27th Sunday A

 27th Sunday of the Year A

Readings: Isaiah 5:1‑7  Philippians 4:6‑9  Matthew 21:33‑43

            Nothing hurts us more than the ingratitude and irresponsibility of loved ones.  In this Sunday's readings both Isaiah's song of the vineyard and Jesus' parable of the wicked tenants tell us that God too is wounded by ingratitude and expects justice from the people who have received his bountiful blessings.  Aware of our sins in failing to respond to God's favor, let us pray for the opportunity to begin again in the words of the responsorial psalm.
                        Once again, O Lord of hosts,
 look down from heaven, and see;
                        take care of this vine,
                        and protect what your right hand has planted.  (Ps 80:15‑16)
            Isaiah's allegory gives a poignant picture of the Lord's disappointment in Jerusalem and Judah during the 8th century B.C. when both the city and nation were corrupted with injustice and violence.  Using the figure of a "friend" who planted a "vineyard," the prophet begins the lyrics of a love song by describing how his friend lavished care on his vineyard (his beloved).
He spaded it, cleared it of stones,
                        and planted the choicest vines;
                        within it he built a watchtower,
                        and hewed out a wine press.
Sadly, when he "looked for the crop of grapes," the vineyard only yielded "wild grapes."  Now the prophet, speaking for his friend, asks the "inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah" to "judge between me and my vineyard."  Surely their sympathy is with the friend who asks "What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?"  They can then understand why the friend decides to give up on the vineyard that yielded wild grapes and "Take away its hedge, give it to grazing,/ break  through its wall, let it be trampled."
            The parable's punch line comes at the end when the prophet announces:     
The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
                        and the men of Judah are his cherished plant;
                        He looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed!
                        for justice, but hark, the outcry!

            The second reading continues the selections from Philippians with Paul's appeal to the community to settle their disputes by coming "to a mutual understanding in the Lord" (Phil 4:2).  He suggests two ways of doing this.  First of all, they are to present their "needs to God in every form of prayer and in petitions full of gratitude."   Their common prayer will give them "God's own peace, which is beyond all understanding."  Secondly, their "thoughts should be wholly directed to all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent,  virtuous, or worthy of praise."  Paul again promises that if they live in this way, and in imitation of what he has done and taught, "Then will the God of peace be with you."
            The parable of the wicked tenants continues Jesus' attack on the chief priests and elders which began with the parable of the two sons in last week's gospel.  Using the imagery of Isaiah's song of the vineyard, Jesus' parable is an allegory for the religious leaders' repeated rejections of God's call for justice and their plans to now kill Jesus.  The parable begins with vineyard owner's attempts to collect rent from his tenants in the form of a share of the grapes at vintage time.  We hear that twice the rebellious tenants not only refused to pay the owner but also seized his slaves and “beat one, killed another and stoned a third.”  Finally, the vineyard owner decides to send his son, thinking, “They will respect my son.”  When the wicked tenants see the son, they recognize him as the heir and decide to kill him so that they may “have his inheritance.”  The parable ends with the tenants apparently succeeding in their plan.  They seize the son, drag him outside the vineyard, and kill him: the very actions the chief priests and elders are about to do to Jesus!  But the tenants have tragically miscalculated, for the vineyard owner is still alive, and so Jesus asks the chief priest and elders, “What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to those tenants when he comes?”  With great irony, the leaders condemn themselves by saying, “He will bring that wicked crowd to a bad end and lease his vineyard out to others who will see to it that he has grapes at vintage time.”
            Rather than simply limiting this parable to a judgment of the chief priests and elders of Jesus' time, let us hear it as a warning to ourselves.  We, as tenants in the Lord's vineyard, have the responsibility to respond to God's call for the fruits of right judgment, justice, and peace.  Have we met the challenge or have we attempted to steal the inheritance for ourselves?

26th Sunday A

 26th Sunday of the Year A

Readings: Ezekiel 18:25‑28   Philippians 2:1‑11   Matthew 21:28‑32

            A central doctrine of both Judaism and Christianity is that God's mercy calls sinners to repentance.  Both religions reject a fatalism that would say people are predetermined in their conduct, and, instead, take the hope-filled position that God's mercy always makes it possible for the sinner to freely turn from a life of sin and find the new life God offers.  The correlative truth, however, is that the good person may turn from virtue and life to iniquity and death.  As we struggle in freedom to embrace God's mercy, let us pray in the words of the responsorial psalm:
                        Your ways, O Lord, make known to me;/
                        teach me your paths,/
                        guide me in your truth and teach me,/
                        for you are God my savior. (Ps 125:4‑5)
            In the Ezekiel reading, the prophet is instructing the Israelites who are complaining that “the Lord's way is not fair!”   They are enduring twin tragedies: the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile to Babylon, and many, believing that these punishments are due not to their own sins but those of their forefathers, are complaining: “Fathers have eaten green grapes,/ but their children's teeth are on edge.”  In response to this complaint Ezekiel insists on both God's mercy and justice and the corresponding freedom and responsibility of each Israelite.  On the one hand, if a virtuous person turns to sin, death will result.   But, on the other, if a wicked person rejects sin and does what is right and just, "he shall surely live, he shall not die."  The virtuous are to persevere, and the wicked are to repent.
            The second reading continues the selections from Philippians with Paul's magnificent hymn to Christ who triumphed over sin through self‑emptying love.  In the context of exhorting the Philippians to give up selfish and petty jealousy, Paul uses this early Christian hymn as the foundation for the Christian life of selfless love.  The pattern, established in Jesus, of death to self and resurrection through God's power is to mark the life of the community.  Christ, in contrast to his anti-type Adam, did not grasp at being godlike, but, like the suffering servant in Second Isaiah, took the form of a slave and emptied himself by becoming fully human, even to the point of obediently accepting the degradation of death on a cross.  God responded to this act of self-emptying love by exalting Jesus and bestowing on him lordship over the cosmos, so that at the mention of his name all beings in the universe might acknowledge him as Lord and Messiah.

            Jesus' parable about the two sons being sent to the father’s vineyard is unique to Matthew’s Gospel and continues the theme of vineyard as the Lord’s restored community that Jesus is forming by his ministry that we heard last week and will hear again next week.  It is addressed to the chief priests and elders who are challenging Jesus’ authority for cleansing the Temple.  This bitter controversy will lead to their decision to arrest and execute him.  After they question him about his authority to drive the money changers out of the Temple, Jesus responds by asking them whether John's baptism was “from God” or “from human origin.”  Jesus’ challenge exposes their hypocrisy.  For, if they say, “from God,” Jesus would ask why they had not believed in John's call to repentance, and, if they say, “of human origin,” they fear the crowd who revered John as a prophet. Caught in their hypocritical web, they refuse to answer.
            Now Jesus challenges the chief priests and elders to repent and enter the restored community by asking them to judge the case he proposes in the parable.  A father has two sons.  When the first son is asked to work in his vineyard, he says, “I am on my way, sir;” but he never went.  On the other hand, the second son initially refuses to obey his father's command, but “afterward (he) regretted it and went.” Jesus then asks the leaders, “Which of the two did what the father wanted?”  After they answer, “the second,” Jesus uses the parable to contrast their response to John's preaching with that of the "tax collectors and prostitutes."  The later, like the second son, repented of their sins when they heard John's preaching and thereby “are entering the kingdom of God.”  The leaders, however, like the first son, claim to be willing to do the father's will, but “put no faith” in John's preaching, even after they saw the repentance of the tax collectors and prostitutes.   Their smug religiosity keeps them from true repentance and belief in God's call through John's preaching.
God's call is both challenge to repent and offer of mercy.  If we have said "yes" to God, we must always ask, "Have I followed through in deeds?"  If we have rejected God in the past, we must remember His mercy always offers the opportunity for repentance and change.

25th Sunday A

 

 

 

 

 25th Sunday of the Year A

Readings: Isaiah 55:6‑9  Philippians 1:20‑24,27  Matthew 20:1‑16

            For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
            nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. (Isa 55:8)

            In our relationship with God, we may be tempted to calculate our standing on the basis of human conceptions of justice.  Today's readings challenge us to accept the surprising ways of God's mercy.   Let us be open to God's mercy to others, as we sing our responsorial psalm: "The Lord is near to all who call him" (Ps 145).
The first reading from the concluding poems of Second Isaiah is an invitation to the wicked to repent.  It is modeled on a priestly invitation to come to the sanctuary for sacrifice, but Second Isaiah makes this appeal in exile where the Jews have no sanctuary.  The prophet stresses two important features of God's call.  First, it comes at certain propitious moments: "Seek the Lord while he may be found,/ call to him while he is near."    Second, God "is generous in forgiving," and his mercy is beyond all human reckoning.
                        As high as the heavens are above the earth,
                        so high are my ways above your ways
                        and my thoughts above your thoughts.
            For the next four Sundays our second reading will be from Paul's letter to the Philippians.   As is evident from today's reading, Paul writes this letter while he is in prison and awaiting trial for preaching the gospel.  He is not sure whether he will be condemned to die or be released so that he may continue his apostolic work, but he sees advantages in both possibilities: "I long to be freed from this life and to be with Christ, for that is the far better thing; yet it is more urgent that I remain alive for your sakes."  Paul's faith tells him that the outcome is in God's hands and that in either case "Christ will be exalted" by bringing forth "life" from a situation which, to human eyes, is fraught with death.
                        For, to me, "life" means Christ; hence dying is so
                         much gain.  If, on the other hand, I am to go on living
                        in the flesh, that means productive toil for me . . .
            The Gospel parable is traditionally called "The Laborers in the Vineyard," but it might be better entitled "The Generous Vineyard Owner."  Jesus' story gives us a glimpse of both God's generosity and the revolutionary character of "the reign of God."   The "owner" and "vineyard" are traditional images, drawn from the prophets (see Isaiah 5 and Jeremiah 12), for God and Israel. In the first half of the parable, the owner, apparently anxious to complete his grape harvest, hires workers at "dawn," "mid-morning," "noon," "mid-afternoon," and finally "late afternoon."  Concerning the workers hired at dawn, we learn that the owner "reached an agreement with them for the usual daily wage."   So far, the parable, with its anxious vineyard owner and unemployed day laborers, seems to be a typical picture of agrarian life in the time of Jesus.

In the second half of the parable, however, we, and those who had "worked a full day in the scorching heat," are shocked by the owner's actions.  For some unstated reason, he instructs his foreman, "Call the workmen and give them their pay, but begin with the last group and end with the first."   Then, in defiance of any profit driven business practice, he gives those hired at the last hour “a full day's pay.”  Naturally, the full day workers, having endured the indignity of being paid last, “supposed they would get more,” but they too “received the same daily wage.”
            The dialogue between the disgruntled all day workers and the owner contains the punch line of the parable.  Understandably, the full day workers are upset at the apparent injustice of their being paid the same wage for twelve hours of work as those who only worked an hour.  But the master of the vineyard reminds them, “My friend, I do you no injustice.  You agreed on the usual wage, did you not?  Take your pay and go home.”  Then the owner goes on to give an explanation for his behavior.  “I intend to give this man who was hired last the same pay as you.  I am free to do as I please with my money, am I not?  Or are you envious because I am generous?”  God's generosity is not calculable on a human scale of "good business" or justice, and, in fact, often strikes the dutiful as injustice.  In Jesus' own ministry, he was often criticized by the religious leaders for his association with "tax collectors and sinners."  Within Matthew's community, there was concern about the entrance of Gentiles into an originally Jewish Christian community.  To all those who would put limits upon those called to "the reign of God," Jesus says, "`I am free to do as I please with my money, am I not?  Or are you envious because I am generous.' Thus the last shall be first and the first shall be last."

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

 

 

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14)

Readings: Numbers 21:4-9     Philippians 2:6-11       John 3:13-17

            On September 14 the Church celebrates the ancient feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the instrument of our salvation in Christ.  As we recall the gift of God’s saving love for the world manifested in lifting Jesus up on the cross and raising him to new life, let us sing the refrain of the responsorial psalm, “Do not forget the works of the Lord!” (Psalm 78).
            The Old Testament reading from Numbers 21 about Moses’ making and raising up a healing bronze saraph/serpent in the wilderness anticipates Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus in the Gospel.  As happens repeatedly in their journey from Sinai to the land of Canaan, the Israelites murmur against God and Moses over their lack of food and water and reject the Lord’s saving action in the Exodus: “Why have your brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water?  We are disgusted with this wretched food (the manna!)!”  The Lord’s response is to first punish the rebellion but with the purpose of causing the Israelites to repent so that he may save them. First, the Lord sends fiery serpents among the people which bite many, causing them to die.  The punishment has the saving effect of making the people repent of their sin; they say to Moses, “We have sinned in complaining against the Lord and you.  Pray the Lord to take the serpents from us.”  Moses then intercedes for the people and receives instructions from the Lord for delivering the people from the serpents’ bites. Following the Lord’s instructions, he makes a bronze serpent, mounts it on a pole and those who have been bitten may look upon it and live. The theme that God’s will is to bring life is central to all three readings.
            The second reading from Philippians is Paul’s magnificent hymn to Christ who triumphed over sin and death through his self-emptying love, manifested in his death on the cross.  In the context of exhorting the Philippians to give up selfish and petty jealousy, Paul uses this early Christian hymn as the foundation for the Christian life of selfless love. The pattern, established in Jesus, of death to self and resurrection through God’s power is to mark the life of the Christian community.  Christ, in contrast to his anti-type Adam, did not grasp at being godlike, but emptied himself by taking the form of a slave and becoming fully human, even to the point of humbling himself by obediently accepting the degradation of death on a cross.  God responded to this act of self-emptying love by exalting Jesus and bestowing on him lordship over the cosmos, so that at the mention of Jesus’ name all beings in the universe might acknowledge him as Lord and Messiah.  The cross, originally a sign of degradation and infamy, is paradoxically transformed into a triumphant symbol of God’s saving love for the world.
            The Gospel reading from Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus in John provides us with a symbolic foreshadowing of Jesus’ cross and resurrection.  For John, Jesus’ crucifixion is the beginning of his life-giving exaltation and return to the Father.  In the context of challenging Nicodemus to be born anew by believing in him as the Son of Man who has come down from heaven and will return to the Father, Jesus compares his being “lifted up” and giving eternal life to all who believe in him to Moses’ lifting up bronze serpent to give life to the sinful Israelites in the desert.
            The conclusion of the reading is John’s profound reflection on God’s motive for sending his Son into the world.
                        God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
                        So that he who believes in him might not perish
                        but might have eternal life.  For God did not send his
                        Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
                        the world might be saved through him.
God has acted out of love for the world and desires to share his eternal life of love with it.  The light of God’s revelation in the darkened world of sin is the Son’s act of love in laying down his life “for his friends” (see John 15:11-17).  They in turn are called to love one another as Jesus has loved them (John 13:12-17).  God does not actively condemn the world in John’s Gospel.  Condemnation and judgment come when the world rejects the light of God’s love in Jesus and prefers the darkness of wickedness.  Evil hates the light of God’s love and retreats into selfishness and darkness.  As we reflect on the paradoxical mystery of the cross, let us allow the love of God manifest in Jesus draw us into the truth of God’s life.
 

23rd Sunday A

 

23rd Sunday of the Year A

Readings: Ezekiel 33:7‑9   Romans 13:8‑10   Matthew 18:15‑20

            In this Sunday's liturgy both the first reading and the Gospel challenge us to correct those within the community who have sinned.  But in the second reading we are also reminded that the only debt we owe to anyone is love them.  As we strive to be faithful to both the demands of God's justice and the command to love one another, let us humbly listen to the call of this Sunday's responsorial psalm: "If today you hear his voice,/  harden not your hearts" (Ps 95).
            The first reading is part of Ezekiel's commissioning as a prophet (see also Ezekiel 3).  He is living with the Jewish exiles in Babylon, and the Lord calls him to be the "watchman for the house of Israel."  Like the sentry who alerts a city when an invading army is approaching, Ezekiel has the all important responsibility of warning the wicked that they will die if they do not repent of their sins.  If Ezekiel does not speak out, God will hold him responsible for their death.  If he does warn them, then, even if they refuse to listen, he will save himself.
            The reading from Romans continues the exhortation section of that letter with Paul's summary of Christian ethical responsibilities.  Like Jesus, Paul believes that the command, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," fulfills or includes all the individual commandments that have to do with the neighbor: the prohibitions of adultery, murder, theft, and coveting.  Paul understands the obligation to love the neighbor as a "debt" owed to the neighbor because of what God has done for us in forgiving our sins through the death and resurrection of Christ.  Love is not some vague emotional feeling for the neighbor, but an active and considerate concern "that never does any wrong to the neighbor" (see also 1 Corinthians 13).
            The Gospel reading is taken from Jesus' fourth great discourse in Matthew which is addressed to Peter and the other disciples and treats relationships in the community.   In this section Jesus is giving advice on how to settle disputes if one member of the community wrongs another.  Jesus proposes four stages for the settling of such problems.  First, if one has been wronged, the person should point out the fault to the other and attempt to keep the matter between the two of them.  If the other party listens, you have won that person over (see Lev 19:17, 18).  If this method fails, one should bring forward another witness in accord with the prescriptions of the Jewish law (see Deut 19:15).  If the person fails to listen to the witnesses, then the matter should be referred to the church (the individual community).  Finally, if the person ignores the church, then the community should treat the offender as "a Gentile or tax collector."   This does not mean that the person is permanently expelled from the community.  Recall that Jesus himself frequently associated with Gentiles, tax collectors and sinners and called them to conversion (Matt 8:5‑13; 9:9‑13; 11:19; etc.).

            After giving a procedure for settling disputes, Jesus confers upon the community the authority to make decisions in disciplinary matters.  "I assure you, whatever you declare bound  on earth shall be held bound in heaven, and whatever you declare  loosed on earth shall be held loosed in heaven" (see also Matt  16:19).  Jesus' final words move beyond the realm of disputes to prayer.  He ends with the consoling promise of his continued presence within the community when it gathers for prayer in his name (see also Matt 28:20).
                                    "Again I tell you, if two of you join your voices on earth
                                    to pray for anything whatever, it shall be granted you by
                                    my Father in heaven. Where two or three are gathered in
                                    my name, there am I in their midst."