2020년 9월 20일 성 김대건 안드레아 사제와 성 정하상 바오로와 동료 순교자들 대축일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
지혜서. 3,1-9
의인들의 영혼은 하느님의 손안에 있어 어떠한 고통도 겪지 않을 것이다.
2 어리석은 자들의 눈에는 의인들이 죽은 것처럼 보이고
그들의 말로가 고난으로 생각되며
3 우리에게서 떠나는 것이 파멸로 여겨지지만 그들은 평화를 누리고 있다.
4 사람들이 보기에 의인들이 벌을 받는 것 같지만
그들은 불사의 희망으로 가득 차 있다.
5 그들은 단련을 조금 받은 뒤 은혜를 크게 얻을 것이다.
하느님께서 그들을 시험하시고
그들이 당신께 맞갖은 이들임을 아셨기 때문이다.
6 그분께서는 용광로 속의 금처럼 그들을 시험하시고
번제물처럼 그들을 받아들이셨다.
7 그분께서 그들을 찾아오실 때에 그들은 빛을 내고
그루터기들만 남은 밭의 불꽃처럼 퍼져 나갈 것이다.
8 그들은 민족들을 통치하고 백성들을 지배할 것이며
주님께서는 그들을 영원히 다스리실 것이다.
9 주님을 신뢰하는 이들은 진리를 깨닫고
그분을 믿는 이들은 그분과 함께 사랑 속에 살 것이다.
은총과 자비가 주님의 거룩한 이들에게 주어지고
그분께서는 선택하신 이들을 돌보시기 때문이다.
제2독서
로마서 8,31ㄴ-39
형제 여러분,
31 하느님께서 우리 편이신데 누가 우리를 대적하겠습니까?
32 당신의 친아드님마저 아끼지 않으시고 우리 모두를 위하여 내어 주신 분께서,
어찌 그 아드님과 함께 모든 것을 우리에게 베풀어 주지 않으시겠습니까?
33 하느님께 선택된 이들을 누가 고발할 수 있겠습니까?
그들을 의롭게 해 주시는 분은 하느님이십니다.
34 누가 그들을 단죄할 수 있겠습니까?
돌아가셨다가 참으로 되살아나신 분,
또 하느님의 오른쪽에 앉아 계신 분,
그리고 우리를 위하여 간구해 주시는 분이 바로 그리스도 예수님이십니다.
35 무엇이 우리를 그리스도의 사랑에서 갈라놓을 수 있겠습니까?
환난입니까? 역경입니까? 박해입니까?
굶주림입니까? 헐벗음입니까? 위험입니까? 칼입니까?
36 이는 성경에 기록된 그대로입니다.
“저희는 온종일 당신 때문에 살해되며 도살될 양처럼 여겨집니다.”
37 그러나 우리는 우리를 사랑해 주신 분의 도움에 힘입어
이 모든 것을 이겨 내고도 남습니다.
38 나는 확신합니다.
죽음도, 삶도, 천사도, 권세도, 현재의 것도, 미래의 것도, 권능도,
39 저 높은 곳도, 저 깊은 곳도, 그 밖의 어떠한 피조물도
우리 주 그리스도 예수님에게서 드러난 하느님의 사랑에서
우리를 떼어 놓을 수 없습니다.
복음
루카. 9,23-26
그때에 23 예수님께서 모든 사람에게 말씀하셨다.
“누구든지 내 뒤를 따라오려면,
자신을 버리고 날마다 제 십자가를 지고 나를 따라야 한다.
24 정녕 자기 목숨을 구하려는 사람은 목숨을 잃을 것이고,
나 때문에 자기 목숨을 잃는 그 사람은 목숨을 구할 것이다.
25 사람이 온 세상을 얻고도 자기 자신을 잃거나 해치게 되면 무슨 소용이 있느냐?
26 누구든지 나와 내 말을 부끄럽게 여기면,
사람의 아들도 자기의 영광과 아버지와 거룩한 천사들의 영광에 싸여 올 때에
그를 부끄럽게 여길 것이다.”
2017년 9월 24일 연중 제25주일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
이사야서. 55,6-9
6 만나 뵐 수 있을 때에 주님을 찾아라. 가까이 계실 때에 그분을 불러라. 7 죄인은 제 길을, 불의한 사람은 제 생각을 버리고 주님께 돌아오너라. 그분께서 그를 가엾이 여기시리라. 우리 하느님께 돌아오너라. 그분께서는 너그러이 용서하신다.
8 내 생각은 너희 생각과 같지 않고, 너희 길은 내 길과 같지 않다. 주님의 말씀이다. 9 하늘이 땅 위에 드높이 있듯이, 내 길은 너희 길 위에, 내 생각은 너희 생각 위에 드높이 있다.
제2독서
필리피서. 1,20ㄷ-24.27ㄱ
형제 여러분, 20 나는 살든지 죽든지 나의 이 몸으로 아주 담대히 그리스도를 찬양합니다. 21 사실 나에게는 삶이 곧 그리스도이며 죽는 것이 이득입니다. 22 그러나 내가 육신을 입고 살아야 한다면, 나에게는 그것도 보람된 일입니다. 그래서 어느 쪽을 선택해야 할지 모르겠습니다.
23 나는 이 둘 사이에 끼여 있습니다. 나의 바람은 이 세상을 떠나 그리스도와 함께 있는 것입니다. 그편이 훨씬 낫습니다. 24 그러나 내가 이 육신 속에 머물러 있는 것이 여러분에게는 더 필요합니다.
27 다만, 그리스도의 복음에 합당한 생활을 하십시오.
복음
마태오. 20,1-16
그때에 예수님께서 제자들에게 이런 비유를 들어 말씀하셨다.
1 “하늘 나라는 자기 포도밭에서 일할 일꾼들을 사려고 이른 아침에 집을 나선 밭 임자와 같다. 2 그는 일꾼들과 하루 한 데나리온으로 합의하고 그들을 자기 포도밭으로 보냈다.
3 그가 또 아홉 시쯤에 나가 보니 다른 이들이 하는 일 없이 장터에 서 있었다. 4 그래서 그들에게, ‘당신들도 포도밭으로 가시오. 정당한 삯을 주겠소.’ 하고 말하자, 5 그들이 갔다.
그는 다시 열두 시와 오후 세 시쯤에도 나가서 그와 같이 하였다.
6 그리고 오후 다섯 시쯤에도 나가 보니 또 다른 이들이 서 있었다. 그래서 그들에게 ‘당신들은 왜 온종일 하는 일 없이 여기 서 있소?’ 하고 물으니, 7 그들이 ‘아무도 우리를 사지 않았기 때문입니다.’ 하고 대답하였다. 그러자 그는 ‘당신들도 포도밭으로 가시오.’ 하고 말하였다. 8 저녁때가 되자 포도밭 주인은 자기 관리인에게 말하였다. ‘일꾼들을 불러 맨 나중에 온 이들부터 시작하여 맨 먼저 온 이들에게까지 품삯을 내주시오.’
9 그리하여 오후 다섯 시쯤부터 일한 이들이 와서 한 데나리온씩 받았다. 10 그래서 맨 먼저 온 이들은 차례가 되자 자기들은 더 받으려니 생각하였는데, 그들도 한 데나리온씩만 받았다.
11 그것을 받아 들고 그들은 밭 임자에게 투덜거리면서, 12 ‘맨 나중에 온 저자들은 한 시간만 일했는데도, 뙤약볕 아래에서 온종일 고생한 우리와 똑같이 대우하시는군요.’ 하고 말하였다.
13 그러자 그는 그들 가운데 한 사람에게 말하였다. ‘친구여, 내가 당신에게 불의를 저지르는 것이 아니오. 당신은 나와 한 데나리온으로 합의하지 않았소? 14 당신 품삯이나 받아서 돌아가시오. 나는 맨 나중에 온 이 사람에게도 당신에게처럼 품삯을 주고 싶소.
15 내 것을 가지고 내가 하고 싶은 대로 할 수 없다는 말이오? 아니면, 내가 후하다고 해서 시기하는 것이오?’
16 이처럼 꼴찌가 첫째 되고, 첫째가 꼴찌 될 것이다.”
September 20, 2020
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
call him while he is near.
Let the scoundrel forsake his way,
and the wicked his thoughts;
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, says the LORD.
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so high are my ways above your ways
and my thoughts above your thoughts.
Responsorial Psalm
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
Reading 2
Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.
If I go on living in the flesh,
that means fruitful labor for me.
And I do not know which I shall choose.
I am caught between the two.
I long to depart this life and be with Christ,
for that is far better.
Yet that I remain in the flesh
is more necessary for your benefit.
Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Gospel
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,
he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o'clock,
the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard,
and I will give you what is just.'
So they went off.
And he went out again around noon,
and around three o'clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o'clock,
the landowner found others standing around, and said to them,
'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.'
He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.'
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
'Summon the laborers and give them their pay,
beginning with the last and ending with the first.'
When those who had started about five o'clock came,
each received the usual daily wage.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,
but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
'These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day's burden and the heat.'
He said to one of them in reply,
'My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?'
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last."
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
For several months, as a direct result of our troubled times, I have been moved to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy which has an option for a closing prayer that includes this phrase “…increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair or become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will…”
There are elements in today’s reading that emphasize the call to submit ourselves to God. For example, in the first reading Isaiah exhorts us to seek the Lord wherever he may be found even in the midst of turmoil, the pandemic, civil unrest and political divide. St. Ignatius encourages us to see God in all things, in all people, yet our hardheadedness and stubbornness often moves us into despair. What we cannot see and understand fully—even control—leads us to doubt our faith and become despondent. Isaiah notes that God’s ways are “as high as the heavens are above the earth” emphasizing that God’s ways and thoughts are far above ours.
The Gospel reading certainly reinforces the idea that God’s ways may be in conflict with our ways of thinking. The idea of “fairness” is front and center in most readings of the story of the landowner and the vineyard laborers. With our limited human eyes and flawed logic, it seems wasn’t fair for the same wage to be paid to workers who worked only an hour compared to those that worked all day. A critical message of this parable is that we are all equal recipients of God's gifts. The reality is that we often manifest a weakness in our personal faith journey and that we are often covetous and jealous when God's gifts of forgiveness and life are given to others in equal measure. Jesus’ parable highlights the goodness and generosity of God. As the ultimate “landowner,” God will use what has always belonged to the Creator for the good of all even if we humans fail to view the world through His eyes.
The parable illustrates our own tendency to covet of what others receive from God. Or in another way, we may ask “why am I suffering so much when others have it easier”? The owner of the vineyard asks those who have worked longest and (presumably) hardest for him, "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?" God's grace, mercy, and forgiveness are God's to give away as He sees fit.
The recompense of reward will be given to the believers, but not according to the time of their conversion but indeed according to just their faith. This parable describes the state of the church in the world, and explains that the last shall be first, and the first last—regardless of, or despite the wisdom of man.
If God gives grace to others or relief from pain and challenge, it is kindness to them, and no injustice to us. We must have faith that our portion of gifts or challenges are in tune with what God asks of us in our lives as we serve His kingdom.
Life can be unfair, and life can be hard. In faith Praise the Lord!
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
SISTER DEATH
“I long to be freed from this life and to be with Christ, for that is the far better thing.” —Philippians 1:23
St. Paul faced “death every day” (1 Cor 15:31). He was on “death row” on more than one occasion. Paul faced death and smiled at it. He even taunted death when he proclaimed: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:55) Paul said: “Dying is so much gain” (Phil 1:21). He said that he felt as strongly attracted to dying as living (Phil 1:23), although he considered dying in Christ “the far better thing” (Phil 1:23).
Paul was freed from slavery to the fear of death (see Heb 2:15) because to him, life meant Christ (Phil 1:21). When we totally give our lives to Christ, we believe that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life (Jn 11:25), Who has put death to death by His death on the cross (see Heb 2:14). When we give our lives to Jesus, we give our deaths to Jesus, Who holds “the keys of death and the nether world” (Rv 1:18). In Christ, there is no condemnation (Rm 8:1). In Christ, slavery to the fear of death is swallowed up in victory (1 Cor 15:54).
On this and every Sunday, we celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead. Today, give all to Jesus, smile in the face of death, and live life freely and to the full (see Jn 10:10).
Prayer: Father, give me a happy death as soon as possible.
Promise: “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call Him while He is near.” —Is 55:6
Praise: “I am the Resurrection and the Life: whoever believes in Me, though he should die, will come to life; and whoever is alive and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (Jn 11:25-26)
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
What can work and wages, welfare and the unemployed tell us about the kingdom of God? In the parable of the laborers in the vineyard we see the extraordinary generosity and compassion of God (Matthew 20:1-16). There is great tragedy in unemployment, the loss of work, and the inability to earn enough to live and support oneself or one's family. In Jesus' times laborers had to wait each day in the marketplace until someone hired them for a day's job. No work that day usually meant no food on the family table. The laborers who worked all day and received their payment complain that the master pays the late afternoon laborers the same wage. The master, undoubtedly, hired them in the late afternoon so they wouldn't go home payless and hungry.
God is generous and gives us work for his kingdom
God is generous in opening the doors of his kingdom to all who will enter, both those who have labored a life-time for him and those who come at the last hour. While the reward is the same, the motive for one's labor can make all the difference. Some work only for reward. They will only put in as much effort as they think they will get back. Others labor out of love and joy for the opportunity to work and to serve others. The Lord Jesus calls each one of us to serve God and his kingdom with joy and zeal and to serve our neighbor with a generous spirit as well.
Empowered to serve with a joyful and generous spirit
The Lord Jesus wants to fill each one of us with the power and strength of the Holy Spirit so we can bear great fruit for God's kingdom (the fruit of peace, joy, righteousness, and love) and also bring the fruit of his kingdom to our neighbor as well. We labor for the Lord to bring him praise, honor, and glory. And we labor for our neighbor for their welfare with the same spirit of loving-kindness and compassion which the Lord has shown to us.
Paul the Apostle reminds us, "Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not others, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward - you are serving the Lord Christ" (Colossians 3:23-24). Do you perform your daily tasks and responsibilities with cheerfulness and diligence for the Lord's sake? And do you give generously to others, especially to those in need of your care and support?
Lord Jesus,fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may serve you joyfully and serve my neighbor willingly with a generous heart, not looking for how much I can get, but rather looking for how much I can give.
Psalm 145:2-3,8-9,17-18
2 Every day I will bless you, and praise your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.
8 The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.
17 The LORD is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.
18 The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Christ our householder, author unknown, from the 5th century A.D.
"The householder [in Matthew's parable - chapter 20] is Christ, to whom the heavens and the earth are like a single house; the family is as it were the multitude of creatures both angelic and earthly. It is as if he built a three-storied house: hell, heaven and earth, so that those struggling may live upon the earth, those conquered below the earth, those conquering in heaven. We too, set in the middle, should strive not to descend to those who are in hell but ascend to those who are in heaven. And in case perhaps you do not know which one you ought to shun or which one you ought to aspire to, he has given you as it were a little taste of both while you live between light and darkness: night as a taste of hell, daylight as a taste of heaven." (excerpt from an incomplete Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, HOMILY 34)
http://www.homilies.net/
Homily from Father James Gilhooley
25 Ordinary Time
Twenty-Fifth Sunday of the Year - Cycle A - Matthew 20:1-16
A priest in New Orleans after Katrina saw a child with one shoe. He asked where she had lost the other. The girl replied, "I didn't. I found this one."
God tells us through this parable: "Don't cut me down to your size. You fashion God to your image, but I am an original."
This may be the most puzzling of the forty parables of Jesus. It is found only in Matthew. Perhaps Mark, Luke, and John were afraid to touch it. Yet, when it is thrown on the lab table and heated over a Bunson burner, it teaches much about God. He tells us how those of us who have extra bucks should treat the poor. Christ tells us of people's right to a job at a family living wage.
Today's minimum wage is peanuts. In 2004, over 50% of US income went to the top 20% of our households. In 2002 and 2003, a woman with a $7 million home paid only $771 in federal taxes. In 2004, Americans spent 34 billion on their pets. One woman's will left twelve million dollars to her dog. Result? Christ is ticked off big time.
There are 2000 verses on the poor in the Bible. Get the feeling that God is telling us something?
Two thirds of Christ's parables concern money. He knew dollars were important. This is not a pie in the sky Jesus.bThe laborers of the parable were the lowest class of Jewish workingmen. They lived on the poverty level. If they were unemployed for a day, their family went to bed hungry. Their situation was known to be so bad that when they were hired for a day's work, the Bible commanded they be paid before sundown. Thus, they were able to shop at Wal-Mart for supper.
There were seasons in Palestine when this tale occurred. These were at grape harvest in the fall. By mid-September came torrential rains. Thus began the frantic effort to save the grapes. Every laborer was drafted. (William Barclay)
The Jewish farmer worked from sunrise to sunset. It was a brutal twelve hour day in 100 plus degrees heat. The times when the migrant workers would be hired were at 6 AM, 9, noon, 3 PM, and 5. With storms coming, the vineyard owner pushed the panic button and hustled to find men as late as 5 PM, one hour before closing.
The men standing around Home Depot at 5 PM were not winos. They were unemployed. The Home Depot was the labor exchange. They came there before sunrise. Their lucky friends had been hired. The balance waited hoping. Slaves were better off than laborers. Slaves were assured of three hots and a cot aka three meals and a bed.
Jesus possessed hands-on information of the employment operation. He knew the system well precisely because He probably shaped-up cold mornings in Nazareth. My immigrant father had to do it in New York City. He told me you never forgot the humiliation. We permit the shape-up to exist today in the US - especially among Latinos. Many thousands of Latinos shape up at dawn daily across the US.
The parable's hero is not the laborer but the vineyard owner. He is a substitute for God. This parable upsets our picture of God. It tells us that the most advanced scientific instruments are a waste in trying to understand Him.
What is God up to? There is an indication in today's Isaiah 55:8, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts; my ways not your ways." God gets His divine jollies when He witnesses generosity in us. Remember how Christ praised the widow who gave her last coin at the temple. We would tell the widow to keep the coin. She had more need of it than the temple. But not so the Nazarene! Why? He took care of her wants in His own way. Luke you will recall has Him saying, "Give and it shall be given you." Can you recall when you gave away a dollar and did not get two back? I can't.
Want to help the poor? Lobby to get the minimum wage raised to a family living level. 40% of US minimum wage workers are the bread winners in their families. Many are single mothers. Hurry. Every 43 seconds a child is born into poverty in the US. Every 53 minutes a child dies from the effects of poverty.
The silver lining of Katrina was that it made the invisible poor visible. Had Christ been in New Orleans in 2005, He would have been Him in the Superdome among the poor. Since the US government subsidizes our banks, airlines, railroads, stock exchanges, and the wealthy, why should it not subsidize our poor?
Homily from Father Joseph Pellegrino
Frjoeshomilies.net
25 Ordinary Time
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Justice and Mercy
Human Resources would not have been happy with that landowner. Sometimes, it seems that Human Resources does not want to come out on the side of generosity. I remember a time that we wanted to pay an employee extra for work on a particular project. We were told that we could not do this unless we re-adjusted that employee’s pay scale for all his work.
Back in the times of the Lord, HR did not exist. However, people had a sense of what was just and what was unjust. Day workers were given the daily wage of one denarius. The workday was sunrise to sunset. So, it would seem just that those who worked less than a full day should receive less. But in today’s parable, sometimes called the parable of the Laborers in the Marketplace, other times, perhaps much better, referred to as the Parable of the Good Employer, the landowner has pity on those who could not find work throughout the day. They had families they had to feed. It was not their fault that no one hired them. Therefore, he hires them, some of them even a few hours before sunset, and gives them all the same daily wage. He is not being unjust to those hired in the early morning. He is being charitable, merciful, to those hired at the end of the day.
Justice and mercy are compatible when charity is involved. "Are you envious because I am generous," the owner says to those hired at sunrise who protested that they did not receive more. The exact translation of this is "Do you view my actions with an evil, jealous eye?" This occurs in the Gospel of Matthew where we also read, "If your eye causes you to sin, then pluck it out." Usually we relegate this phrase to a sexual connotation. Properly applied to the point of today's parable, the Lord is saying, "If you begrudge generosity to the less fortunate, than you cannot be a Christian." If we do not rejoice in the benefits given to others, than we cut ourselves off from the benefits we have received. As Christians, we are obligated to care for the poor. We need to establish governmental and private means to aid those who cannot help themselves. Yes, these agencies must be regulated to eliminate those who abuse them. That is justice. But our main concern must be to care for those who have less. That is mercy. Some people reduce those forced into situations where they have to seek help from others. This is not how a Christian should act. Yes, we should be happy when we realize that poor, sick, or people hurting in any way are being helped, but more than that, much more than that, we should be extending the hand of God to lift others up.
“Are you envious because I am generous?” Envy and jealousy are horrible. The jealous person looks for ways to destroy another person’s life. The jealous person usually ends up destroying his own life. Or her own life. The jealous person does not appreciate his own gifts. He can only see the gifts that others have. He hates them for their gifts. And his hatred destroys him. Everybody is different. No two people are the same. We do not have the right to compare or contrast others to ourselves.
This parable should also be applied to our view of our relationship to God. God loves the person who is faithful throughout the day. He loves cradle Catholics who practice their faith throughout their lives. He also loves those who come to him during the day and even in the evening. Many people respond to God’s mercy at the end of their lives. God loves them for taking a huge step away from their former lives and for falling into the arms of His Mercy. Literature presents Don Juan who refuse to reject his immoral lifestyle and would rather suffer hell than entrust himself to God. It is a tremendous step of humility to turn from a sinful life and turn to the Lord. God loves those who take this step, even though they join St. Augustine in mourning, “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient ever new. Late have I loved you.” What matters is that they are with him now. God loves cradle Catholics, and he loves converts. He loves those who practice their faith throughout their lives, and he loves those who return to the faith. We rejoice in those who join the faith or return to the faith. We don't consider ourselves superior to them because we are not superior to them.
At the end of the gospel reading we come upon the phrase, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” We cannot impose our ways on the Lord. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.” That is from our first reading. We cannot tell God how to be God. We have to do our best to respond to the call to labor in God's vineyard as we have received it. That call demands that we are open to God's mercy in our lives and that we become vehicles for God's mercy in the lives of others. That is Christianity. To act otherwise is to begrudge God for his generosity, or to be scripturally literal, to look upon God's goodness with an evil, jealous eye.
The parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard calls upon us to ask God to help us be vehicles of His Mercy.
Homily from Father Phil Bloom
Stmaryvalleybloom.org
* Available in Spanish - see Spanish Homilies
25 Ordinary Time
Are You Envious?
(September 20, 2020)
Bottom line: When envy enters the heart, we need to focus on God's generosity - when the tide comes in and when the tide goes out. Maybe then we can hear Jesus asking that tough question: "Are you envious because I am generous?"
It's good to be back with you after a couple weeks in Oregon.
Jesus has a powerful question for you and me: "Are you envious because I am generous?"
Before we can answer that question we need to know what envy is. Here's the definition I found in commentary on this parable: "Envy is not simply jealousy which is the desire to attain or possess what the other person has. Envy is the sin of being upset at another's good fortune."
The sin of being upset at another's good fortune: I admit I often fall into envy. A few months back I had a conversation with Fr. Jim Coleman. I told him about our parish's financial difficulties since Covid-19 struck. He said, "Don't feel bad, Felipe." His old parish, he explained, was also struggling.
A few weeks later we had another conversation. Looking for some consolation, I asked him how his old parish was doing. He said to me, "Good news. They just received a bequest!"
"That's great," I said. Inside I was thinking, "Why couldn't St. Mary of the Valley get a bequest?" I was upset at another priest's good fortune. I admit, the sin of envy often attacks me.
What should we do when envy attacks? We find the answer when we face Jesus' question: "Are you envious because I am generous?" You and I have to keep going back to the generosity of God. I may not have received a bequest, but I have received something even better: the generosity of God poured out in his Son Jesus.
St. Paul tells us we are interconnected like organs in body. If one suffers, all suffer. And if one thrives, all ultimately thrive. That other priest's bequest is like the water of an incoming tide. Eventually it will lift up all boats.
I grew up on Camano Island. An incoming tide brought blessings, but so did an outgoing tide. Sometimes those blessings were the best - clams, mussels and other shellfish. So it is with God's generosity. When the tide goes out, that can be the time of greatest blessings.
I am grateful for God's generosity - and the generosity that you express in Stewardship of time, talents and financial resources.
Next week we'll have a change of pace. We have a powerful reading from Paul's letter to the Philippians. He has a lot to say to our current situation.
That's for next Sunday. Today take this home: When envy enters the heart, we need to focus on God's generosity - when the tide comes in and when the tide goes out. Maybe then we can hear Jesus asking that tough question: "Are you envious because I am generous?" Amen
Homily from Father Alex McAllister SDS
Alexmcallister.co.uk
25 Ordinary Time
The parable we have just heard, about the men labouring in the vineyard, is probably one of the most familiar of all the parables. Our sympathies spontaneously go out to the fellow who laboured all day and yet who receives the same salary as the one who laboured only for one hour. But even so we still realise that this parable is more about the generosity of God than about our perception of fairness.
In one of my previous parishes a parishioner owned a vineyard and at harvest time I would sometimes go to help them, if only for the generous lunch afterwards. The owner once hosted a visit from a group of parishioners and explained the whole process of vine growing and wine making.
It was interesting to hear him talk about pruning. I, of course, knew that vines had to be pruned but I did not realise that there were several prunings and neither did I realise how precise the pruning has to be. It soon became obvious that running a vineyard was a fulltime occupation. He also told us that it depends a great deal on how the vine is grown as to how difficult the pruning is. If the vines are grown low to the ground then the pruning requires a lot of bending down and is therefore much harder work.
I imagine it was pruning that those chaps in the parable were hired to carry out. But it can’t have been very easy work especially in the heat of the day. The man who was hired at daybreak would have had just cause to be envious of the chap hired just for an hour in the comparative cool of the evening.
But let us turn our focus from the seeming injustice described in the parable to its actual setting in the vineyard. Each one of us is called to serve in the vineyard of the Lord which is the world around us. Each one of us has work to do for the Lord. We are Christians after all, the followers of Christ on earth, and we carry on his ministry in the world of today. We do what Christ did: we preach the Good News of the Kingdom; we heal the sick; we forgive the sinner; we spend time alone with God in prayer, we serve in his vineyard. We are his hands and his feet and everything we do is done in his name.
The world is our vineyard and we care for the vines its people: metaphorically we prune them and we protect them from frost and from predation. Some have a special role as priests, others as catechists or teachers, but all of us are workers in the vineyard of the Lord. All of us are baptised and confirmed into ministry in imitation of our Lord and Saviour. And we find that it is a fulltime occupation.
Our Christian life, therefore, is not merely restricted to going to Sunday mass and saying morning and night prayers. Our Christian life is like a seamless robe because our every thought and word and deed we intend to be an expression of our commitment to Christ. We are his apostles today and our apostolate, the term we give to the work of an apostle, is carried out in our homes, in our workplaces and in our leisure activities. Our vineyard is the world around us.
Not a few of us have been conscious of these things for a great number of years, perhaps even for our entire adult lives. We feel that we have done our duty and slaved tirelessly over decades for the sake of the Kingdom. It is only natural that we might become a little envious of those who hear the call of the Lord only late in life. Like the man in the parable we might harbour feelings that we have been unfairly treated when we see the latecomers treated exactly as ourselves.
But when such feelings rise to the surface, we ought to instantly realise that they are entirely unworthy of the true Christian. These are thoughts put into our minds by the evil one. Because what we are actually meaning when we think such thoughts is that it would have been really quite good if we could have lived a life of sin or at least lived a life apart from God and only chosen to embrace him at the eleventh hour!
But when we expose this way of thinking to the daylight, we see how flawed it is and we realise that we are truly blessed to have been chosen by God at all, let alone to have been called so early in our lives. We are indeed blessed and amply rewarded by God. He repays us for our labours with the joys of eternal life; in fact, there is nothing greater he could give us. And indeed, he either gives us eternal life or nothing at all.
So, the reaction of the faithful and wise Christian is not to bemoan that so many come late but to rejoice that so many are saved at all. If we do need some human consolation or extra pats on the back, as it were, then we should remind ourselves what it is we are about, remind ourselves of the true nature of our work for the Lord. It is, of course, building up his Kingdom here on earth and winning souls for heaven.
With this understanding every additional labourer coming into the Vineyard of the Lord is another soul won for Christ. Every additional labourer is the result of the cumulative efforts of the entire Church and a new outpouring of the grace and mercy of God. What greater cause of rejoicing could there be that, no matter how late the hour, more and more are being recruited into the Vineyard of the Lord and saved for eternal life.
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September 20, 2017 Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-san
