  He said, “I’ve worked my whole life long serving God’s people.  Now this parishioner of mine is a very good person, but he was a cab driver!  Why is he living in so much bigger a house than I am?”  St. Peter said, “Here’s how it goes.  When you preached, people slept.  But when he drove, people prayed.”

God’s ways are not our ways indeed.  We seek justice and fairness from the time of our childhood: “That’s not fair! Don’t punish me, he started it!” etc. How familiar does that sound to the ears of a parent for that parent themselves, when younger, likely claimed the same injustice. In the end, and we learn this from the time of our childhood, life is not fair.  Despite the wheels of justice upon which our nation’s legal system is founded, in the end stuff happens, innocent people are exploited and evil often goes unchecked or is at least allowed to wreak destruction upon those who are clearly innocent victims, we get sick, some are lost in disasters and others are not, some die young others live to a ripe old age.  Life is not fair, still justice remains a cherished virtue that should be pursued. 

Our Gospel this Sunday, the well-known parable of the workers in the vineyard, seems to illustrate this clearly.  From a purely justice level, this story about the workers who labored all day or only for an hour, yet all got the same equal pay for a whole day’s work, is clearly unjust. But is it fair?  Well, the master payed everyone what they agreed to, "what is fair," the usual daily wage ( one denari). as the master promised. Yet, those who worked all day in the hot sun, assumed they would get more but got only what they contracted for, which seems fair, sort of.   

The one’s who made out very well, are those one-hour workers, who not only got paid but were covered for an entire days work, rather than only one hour.  Who was most grateful? Those who seemingly benefitted from the master's generosity. 

Well, we can become stuck on this justice level only but remember how Jesus began this parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like . . . “  Thereby telling us that he will not speak on earthly terms but rather on Godly, spiritual terms.  God is like the master in the story – generous, merciful, kind.

Though we may measure all things as if in a scale, God is extravagant in his mercy.  He desires all to be saved, even those who come at the eleventh hour, yet are faithful in his kingdom.  So, this parable is not about justice but about mercy; God’s excessive mercy in the kingdom of heaven to which we are called.   

God’s mercy and love know no limits.  All are called to his kingdom and we are all invited to receive his grace and mercy especially at a time we may need it the most. Another indicator as to how Jesus came to reverse the material order in order to insert the power of the spiritual and bring about its conversion. 

When we fall into sin, we return to the vineyard repentant and God forgives.  If we’ve wandered away from his house, even for many years, and now come home, like the prodigal son, we find his mercy and welcome. 

The wages paid represent the fact that God can give equally to all of us at the same time.  Unlike money and all material goods of this life, some have more and some have less.  We should not tolerate injustice and work towards equality, especially with those are treated unfairly and exploited but with our God we not only receive justice we receive overflowing mercy from an endless source. 

So the challenge for us is to respond to God's unrelenting effort to seek us out like the master in search of workers and to serve in his kingdom. Despite our limitations and our own lack of mercy at times, he still invites us to his live by the values he has revealed to us. To imitate this mercy towards others.  To make it concrete and visible in our families, marriages, parish life.  That others will find a unique welcome through the Christ centered lives we offer. 

As Isaiah reminds us in our first reading: “Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call his while he is near . . . let him turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways . . . “

   

O God, who founded all the commands of your sacred law

upon love of you and of our neighbor,

grant that by keeping your precepts,

we may merit to attain eternal life.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 

who lives and reigns with you 

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

God, for ever and ever. 

(Collect of Sunday Mass)

 

24th Sunday - Forgive as you have been forgiven -Really?

 Back in the saddle here after surgery.  Not completely but all has gone well and continues to do so.  God is good and his grace of healing comes through the care and concern and prayers of others.  I have been blessed and as time goes on and the healing continues, I pray for those who are not so fortunate or those who suffer far more than I have.  Those who may find themselves in long term chronic pain or certain physical limitations as a normal state of life for them.  Let us not forget our universal call to empathy, love and compassion. 

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So will my heavenly Father do to you . . . unless your forgive from your heart

Matthew 18: 21-35

The Wordhttps://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091326.cfm

In regards to this Sunday's powerful readings, in particular the Gospel from Matthew.  There is likely nothing more fundamental to human relationships than the ability to forgive one another.  We are broken people living in a broken world so we will at times either deliberately or without knowing it, say something or do somethings that will offend another. When it is on purpose that I direct my anger or retribution towards another, it becomes very ugly and can quickly damage a relationship maybe only temporarily or unfortunately, at time permanently.  People may go for weeks or even years holding a grudge against another for something they did.  

Granted, sometime the hurt is deep and one comes to the point of saying either we agree to disagree or I never want to see you again!  Such things are especially hurtful in families. 

Nonetheless, our Gospel this Sunday has a powerful lesson about this fundamental principle of forgiveness.  Peter, with the best of intentions, asks Jesus: "Lord, if my brother sins against me how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?" A good question from Peter who knows that seven times forgiveness is quite generous actually.  Or so he thought.

Jesus answer is telling: "I say to you not seven times but seventy-seven times."  Wow, can you imagine the look on Peter's face? Jesus multiplies Peter's offer beyond what may be reasonable or we might say natural and frames it in a parable to raise the leven of forgiveness from what we broken humans feel is generous to what God views is generous.

In otherwords, we are called to forgive as God forgives.  We will be judged not by our level of education or the balance in our checking account or bank deposits and investments but by our ability to forgive the other person and to treat them with the same level of mercy that I have received. And we all have received mercy from our compassionate God who sent his Son to save us and to forgive human sin.  

Jesus illustrates this with a parable about a servant who owed an absolutely enourmous amount of debt. So much that it would have taken him more than a hundred years to pay it off which would have been impossible. He pleads mercy from his master and he receives mercy as the master writes off the debt.  

But, this forgiven servant, while very grateful, sees no reason to apply the same mercy to a fellow servant who owed him much less.  Rather that offer what he received, he is unforgiving to the servant and demands repayment.  Talk about an ungrateful and selfish servant!

The master receives word of this and his former mercy now becomes judgment: "Pay back your debt through hard labor and incarceration."  He had no pity on that servant despite the extravagant amount of pity he recived earlier. 

Jesus last line to the parable is the point of our readings this Sunday: "So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart."

Well, can the lesson be any clearer for us?  So, if you  have a grudge against someone, if you hold hatred in  your heart or whatever towards another, this is the Sunday to offer forgiveness.  To pray for the one who hurt you and to go to confession to be reconciled. God's mercy is always available in confession and while a resentful grudge is not on the level of more serious sin, it potentially could be.  Gossip, calumny (to purposefully injure the reputation of another maliciously), or anything related to this ugly sins, must be eliminated from our lives.  

Jesus warns us, our peace of mind and social harmony seeks it, and our search for holiness is at a dead end unless we open the gate to be people of mercy, not seven times but seventy seven times. Forgive with divine forgiveness and allow God to be the ultimate judge.  

On medical leave

 To my blog, family,

I’m going to be taking several weeks off due to surgery that I will be having this coming week and then some recovery time. The surgery is considered a low risk, but it’s something that needs to be done. That being said I probably won’t be having many blog entries for a number of weeks.

As I’ve said before, there are many great resources for Sunday reflections and I’m sure that you look at other places as I do. Our Catholic Church is so rich with knowledge and resources.

So keep me in your prayers as I will as well. Once I’m up and around, which should be before the end of September, I’ll be in touch again. God bless you all, and may the Lord grant us his peace healing, and the love.

Fr  Tim

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - A mother who comes home

 

Luke 1: 39-56

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081526-Day

(Bartolome Esteban Murillo, circa 1860)

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord

Taking a picture of a vast space with mountains or the Ocean or even standingbefore a large structure of some kind may be impressive but having a person stand in front of that scene even more gives perspective and depth to the main image.  The sheer vastness of the picture comes through by comparison of size. That mountain is enormous or the Ocean scene was impressive by comparison of size.  A small human being standing before something so immense makes an unforgettable impression. This weekend we celebrate the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed virgin Mary.

We might say that God is the immense image and standing before him was a simple Jewish woman.  The immense God chose the small and simple to bring about our salvation. Because of that, Mary can rightly say as we hear in the Gospel this weekend: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; . . . for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant . . . the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.”

Mary has become the immense figure because of God’s great work in and through her.  So today we remember the logical outcome at the completion of her life on earth and her eternal reward in heaven. And so, we hear: “The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven."

With that one sentence, on November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII declared this infallible teaching of the Church that has since become part of the absolute truth of the Christian faith. However, this is not a new teaching only stated in 1950. It has been part of Christian belief reaching back to the time of the early Christians.

While the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition of Mary is present in Jerusalem, it does not claim to contain the body of the Blessed Mother. So, no tomb of Mary has ever been noted.  No pilgrimage to Marys gravesite has ever been organized or claimed. No relic of the Blessed Mother has ever existed or piece of her clothing or hair or such.  It was apparently a general and unquestioned belief in the Church for centuries but with Pius XII declaration it became a public and declared infallible dogma.

The rich deposit of faith in the Catholic Church is loaded with mystery and grace. What we believe is not there to restrict us or burden us but to enrich our lives as we journey as Mary did on this earth. To set us free to know, love and serve God more freely each day.

Among those beliefs, Dogmas of the Church, is the infallible definition on what happened to Mary after here earthly life was complete.  She was taken up to Heaven, body and soul, to remain there in glory and to intercede for humankind.

This was Mary’s reward for her obedience and absolute trust in the will of God for her life. She had played a significant role in the whole salvation event which Jesus had brought about for humanity and so was rewarded, by the singular grace of God, to be the first among humanity, to experience the fruits of the resurrection of Jesus. 

In other words, as Mary is now, united for all eternity in her body and soul, glorified beyond corruption and filled with grace, we hope to share in her glory at the end of time and after the final judgement and general resurrection by Christ. As Mary is now, we hope to become.  As the Opening prayer of the Mass for the Assumption states: . . . always attentive to the things that are above, we may merit to be sharers of her glory. . .

While all of this is profoundly true, and may seem a bit heavy, the ultimate vocation of Mary is rooted in the common role of a mother. 

Did Mary have hopes of being wed, having children and experiencing a full Jewish home for her life?  Of course, she must have. She was planning a wedding when her life was interrupted by an angelic visitor and such was shared with her betrothed soon to be husband, Joseph. Mary wanted to be a mother and she was open to that possibility

The Angel Gabriel was sent by God to announce that she would be the human mother of the divine Son of God who would embrace humanity within her womb; a God/Man would be born of her; fully divine and fully human. A son of mystery but also a son of common humanity: God from God and light from light.

Marys “yes” was to be a mother unlike any mother but a human mother whose child was conceived strangely but with a natural human gestation period as the child developed through all of the normal human stages and then was born from her in the common human manner.  Did you ever wonder how much the baby Jesus weighed at birth?

Marys call to be one who would protect, would nurture, educate, discipline (if Jesus needed any?) love her husband and support him, wash dishes, prepare meals, enjoy the ordinary events of childhood and beyond with her son, engage in activities and conversation with local neighbors and celebrate Jewish customs, traditions, and stages of passage while reflecting on events in her life that puzzled her or made her wonder what God was up to.  Yet deeply Jewish along with her husband Joseph -righteous Jews who followed the law and awaited the Messiah.  Only later must she have come to the understanding that her role was far more than practical or biological only.

Like any parent, she shared anxiety and sorrow.  With her husband Joseph they were distraught at the seeming loss of Jesus when he could not be found for three days until they discovered him in the Jerusalem Temple.  There were certainly many joys and worries that she experienced along the way that are not in the Scriptures because of their common and ordinary expressions. 

Then her ultimate grief by the cross of her son when she was asked to share in her own passion and suffering as her son was brutally murdered in a public manner.  A “sword pierced her heart” as was predicted by Simeon when Jesus was presented in his infancy at the Temple.  

But now, on this feast of the Assumption, we see how God was preparing her to come home. Home where we are all destined.

Her whole orientation was to do whatever God asked of her: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38) she said to the angel and never stopped saying this her entire life. 

So, at the end her earthly life, because of her surrender to God’s will and her unique role in salvation history, she was taken up to heaven body and soul for eternity. 

A mother? Yes totally.  A model for all Christians? Very much. A unique and one-of-a-kind mother?  Absolutely. Now our spiritual mother who watches over all those who follow her son who constantly intercedes for humanity.  She is home not to rest or make chocolate chip cookies or to retire but to continue the work of her Son’s compassion, love and hope that one day we too will join her at our final home; heaven itself. 

Almighty, ever-living God,

who assumed the Immaculate Virgin Mary,

the Mother of your Son, 

body and soul into heavenly glory, grant

tht, always attentive to the things that are above,

we may merit to be sharers of her glory.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, 

your Son, who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever.

(Collect of Mass)