26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

September 27, 2026

What does it mean to say “yes” to Jesus?

GOSPEL

Matthew 21:28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not,' but afterwards changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, 'but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes
are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him."

REFLECTIONS ON THE GOSPEL

First Impressions by Jude Siciliano, OP

There is plenty of room in our readings from Ezekiel and Matthew. Room for what? Spacious room to change. In Ezekiel, God challenges the complaint that God is unfair. The prophet points out that there is plenty of room in God’s heart for the person who turns away from wrongdoing and begins to live rightly. That person, God says, “...shall preserve their life; they will surely live, they shall not die.” Similarly, in today’s passage from Matthew’s Gospel, the first son refuses his father’s command: “Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.” He says, “No,” but later changes his mind and goes. The father then approaches the second son and gives him the same command. The son says, “Yes, sir,” but does not go. Jesus shifts our attention from words to actions. One son said “No,” but eventually followed his father’s wishes and went to work. The other said “Yes,” but did not. For our Christian community, the readings from Ezekiel and Matthew call us to shift our attention from words to actions. This is an important examination for us. When we gather, we say and do the right things: we profess our faith, attend worship, and speak about the values of compassion and justice. But the Gospel asks whether our lives and our community actually embody what we profess. We are invited to examine our “Yes.” Is it possible to say the approved prayers, come to Mass, belong to parish groups, and speak about faith, yet fail to do the works of the Gospel? On the other hand, someone whose faith has been weak, or whose path has been troubled, can turn around and begin to live a Gospel life with sincerity. God leaves the door open for conversion. The parish, therefore, should not become a community that labels people according to their past. We are called to be a community where people can change, begin again, and discover that God’s mercy is always calling us forward. The question is not simply, “Have I said ‘yes’ to God?” It is, “Where is my ‘yes’ taking shape in the way I live?” The connection between Ezekiel and Matthew becomes especially clear when we see that both readings are about conversion: turning our lives around and putting our faith into action. Jesus is challenging our community. Are we merely saying “Yes” to God, or are we actually going into the vineyard? This suggests a reflection for our Eucharist today. We need to ask the Spirit to guide us: “Where is the vineyard I need to enter, and once there, what work am I being asked to do?” There is good news here. Jesus does not say that the person who once said “No” is beyond hope. What matters is the willingness to change and then act. The Christian community is not a community of people who have always said and done the right thing. It is a community continually learning to turn around, hear God’s call, and put faith into practice. The question for us is not simply, “What do we say we believe?” but “What are we doing because we believe it?” I confess that I do not always pay enough attention to the Responsorial Psalm. So, following the spirit of what I have said above, I would like to stop and reflect on today’s selection from Psalm 25. The Psalm gives us a prayer that naturally flows from the Ezekiel reading: “Teach me your paths, O Lord… Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God, my Savior.” The Psalmist does not claim to already know the right path. Instead, the Psalmist asks God to show the way and lead them along it. That is precisely the attitude Ezekiel calls for. Conversion is not simply feeling sorry for the past. It is turning and choosing a new direction. There is also a beautiful connection in the Psalm’s emphasis on God’s mercy: “Remember that your compassion, O Lord, and your love are from of old.” Ezekiel’s message might initially sound severe: our choices have consequences. But Psalm 25 shines light on the other side of that message: God is merciful and willing to teach, guide, and forgive. We are never trapped by our past. There is always room to turn around. There is always room to change. And, in the heart of God, there is always room to begin again.

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Quotable

“God makes us courageous people who, by confronting evil, build up the good.” —Pope Leo XIV, April 16, 2026

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Justice Bulletin Board by Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries, Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh, NC

Humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others.—Philippians 2: 3-4

Back in 1987, I had my first intense encounter with a truly financially challenged family when I agreed to re-draw plans for a Habitat for Humanity home to accommodate their family of eight. They were living in a rundown rental house in Wake County that had no running water, a leaking roof, and a single front door. Yet, Dorothy, the mom, had the most expansive, joyful personality. As a mother myself, I don’t know if I could have been so optimistic in her circumstances. She changed the trajectory of my life when I realized that she had the same hopes and dreams for her children as I had for mine. Accompanying others beyond my immediate family brought a joy and fulfillment as a Christian that I could not have imagined. Actions to bring God’s just kingdom to the world is both an attitude and a practical response based on the principle that everyone should look at another person as another self. Solidarity with others at every level is a way of accomplishing this. Solidarity takes many forms: “solidarity of the poor among themselves, between rich and poor, of workers among themselves, between employers and employees in a business, solidarity among nations and peoples” (CCC, no. 1941). In the Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium, 201), the late Pope Francis echoes this teaching: No one must say that they cannot be close to the poor because their own lifestyle demands more attention to other areas. This is an excuse commonly heard in academic, business or professional, and even ecclesial circles. While it is quite true that the essential vocation and mission of the lay faithful is to strive that earthly realities and all human activity may be transformed by the Gospel, none of us can think we are exempt from concern for the poor and social justice. Evangelical author Shane Claiborne states, “The great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor, but that rich Christians do not know the poor.” Are you a Christian that does not know a poor person? Join one of the social justice ministries at HNOJ Cathedral and be a friend to someone outside your box. It will change the trajectory of your life.

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Faith Book

Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run. “Faith Book” is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home.

From today’s Gospel reading: A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, “Son go out and work in the vineyard today.” He said in reply, “I will not,” but afterwards changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, “Yes, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did his father’s will?” They answered, “The first.”

Reflection: Did you notice in today’s parable there is no mention of how things turned out when the first son changed his mind and went into the vineyard? How hard of a worker was he when he finally got to the vineyard to work? Did he do what was expected of him? There are no standards or measurements of success laid out for us in this story.  The emphasis is just on someone who changed his mind; who in the end, responded to an invitation. Maybe that is what is pleasing to God: our desire to serve and our attempts, if at times feeble, to respond–while we leave plenty of room for God to step in and fill in the gaps. The big ones and the small ones.  

So, we ask ourselves:  

• Shall we pray today for healing from past hurts caused by those who lied to us or disappointed us? 

• And shall we ask for the ability to forgive them?  

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Benedictine Reflection

Monks in the Benedictine Tradition say that a good monk is “obedient”. What does that mean, “obedience?” To some, it means that we are to do as we are told. To others, it means that we are supposed to wait until we have asked what should be done. I can humorously picture a monk running through an Abbey to the Abbot about every little detail. “The root of obedience is the Latin word which means “to hear.” In fact, the first word in the Rule of St. Benedict is “Listen,” as in “listen to the ear of your heart.” To live a Christian life, it is important to be obedient to God. Yet, what does this “obedience” look like? Obedience is important to the understanding of this passage from the Gospel of Matthew. The parable that is painted of the two sons, one who says he will, but doesn’t and the one who says he won’t, but does. Just for popularity, Jesus points to the people who are supposed to be the leaders of the “chosen people”, and says, “you are the ones who say yes, but don’t follow through.” It is the equivalent of, “here! Let me stick my finger in your eye. ”Clearly, the second son was listening but not obedient. The first son, it seemed like he was not listening, but then an amazing thing happened. His heart became involved. The words of the Father, after a time of disobedience, began to sink into his heart. The first son was cut to the heart and realized that he was actively disobedient to his father. He was disrespectful to his father by saying no to his face. He was rude, arrogant and unappreciative of the help that his father needed. This is not to mention the disrespect of all that the father provided him. How would his dad feel about this? What kind of frustration must it have left the father in to think his son would just leave him hanging high and dry in the father’s day of need? What was the motive? Love, guilt, duty? What? The second son gives lip service to get the honor and the status, but then rejects his father and lives out the disrespect that the first son just could not upon thinking about it. The second son is the one who is selfish, self-serving, self-centered and the greater disappointment. There are several observations that need to be made here. Both of the sons are, well, sons. They are beloved of a father, a Father in Heaven, who created them and gives them life. God loves us all. I have said to you over and over again to remember that passage from the Sermon on the Mount in Chapter 5, which says, “[the Father] makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” We are not dealing with favorites. There are no favorites for God: he loves us all.  They are children who have been called upon by their Father to give help in the vineyard of life, to go and spread the word of the love of God. The job of spreading the word of God to all was given to the Chosen People and Jesus is saying that their leadership is not getting it done at that time. It is a lesson for our time. The Father in Heaven needs the word, his Word, spread more than ever. We need people to answer the calling to get out and go. The work in the vineyard is needed and you just might be asked by the Father to go and work it. The point should be made that the second son was disobedient, but so was the first. There are none who complete the word of God. None of us are perfect. None of us have been good all our lives. We all sin. Just like we should take note that God does not play favorites, we should do well to remind ourselves that all of us have failed God. Yet, what this also means is that, just like the first son, who blew it with his mouth, there is always a chance to repent. We CAN turn it around. We CAN read our Bibles for once. We CAN pray a little prayer everyday. We CAN invite our friend to church we have neglected for so long. There is never a time when we CANNOT start working in the vineyard for Jesus. The question is, how do we get to the vineyard, and the answer is in the Benedictine concept of “obedience.” Hear what the Benedictine Rule says,  “Listen, carefully, my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart.”  It means that if the Father tells you that the intent is to bring more people into the Church, then you are to do the loving thing, the kind thing that exhibits hospitality and welcoming others like that person is Christ. It does NOT mean that you would make people feel like they are outsiders and ostracized, lacking the love of God. Let me be clear, I am not advocating everything goes, by no means! I am advocating that we treat everyone with the same love with which God loves them. Does God send sunshine or rain on some, but not others? No, of course, not. Our approach is not to make everyone keep every jot and tittle of the law like we cannot do. It is to invite them to think of what the Father is asking of us, let it sink into our hearts and then invite them to turn from the way they were living and moving to a life that is in love with the Father. It is an invitation to a life that respects the Father and his requests. It is an invitation to a life of love of the other. It is a life that desires to love perfectly. All of these things are at the heart of what love is about. When Jesus was asked which of the commandments was the greatest, he answered that upon one commandment hung all the law AND the prophets: to love God, and the second was like it, to love your neighbor.  To be obedient to God is to ask in every situation, what is the loving thing? What is the thing that shows the greatest concern and care for the person standing right in front of me? Sometimes that means giving a little more mercy than is called for. Sometimes it means standing sadly and lovingly firm. Whatever it is, it is to love. The point of this parable is that we are to serve God out of love, not out of a sense of weaseling out of what we don’t want to do for the Father who loves us so. The point of the parable is that we don’t want to be like THAT GUY. Are you? Are you “THAT GUY?”In the coming week I challenge all of us to think of two things. First, wake up every day and realize that God loves us like he loves everyone. There is no one who is more valuable than us. We are no more valuable than anyone else. Second, what is it that God is asking you to do this day that you have been neglecting to do? Do it. He loves you, start to do it now. Amen? Amen.

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Commentary on Matthew 21:28-32

It helps to be aware that today’s Gospel reading follows immediately on yesterday’s when the authority of Jesus was called into question. Today Jesus offers the religious leaders a parable. It is about two sons who were asked by their father to go and work in his vineyard. One refused to go, but later repented and went. The other son said he would go, but did not. The question is then: “Which of the two did the will of his father?” The parable can be read on two levels. On a more general level, it is the common theme of the Gospel that doing is more important than mere words. “It is not those who just say, ‘Lord, Lord’ who will enter the Kingdom…” The important thing is actually to carry out the will of God in our daily lives. On a more particular level, the parable points to the situation which Jesus was facing.The religious leaders and many of the apparently religious people, who believed they were following God’s ways, refused to believe in John the Baptist and, after him, Jesus himself. On the other hand, people who were rated as deeply sinful and violators of the Law – tax collectors and prostitutes, responded to the call of John to repentance. They were deeply moved by John’s preaching, changed their ways and were baptised by him in the Jordan. Even after that, the religious leaders still made no move. When Jesus came, again the religious leaders refused to see God’s hand in all he was doing, while huge crowds gathered round him.The religious leaders are like the son who said ‘Yes’ to the Lord’s word but did not follow it out in their lives. They were experts in the wording and interpretation of the Law. The sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes, who had constantly violated the Law of God, repented and changed their ways. It is clear which group is finding its way into the Kingdom. Of course, we are not reflecting on these readings just to know how proud and arrogant the chief priests and elders were. They are for us to reflect on for our own lives. Do we think that because we are practising Christians we are in a privileged and untouchable position? Do we spend a lot of time praying in church but not doing much loving outside of it? Do we find ourselves speaking in a critical or condescending way of less devout Christians or of people who do not seem to be very moral by our standards? We have said Yes to God by our baptism and membership of the Church but can we say that we always carry out what God is asking us to do? Probably, after some honest reflection, we would have to admit that we are not really in a position to sit in judgment on others. Given the gifts and graces we have received as Christians, we may not be doing very well compared with those who have never enjoyed the support of a Christian faith and a Christian environment. As Christmas approaches, let us be followers of the Lord in deeds as well as words.

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From Matthew 20:17 to Matthew 21: 28

There is, as you can see, a gap between the gospel of the 25th Sunday and the Gospel of the 26th Sunday. In Chapter 20,on the 25th Sunday, we left Jesus speaking to his disciples about the laborers in the vineyard, trying to teach them that God’s economy is different from the world’s. At that point Jesus started what we now know was his final journey to Jerusalem. A lot of these events show up elsewhere in the liturgical cycle or are found in other liturgical cycles. He made his third and final prophecy of the passion; the mother of the sons of Zebedee made a request on their behalf that her sons get preference in the coming kingdom (we know how THAT turned out) and this led him to make remarks to the other 10 disciples about the importance of leaderships with service. Leaving Jericho, they met two blind men sitting by the side of the road who shouted a plea to Jesus to cure them. Out of pity , he did so. Chapter 21 opens with the approach of Jesus and disciples to Jerusalem. These stories show up in the Holy Week narratives, and include Jesus sending disciples to obtain a donkey, which He rode into Jerusalem (miming the entrance of the Roman soldiers from another gate, on large horses, with all the trappings of power). We see the enthusiastic greeting of the crowds, a story recalled in the Palm Sunday liturgy. Once in Jerusalem, Jesus proceeds to the temple and drives out the money changers, excoriating them for their greed and disrespect. After staying overnight in Bethany, Jesus returns to Jerusalem. On the way, he curses a barren fig tree for being useless, and it withers and is thrown into the sea. This event I s followed by Jesus teaching the temple, where his authority to do so is challenged by the chief priests and elders.  He refuses to tell them by what authority he has been preaching, and this is the place here we pick up today’s story. The parable of the two sons seems to have been addressed to those in authority at the temple and the Jewish leadership writ large. It is all about lip service versus actual engagement, and strikes at the hypocrisy of those who pretend to be more obedient to God than they really are.

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ENCOUNTER CHRIST REFLECTIONS AND MEDITATIONS

Preparation for the Session

Adapted from Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2025

Presence of God: Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence.  Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you. (1-2 minutes of silence)

Freedom: Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love. (1-2 minutes of silence)

Consciousness: Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life. (2-3 minutes of silence)

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Opening Prayer

Lord, help me to remember that the kingdom of heaven is not promised to the charmers, but to those whose life would make no sense if God did not exist. Help me to examine my behaviors and  focus on the times I have failed to live up to promises I have made. Keep me focused on my behavior and my lapses, rather than the failures and lapses of others. You see into my heart, and know what is there. Help me to fill my heart with love for you and others so that I may have the courage and the energy to follow through on promises I have made. 

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Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions“ 2008, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Remember index cards? I still use them and I notice some public speakers and preachers do too. Here is an index-card exercise. Think of the times people said they would do something for you—and didn't. Include the people who said they would do something, were sincere about it, but then changed their minds or, their hearts turned away from you.   Remember your disappointment? Write each time on a different index card. Warning: this can be a painful exercise. Then stack the cards in front of you. Are there a lot of cards in that stack? This will bring to mind incidents going all the way back to childhood when a friend made a promise with words and gesture, "cross my heart and hope to die." When a group of friends said they would get you through a difficult period or trial in your life and then, after initial responses, drifted away and got distracted by their own activities. A loved one dies and at the funeral home a cousin or sibling promises, "I will be there for you," and they weren't. A first date promised, but never called back and dropped off the face of the earth. I think we would have preferred outright rejections, a "No, I can't do that for you," is much more honest than a "Yes," that turns out to be a "No." When someone we trust or seems honest, gives us a "Yes" and doesn't follow through, we get blind-sided. We are caught off guard and are vulnerable, since we invested ourselves in their initial "Yes."  We thought we could fall back on their word; that we could rely on them when we needed them, but they never showed up; never even followed through to tell us why they weren't there for us when we needed them. "But you said...," we want to protest. They aren't there to hear our disappointment. There are some very serious moments in life when a person has given a "Yes" with solemnity and profundity. That kind of "Yes" is so serious it is placed in the context of a ceremony. Someone promises to love and be there in "good times in bad, in sickness and in death, till death do us part." But we come to discover that, even with all those words and ritual, the "Yes" was an empty one. Or, it was half-hearted. Or, after a while, a heart chilled, turned away and the "Yes" became a "No." How could we not be affected till this present moment by those disappointments? As we look at the index cards of empty promises, who would blame us for locking our heart in a box—locking it up and never again giving it away or entrusting it to another's promise? We look on those index cards with heavy hearts, scarred by the disappointments they represent. But we need to also acknowledge the times we too have said our "Yes"—and not followed through. Our "Yes" has become a ‘No." Do we remember? Should we write those occasions on another stack of cards to examine them and reflect on the effects those unfulfilled promises have had on others? We tried to please someone and said "Yes," but meant "No." We said "Yes," to avoid a confrontation—we were less than honest. We too gave our share of half-hearted "yeses."  People thought they heard commitment behind our "Yes," but our heart wasn't in it and it never left home; it stayed back in fear or indifference. Those who trusted our "Yes" were disappointed. Those of us who took vows, may have become less than committed, while not unfaithful, still not given a whole-hearted and responsive "Yes." We may have taken another for granted; let things slide; become unwilling to invest ourselves again when the going got tough. Through our baptism and the subsequent renewals of our baptismal promises, we have said our "Yes" to Jesus many times. But has that "Yes" now become a "No?" Have our religious practices become merely ritualistic?  Do we give the impression of being committed to our faith—but we know better. We may just be following the routine made firm by years of repetition. Our hearts aren't really in it; our "Yes," truth be told, is really a "No." We suspect that if we wanted to make an authentic "Yes" to Christ and his service, we would have to make some serious changes in our lives and we have decided not to do that. We might be well aware of our deep-down resistance to God. We may be like people who go to a twelve-step program, listen to the witness of people who have been helped; hear what will be required of us to make a similar change, and decide to just go along pretending to what is not true—our words don't measure up to the reality of our actions.  We say a public "Yes," but we know our hearts aren't in it. To this Sunday’s Eucharist we bring both stacks of index cards. We bring our hearts that have been wounded by the disappointments and betrayals we have experienced in our lives. We bring the hurts caused by promises made to us, that went unfulfilled. We ask for healing, so that our hearts, once hardened by betrayals great and small, might be softened by the Christ who is present to us in this sacrament and who knows himself the wounds of betrayal caused by those closest to him. We ask for healing. We also ask for forgiveness for those we have disappointed with our empty or half-hearted "Yeses." They put trust in us, perhaps at their most vulnerable times, and we did not follow through and were not there when we promised we would be. What I find interesting in today's parable is that there is no mention in it of how things turned out. How hard of a worker was the first son when he finally got to the vineyard to work?  Did he meet his quota; do what was expected of him? There are no standards of measurements laid out for us in this story.  The emphasis is just on someone who changed his mind; who in the end, responded to an invitation. Maybe that is what is pleasing to God: our desire to serve; our attempts to respond—while we leave plenty of room for God to step in and fill in the gaps. The big ones and the small ones.  

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Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today's reading and discussion? Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions which follow.

Reflection Questions:

What are the subtle ways in which a “yes” becomes a “no”?

Have I ever said “yes” to someone or to a group but really meant “no”?  

Have I ever said “yes” but somehow never got around to living out that “yes”?
What were the reasons—to keep the peace in the moment; to avoid public embarrassment; to avoid conflict, laziness or forgetfulness for example?
Did it change my relationship to the person or to the group?

Did I ever acknowledge my failure to follow through or did I just ignore it, hoping no one would notice?
How did it work out?

It is easy to give words of assent, and harder to follow through with time, effort and attention. With which of these two sons do I identify myself? 
Which am I—the smooth but unreliable daddy-pleaser, or the guy who, even with a bad grace, does the job?

How many times did someone in my life say he or she would do something, and then did not?
How did I feel?  
Did it alter our relationship?

Has my response to such a disappointment been an unwillingness to trust anyone again, or an unwillingness to take a risk?

What is the difference between a casual promise to do something and a solemn promise to do something (a dinner date or a vacation plan vs marriage vows, religious vows, a confidentiality promise, a legal agreement)?

Who, in today’s world, would be the ones society considers “righteous ones”?
Today, who are the “prostitutes” and the “publicans” who say: “I do not want to”, but who end by doing the will of the Father?

Jesus, on his last journey to Jerusalem, makes it clear to the important religious leaders within his hearing that He considers them people who practice lip service, but whose hearts are far from God. Again, He states a preference for those the world deems unworthy or sinful, but who change their hearts and minds to do God’s will. How comfortable am I with that idea?

Have I ever been complacent about my relationship with God?
Have I ever fallen away, even a little, from my commitment to Jesus and the gospel?   

In other words, Have I ever said “yes” to God, but failed to keep my promise? 
What were the reasons?
Can I recommit?  
Why or why not?

Do I see in this gospel a message that it is never too late to turn back to doing what God wants?

Conversion is a lifetime process, so where am I in the process of conversion?

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Closing Prayer

Don’t forget to provide some prayer time at the beginning and at the end of the session (or both), allowing time to offer prayers for anyone you wish to pray for: 

Lord, help me to say yes when I am supposed to and no when I have to—discerning what my answer should be through prayer and reflection. May your will be done, and may I be a manifestation of that will. Help me to be honest and true, faithful and giving without strings attached…Please show your kindness and understanding to those who were not able to follow through, who failed you for one reason or another.  Help me to be an instrument of your kindness and understanding to those ion my life who have failed me or failed themselves.

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For the Week Ahead

Weekly Memorization
Taken from the gospel for today's session: Which of the two did the Father’s will?

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Meditations

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:
I think of those people in my life who have disappointed me in one way or another.  Have I forgiven them?  Was that forgiveness extended in such a way that I was able to use it as way of reminding them how they failed me in the past? Was it a revisiting  of the sense of betrayal I felt so they could feel guilty all over again?   How could I forgive people for failing me without dredging up those failures?  Can I forgive myself  for the times I have failed another, or failed God?   What does that process look like?

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:
Often, when people are attracted to a certain religion or when people who are repelled by the same, there has been an experience with a person who mirrored for them a certain notion of religion.  People who encounter scandalous, indifferent, ignorant, judgmental or intolerant Catholics are going to be repelled. People who encounter joyful Catholics who believe and can be honest with their joys and struggles might be attracted and even converted. So the challenge is this: Can you give an account of your faith?  Can you avoid defensiveness and “church-speak” when discussing your religious views? Are you a welcoming and understanding person?  Are you re-making the Church and God in your own image and presenting that image as truth? Are you slapping quick and uncompromising theological answers on some really painful dilemmas people have?  Are you listening for what is not being said?  Are you mirroring Jesus as he talked to tax collectors and sinners? Is your version of Church always right, or can you enter into dialogue? In your interactions this week try to reflect on the version of Catholicism you are presenting to those you meet. It really matters!

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:
(From “Sacred Space,” A service of the Irish Jesuits)
Jesus says to me: ”What do you think”? Do I take time out to think about where I stand in relation to God? Do I give my soul an opportunity to catch up? I ask the Lord to help me to give time to thinking about things that really matter…I review the statements and declarations I have made; I ask God to help me abide by them and accept God’s forgiveness for where I have fallen short…Jesus speaks this parable to me. I avoid applying it to others right now and simply accept Jesus’ warmth as he sees how I have served. I listen for his invitation as he shows me where I hold back…To live in the kingdom is to be ready to rub shoulders with all kinds. God’s love is given freely and is accepted by many. I pray  for a heart that is open to those who are not like me…

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Poetic Reflection

This poem by e.e.cummings demonstrates the complacency of those who are sure they do no wrong, are sure that they have always said “yes”, but who have often said “no” to what matters, like humility, caring for others, not bad-mouthing or gossiping about others, listening to the voice of God in their lives, etc.

the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls
are unbeautiful and have comfortable minds
(also, with the church's protestant blessings
daughters, unscented shapeless spirited)
they believe in Christ and Longfellow, both dead,
are invariably interested in so many things-
at the present writing one still finds
delighted fingers knitting for the is it Poles?
perhaps. While permanent faces coyly bandy
scandal of Mrs. N and Professor D
....the Cambridge ladies do not care, above
Cambridge if sometimes in its box of
sky lavender and cornerless, the
moon rattles like a fragment of angry candy