26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 1, 2023

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

Matthew 21:28–32

[The Parable of the Two Sons]

“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 he 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.”

Music Meditations

• “Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life” (arrangement by Tony Alonso) [YouTube]
• “O God Beyond All Praising” (sung by OCP Session Choir) [YouTube]
• “Lead Me, Guide Me” (sung by Morgan State University Choir) [YouTube] (gospel)
• “The Lord Is My Light” (sung by Morgan State University Choir) [YouTube] (gospel)
• Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) (by Chris Tomlin) [YouTube] (praise and worship)

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.

Companions for the Journey

From “Frist 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.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Which of the two did the Father’s will?

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 or the meditations 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?

Meditations

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……

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!

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

Closing Prayer

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’

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 24, 2023

God’s notion of fairness is different from ours

Matthew 20:1–16

“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, he 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, he 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.”

Music Meditations

• Seek Ye First—Maranatha
• Seek the Lord while He may be found—OCP
• My worth is not in what I own—Fernando Ortega and Kristin Getty
• Whatsoever you do—Robert Kolchis

Opening Prayer

From the First Reading for the 25th Sunday A

Isaiah 58:6–8, 10–11—on authentic fasting that leads to blessing

Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking off every yoke?

Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry,
bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own flesh?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

If you lavish your food on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then your light shall rise in the darkness,
and your gloom shall become like midday;

Then the LORD will guide you always
and satisfy your thirst in parched places,
will give strength to your bones
And you shall be like a watered garden.

Companions for the Journey

Adapted from “First Impressions” 2011:

“I will give you what is just” Each of the laborers would need a day's pay to feed their families. Each day, as day laborers, they would have gone out looking for work—day by day—standing around, hoping to get hired, needing to get hired—all along, thinking of the hungry mouths back home. So what pay would be “just”?

These are tough economic times. We have many unemployed and those who do have jobs are working very hard every day. But even if the times weren’t as difficult still, we admire hard workers. We don’t admire shirkers, for we seem to have an innate sense of what’s fair. If a person has a job to do, they should, we believe, do it properly and then receive fair compensation. So today, when we hear the parable of the vineyard workers we tend to identify with and take the side of the “all-day workers.” These are they who say, “We bore the day’s burden and the heat.” Who hasn’t worked like that or, right now, has a job that feels like that?

When those, in Jesus’ parable, who worked the whole day, see what the latecomers have received, the same pay but for only an hour’s work, they go to the owner of the vineyard and make their complaint. “These last ones worked only one hour and you have made them equal to us.” It’s as if the owner broke a contract he made with them and they are indignant.

I think there was a contract—it was in the owner’s mind all along. Because, as the day wore on and he kept going out to hire still more laborers, he stopped naming the salary he would give them. He tells the first group, hired at dawn, that he would pay the “usual daily wage.” When he told the next group to go and work in his vineyard, he doesn’t mention the pay, but merely says, “I will give you what is just.” After that, for the next groups, again the pay isn’t mentioned, just the instruction, “Go into my vineyard.” So, there are hints early in the parable that something different is afoot.

I think the owner planned all along to pay all the workers a full day’s pay because they were day laborers. All were needy and vulnerable, each of them would need a day’s pay to feed their families. Each day, as day laborers, they would have gone out looking for work—day by day—standing around, hoping to get hired, needing to get hired—all along, thinking of the hungry mouths back home.

Why were some standing around, still waiting for work towards the end of the day? We are not told that they were the lazy ones who casually came out late in the day looking for a little work. Probably they were still without work because the strongest and youngest would have been hired first. Those not hired earlier would have been the  elderly, disabled, children and women too—except perhaps, for the very strongest. In our world there is the dictum, “A fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.” At most of our workplaces there are work evaluations done periodically and the productivity of an employee is reviewed regularly. Raises are based on merit. Often there is a union scale and minimum wage to protect workers. When it works, you get just pay for an honest day’s work.

But Jesus isn’t talking about our labor and pay policies. It’s not a parable about how we are to treat employees. He isn’t telling us to pay people for doing only a little work. Rather, he is describing how God acts towards us; how things are in the “kingdom of heaven” where God’s influence is felt and God’s power is at work. In the kingdom of heaven, judging from today’s parable, the guiding principle is generosity and it is given with no little element of surprise. How could those minimal workers have even hoped for a full day’s pay? You arrive at a friend’s house for dinner, ring the doorbell and when the door is opened a crowd of your closest family and friends are there to shout, “Surprise!” It’s your birthday. That’s not something you planned for; maybe you don’t think you deserve all the fuss. But there it is a party for your benefit, “Surprise!”

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a superstar performer for the Lord. The bottom line is that while I try to do my best, I don’t want to be judged by just my accomplishments. There are days of hard work with their successes.  But there are other less-satisfying days, when I would not like a measure taken of the day’s achievements for the Lord. Some days I invest less effort in what I must do and there are times, I know, I could have done a lot better. What about those other times in our lives we would like to forget, when we should have made different and better choices? But we didn’t. How is all that going to be evaluated at the end of our lives?

We are the recipients of such generosity from God. Jesus first of all paints a concrete picture of what grace is like. If we, who hear this parable today, are awake to what is being offered us again at this Eucharist, then we would have to conclude, “How can I be as generous to others, as God has been to me?”

A woman was interviewed on television. She was chosen as a “heroic mother,” who single-handedly raised a large family. All her children did very well in life and turned out to be good adults with good jobs and families of their own. Hers was a story worth acknowledging and celebrating. The person interviewing her, as if to get some formula that others could imitate to achieve successful families, commented, “I suppose you loved all your children equally, making sure they all got the same treatment.”

“No,” she said, “I love them. I love them all, each one of them. But not equally. I loved the one that was down till he got up. I loved the one that was weak until she got strong. I loved the one that was hurt until he was healed. I loved the one that was lost until she was found.”  What’s it like in God’s world? What is the kingdom of heaven like? It’s like a mother who loves all her children according to their need, and loves them until they become who they were created to be—and then continues to love them.

We have asked God for forgiveness and believe we have received it today—whether we think we deserve it or not.  The parable has taken flesh in our lives. We who have experienced love may think we are not worthy of it, but we are blessed by it nevertheless. The parable has taken flesh in our lives. We have done a small deed for someone, or some group, and the good effects in their lives are out of proportion to our efforts for them. We have known the parable in our lives. Late in our lives we awake to God’s presence and goodness. We wish we hadn’t let so many years go by unconscious to the God we have now come to know. We have known the parable in our lives.

If we have a notion that God thinks and acts like us, today’s parable should dispel that thought.  But the God Jesus reveals didn’t begin to exist with the opening verses of the New Testament. Our Isaiah reading should convince us of that.  The prophet makes it quite clear that God does not act or judge the way we do. We tend to cling to past wrongs done us and keep a mental list of those who have offended us.  We conclude that God will treat them similarly—it’s only fair, we proclaim. But God’s graciousness, Isaiah tells us, is unbounded and beyond human reckoning. While we might conclude that God measures out grace and forgiveness according to our standards of justice, by what we determine a person deserves, the prophet reveals a God who shatters human standards beyond all our reasoning and expectation.

We ourselves might not feel deserving of such a bountiful God, still, today’s scriptures invite us to put aside any false humility we might have and become truly humble by saying “Yes” to our generous God’s offer of forgiveness and love. With empty hands we come receptive to the generous gift God is offering us at this Eucharist; a meal that unites us in love with our God, the source of all life and holiness, unearned but nevertheless present at this moment to us.

Further reading:

• A Reflection on the Poor and Matthew 20:1-16 >>
• Matthew chapter 19, >> [usccb.org] which is skipped the current liturgical cycle A

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Are you envious because I am generous?

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 or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Do I see this parable as a story of human need or as a story of rank unfairness?
• Describe a time when you were bothered or annoyed by a situation in which someone was unfairly the recipient of generosity.
• Have you ever been criticized for giving someone else a break?
• Have there been times when I have considered myself more deserving than others?
  Have I ever felt unappreciated by those around me?
• We live in a meritocracy. How does our culture conflict with this parable?
• What does this parable say about the day laborers in Jesus’ time, about what would be a payment “that is right”?
  What does this parable say about God?
  Describe God’s sense of fairness as you understand it.
• What is the economic situation for day laborers in our current society?
  Have you ever been one or hired one?
• What is the state of economic security, food security, health security and education security in our country right now?
• Do we measure a person’s worthiness by how educated she is, how hard she works, how long he has been in this country, whether he has earned my respect or forgiveness?
• Do you know of anyone who takes no joy in work, finds no dignity in work, works only for the money it produces to supply what she or her family needs to live?
  What in our society contributes to this joylessness?
• What does it do to a person’s dignity when he cannot work, especially in this country?
• What effect does social injustice have upon the world?
  How do you see social justice principles affecting our national policies toward the poor in our country and in other parts of the world?
• What is the difference between charity and justice? Is one more important than the other?
• How is the kingdom of God different from the systems/values we encounter on earth?
  Do you want always to be judged according to strict justice?
  Or do you want to leave room for mercy?
• Do you ever feel like the workers who were hired at dawn and had worked all day?
• What do you do with your resentments?
• Does it bother us more when bad things happen to good people or when good things happen to bad or undeserving people?
• From Fr. Daniel Harrington, S.J.:
  Have you ever been the recipient of someone’s unexpected generosity?
  How did you respond?
• Do most of us make God over in our own image, and do we have problems when God’s actions or words as translated through Jesus do not match the image we have created? Examples (The Prodigal Son, Mary and Martha, lost sheep, etc.) ?
• Do I think of the “kingdom of God” as something we earn after death through sacrifice and good deeds?
  Do I think of the “kingdom of God” as God himself who is pure love and nothing else?
  Do I think of the “kingdom of God” as the world’s values transformed by love and compassion for others?
  How has my religious tradition influenced my understanding of the term “kingdom of God”?
• Are there “bad” people in heaven?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions

I consider the problem of envy. The older brothers of Joseph, Cain, the elder son in the parable popularly known as the Prodigal Son, countless wicked stepmothers—all suffered from envy. Envy begrudges another what we think we lack or feel we deserve. It has a terrible and sometimes paralyzing effect on us. We cannot think rationally, we cannot act rationally. Sometimes we cannot act at all, but seethe with resentment. Other times the corrosive emotions of anger and despair drive us to harm the object of our envy in some way. As a child, we may have struck another or taken something from him that he loved and destroyed it. As older and more subtle adults we use the weapons of gossip, criticism, cynicism and indifference to wound those we envy. I think about someone in my life of whom I was envious. Why? Was it deserved? Were frustration and despair a part of the picture? Did I have trouble admitting that my feelings toward this person were caused by envy? Did I feel inferior to this person? Unfairly treated by life? Defeated by my own limitations? Did I devalue in my own mind what this person had in order to make myself feel better? How did I resolve the problem? Was I ever the object of anyone else’s envy? Did I feed into it in any way? I pray to God for the clarity of vision to recognize and root out envy in myself, and to recognize and change behaviors which may cause people to envy me.

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Adapted from “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province, by Fr. Jude Siciliano:

“Listen… I want to tell you a story…

“My name is Benjamin. I was there—I was in the vineyard that day… hired at the last hour, I could not believe the blessing! How could he have known how desperate I was, walking the marketplace since dawn in the heat, praying that I would not have to go home to my children empty-handed. But no one would hire me…

“Please forgive me for what I am about to tell you, but you see, I used to be a tax collector. It was despicable work, cheating my own people, and over the years I came to despise myself, although the money fed my children and family. But I can no longer hurt my people, and two weeks ago resolved to seek honest work. How I regretted my past then! No one would hire me… they spit in my face and laughed at my need. My children are hungry, and today I promised my wife that if I did not find work I would relent and return to my shameful employment. And so you cannot imagine my joy when the owner of the vineyard gave me a chance. And to be paid a full day’s wage! This is beyond my dreams. It has been salvation for me and for my family. And now I must go to them…”

What might have happened if the other, resentful laborers had known this story? What if they had bothered to come close enough to ask Benjamin and the other latecomers why they had been in the marketplace all day—and learned it was “because no one hired us”? Can you picture them wanting to help this brother who is trying to start a new life—and spontaneously reaching into their pockets to share their hard-earned wages? Perhaps they would even realize that their “usual daily wage” is neither “usual” nor “theirs” at all—but is a gift from the ever-generous vineyard-owner… a gift to be shared. Their resentment could turn to rejoicing that they and their fellow workers really have been given all they truly need.

How easy it is for us, initially, to identify with those disgruntled, angry laborers. After all, we live in a culture that teaches us: “Survival of the fittest! It’s mine, I earned it! I worked hard for this, I have a right to it!” We live in a world torn by the violence of competition and misunderstanding, as we battle over money and power, land, culture, images of God. We worry about our national security, our economy, and we too easily turn to violence to protect what we grasp. My possessions. My land. My God.

It is easy to feel threatened by the “other”—the foreigner, the different, the marginalized. Matthew’s community was apparently no different in this regard. A Jewish community only recently joined by Gentiles, they had to learn that their generous God welcomed the outsider, the latecomer, and called the stranger to be brother and sister to the community laboring in the vineyard of the kingdom.

The Gospel invites them, and all of us, to allow our God who knows all hearts to open our heart to the other—and to transform our perception. From entitlement to gratitude… from resentment to rejoicing… from anger to understanding. Thich Nhat Hahn, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, tells us: “When you understand, you cannot help but love. You cannot get angry. To develop understanding, you have to practice looking at all living beings with the eyes of compassion. When you understand, you love. And when you love, you naturally act in a way that can relieve the suffering of people.”

What would our world be like if we responded to God’s invitation to know and welcome the stranger? If we each could reach out and come close enough to know the stories of the marginalized people in our church, our workplace, our society? What stranger, what latecomer are you invited to open your heart to, today? And what mystery of transformation might our generous God work in that sharing?

Literary Reflection:

Some of us may need an attitude adjustment about how we value money and others’ needs for basic necessities. This poem by Wendell Berry, a former Stanford Stegner Fellow, is a wake-up call:

“We Who Prayed and Wept”

We who prayed and wept
for liberty from Kings
and the yoke of liberty
accept the tyranny of things
we do not need.
In plenitude too free,
we have become adept
beneath the yoke of greed.

Those who will not learn
in plenty to keep their place
must learn it by their need
when they have had their way
and the fields spurn their seed.
We have failed Thy grace.
Lord, I flinch and pray,
send Thy necessity.

from Selected Poems

Closing Prayer

From New Seeds of Contemplation, by Thomas Merton:

Kyrie
Keep me, above all things, from sin.
Keep me from loving money, in which is hatred
From avarice and ambition that suffocate my life.
Keep me from the deadly works of vanity
And the thankless labor for pride, money and reputation

A Reflection on the Poor and Matthew 20:1-16

FOUR THINGS THE POOR ARE NOT

In the wake of the parable everybody loves to hate, (The Laborers in the Vineyard, remember?) there were a lot of discussions this week about the vineyard owner. Was he just? It depends, I guess, on how you define justice. Distributive justice asserts that the community has an obligation to provide the basic necessities of life to all who need them, unless there is an absolute scarcity of resources. If there is an artificial scarcity because too few have too much at the expense of those who have too little to survive and thrive, then this is a violation of justice. In a country built on meritocracy, this theory of distributive justice is not only annoying, it hits at the heart of what we have been conditioned to believe.

For most of us, the questions are real and difficult: Does someone have a right to a share in the wealth of this country simply because he or she lives in it? Who, exactly, owns the earth or its water or oil? Well, the parables of Jesus constantly walk around the issue of justice, often in ways that startle, confuse or anger us. Jesus had quite a bit to say about individual selfishness, and about political and social structures in which the rich prey on the poor. For Jesus, justice was not necessarily about giving people what they deserve, but what they need. One way to distance ourselves from the changes we ought to make is to distance ourselves from those who deserve better, just because they are humans like us. What follows are reflections that force us to look at the poor more honestly:

The poor are not always needing only charity, but are needing justice. Charity is a great first step. It bridges the gap between what is and might be. It rescues people from hunger, homelessness and despair. Justice, however, insists on fidelity to relationships, and those relationships are with all of our fellow human beings, not just those closest to us. Justice, unlike charity, is not something we do out of the kindness of our hearts; it is something we do because we are obliged to respect the dignity of all human persons and to work to change unjust political, social or economic structures which keep the poor in poverty.

The poor are not always very visible

We must go out of our way to find those who need assistance. Often, those who lack the basic necessities of life are so ashamed of their condition that they try to look like everyone else. For every person who begs outside of a grocery store, there are perhaps ten times that number who sleep in their cars, or send their children off to school without breakfast, or who go without medical attention or prescription drugs, or a warm coat or shoes that actually fit. The vast majority of the poor suffer and worry alone.

Helping the poor is not always rewarding: When you read Charles Dickens, you sometime might get the impression that the poor are universally noble, so it comes a a shock to the system to discover that reality is not like novels.. Sometimes people who live in poverty are angry. Sometimes they have just given up. Sometimes they are dishonest and take advantage of the system. But most are not like that. Often we use the few bad examples as an excuse to do nothing. Bishop Kenneth Untener put it this way "When you help the poor you always receive more than you give--but it may not seem that way at the time."

The poor are not different from us: They laugh and cry, get angry and rejoice, worry and love, just we do. They care for their families just as much as we do. The following is a poem written by a woman living in poverty with her children:

My Name is not “ Those People”

I am a loving woman, a mother in pain, giving birth to the future

where my babies have the same chance to thrive as anyone.

My name is not “Inadequate.”

I did not make my husband leave us—he chose to,

And chooses not to pay child support.

Truth is though, there isn’t a job base for all

Fathers to support their families.

While society turns its head, my children pay the price.

My name is not “Lazy, Dependent Welfare Mother.”

If the unwaged work of parenting, homemaking and community

building was factored into the gross national product, my work

would have untold value. And I wonder why my middle-class sisters

whose husbands support them to raise their children are

glorified—and they don’t get called lazy and dependent.

My name is not “ Ignorant, Dumb, or Uneducated.”

I live with an income of $621 with $169 in food stamps.

Rent is $585. That leaves $36 a month to live on. I am such a genius

At surviving that I could balance the state budget in an hour.

My name is not “Lay Down and Die Quietly.”

My love is powerful and my urge to keep my children alive

will never stop. All children need homes and people who love them.

They need safety and the chance to be the people

they were born to be.

The wind will stop before I let my children become a statistic.

Before you give in to the urge to blame me,

the blame that lets us go blind and unknowing

into the isolation that disconnects us, take another look.

Don’t go away.

For I am not the problem, but the solution.

And my name is not “Those People.”

--Julia Dinsmore

“Unless you love, the poor will not forgive you for the bread they take from you.”... St Vincent de Paul

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 17, 2023

Forgiveness is not optional

Matthew 18:21–35

Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.

That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt.

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.

So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

Music Meditations

• “Kyrie Eleison” (Chris Tomlin) [YouTube]
• “Loving and Forgiving” (Scott Soper) [YouTube]
• “Hosea” (Gregory Norbet; sung by John Michael Talbot) [YouTube]
• “The Lord’s Prayer” (sung by Andrea Bocelli, feat. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir) [YouTube]

Opening Prayer

Lord, teach me openness of heart to those who need my understanding and forgiveness. Help me to extend forgiveness that is genuine and complete, not conditional or grudging. I know this is so very hard, Lord, and I will need your guidance and understanding. Help me to realize when I need forgiveness of you or others I my life, and grant me the humility to admit when I have been wrong.

Companions for the Journey

Adapted from John Boll, O.P. in “First Impressions,” 2005, and William Bausch in 60 More Seasonal Homilies:

I think today’s readings stir up some questions in all of us: Jesus’ answer seems naïve and maybe even dangerous. He seemed to lack any common sense or even to have forgotten the apparent likelihood that giving lots and lots of pardons would not even in the tiniest way get anyone to stop doing bad things. And yet, I suspect Jesus was not all that naïve—I think we need to look at some assumptions we make about forgiveness, so here are five things forgiveness is NOT:

1. Forgiveness is not ignoring evil and forgetting wrongs that have been committed by individuals, governments, churches—even ours. In some places—the Balkans, Northern Ireland, the Middle East—to forgive my enemy is to betray my ancestors; to forgive is to make a mockery of their sacrifices; to forgive is to condone wrongs against justice and decency. Elie Weisel, in speaking of the Holocaust said: “We must forgive, but we must never forget.”
2. Forgiveness is not the enabling of bad or destructive behavior. We hear all the time of people who stay in abusive relationships out of a mistaken sense of their obligation to “turn the other cheek”. Let me be very clear: I don’t think we are called to be passive victims of abusive and destructive behavior. Rather, I think what we are actually empowered to do is to invoke civil law to extricate ourselves and those for whom we are responsible from a dangerous situation, and then we invoke divine law or the grace of God to help us heal and get rid of our anger so we can move on with a productive and happy life. We hear also of co-dependents in addictive situations—alcohol or drugs—who forgive and forgive, and their loved one does not get better, he or she gets worse. So the reality is that a simplistic ”forgive and forget” is not what is called for here. Another way of putting it is: that we must forgive the sin, but remember the crime.
3. Forgiveness is not a demonstration of my wonderfulness. This is forgiveness with a hook, one-up forgiveness, and it says, in effect: “I have weighed, judged you and your behavior and found you sorely lacking in qualities that are worthy of my respect. I have these qualities at this point in time, but you do not. I humbly recognize my superior moral strength and your weakness, my consistent moral behavior and your lack of morality. I forgive you your trespasses. You, of course, will find some suitable way to be grateful from this day forward.”
   This is not forgiveness. This is manipulation.
4. Forgiveness is not easy—sometimes it might even be impossible. I don’t know how a rape victim forgives her rapist. I don’t know how the victim of sexual abuse as a child ever learns to get over it. I don’t know how someone whose parents were gassed in Auschwitz learns to forgive the Nazis who were the instrument of their deaths; I don’t know how the widow in Northern Ireland or New York gets past the anger and resentment. I don’t know how a parent learns to forgive someone who has damaged or murdered his or her child. In fact, if I am sure of anything at all, it is that God understands our sorrows and our difficulties with resentment, anger—understands, maybe even, our inability to let go and forgive someone. At least, I sincerely hope so. Yes, forgiveness is not easy—in fact, it is impossible, without God’s help.
5. Forgiveness is not optional—This passage from Matthew tells us that we should be merciful primarily because each of us has received mercy. We are to forgive, not because someone deserves our forgiveness, but because we have been forgiven. When, at the end of the Our Father, we pray, “forgive us our trespasses as we Forgive those who trespass against us,” we are asking God to let the experience of being forgiven so transform our hearts that we may likewise forgive others. It would be a foolish person who would pray the other way around, asking God to forgive us only in the puny measure we are able to forgive others. Our life with God is a gift, from beginning to end. Whenever we asked for forgiveness from God, we received it. The Eucharist is our act of thanksgiving for what we realize again we have received from the hands of a gracious God. A sign that we really believe we have been forgiven free of charge, is to give similar forgiveness to others, again and again.

Further reading:

• Reflection on Matthew 18:21-35 from “Living Space” >>

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Lord,…How often must I forgive?

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 or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Have I ever had a falling out with a friend who hurt me? How did I deal with it?
• “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”?
  How does this phrase refer to my personal obligation to forgive?
  Does it mean that I will, in one way or another, take my grudges and my lack of forgiveness into the kingdom of God here on earth, which clearly has no place for them?
  Does it mean I will take my grudges and my lack of forgiveness with me into the next life?
• Do I sometimes identify myself by a wound I have suffered or by an abuse I have endured? (I am a _______ survivor.)
  Why do I do this?
  How does it keep my notion of victimhood alive?
• How hard is it for me to forgive someone who has really hurt someone I love?
• How have past hurts affected my attitude about trusting others?
• How grudgingly do I extend forgiveness to others?
• Do I demand forgiveness of another, while withholding my forgiveness of someone?
• How is forgiveness related to mercy?
• From theologian Romano Guardino:
  Justice is the enemy of love. Do I agree or disagree?
• How does forgiveness exist while I am still seeking punishment?
  Can it?
• Do I have trouble asking for or receiving forgiveness?
  Why is that?
• How do I reconcile the reality that true forgiveness has no end—that we are called to forgive over and over—with the need for self-preservation?
• How do I forgive a wrong that has been done to me while preserving my own safety and sanity?
  At what point must I say “no more”?
• How is forgiveness of another a type of healing for me?
  Do I see my own lack of forgiveness as shackles that bind me to the past or to another that I wish to be free from?
• From Jude Siciliano. O.P.:
  What effect has forgiveness had on my own life?
  What person or institution am I called to forgive?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions

Adapted from “First Impressions,” a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

In today’s gospel passage Peter puts a question about forgiveness to Jesus. Peter seems to think he has the right answer. But Jesus answers the question in a way that must have surprised Peter and, as if to back up his response, Jesus tells a parable. But this parable isn’t like one of those passages we frequently mention, easily accessible for reflection. It is a rough-sounding parable. On first hearing we feel edgy because God doesn’t come off sounding like anyone we’d like to get close to or get to know. After ending the parable about the unforgiving debtor’s being handed over to the torturers, “until he should pay back the whole debt,” Jesus adds, “So shall my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother/sister from your heart.” See what I mean? Sounds like quite a change from the loving compassionate God Jesus has been manifesting in his speech and actions. As a preacher I also suspect that closing line is going to reinforce the image of the punishing and demanding God some of us still carry around within us, even if it is deep down at an unconscious level. What’s a preacher to do with all the baggage this parable is carrying?

How did you respond emotionally as well as intellectually to this parable? What does it say about what God demands of us, even when it seems hard?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Is true forgiveness hard? Yes, but it is also necessary for our emotional and spiritual health. Think of someone who has hurt you in some way, and try to begin the process of forgiveness. Father Patrick Brennan in his book: The Way of Forgiveness, says that we stay forever frozen in the past if we do not begin somewhere. He suggests that we start by naming the pain. Perhaps you could use a journal to articulate those feelings of anger, hurt, revenge, depression. Stay with this exercise until you can accurately state what happened and how you felt. Hard as it is, this is the first step in moving forward.

After doing this, read Luke 22:39–46. What pain do you think Jesus was going through at this time? How did his disciples hurt him? Name some other times when Jesus was hurt by those around him. How do you think he felt? Do you think he forgave them?

The next thing to do is to DECIDE to forgive. You may revisit this decision many times, praying for the strength, the courage and the generosity of spirit forgiveness requires. Note: the decision to forgive must not necessarily be conveyed to the person who hurt you, and in any event may not be communicated in a way that merely reinforces your sense of being wronged, or demonstrates any sort of moral superiority.

Your next step might be to pray for the one(s) who have offended you.

These steps may not always follow the pattern outlined. Like any emotional process, we may revisit certain stages until we have mastered them. The key to making this work rests in prayer and loving kindness--the sort Jesus modeled for us.

And finally, reflect on what you have learned from your painful experience, thanking God for the wisdom you have gained.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

We cannot talk of forgiveness without discussing prison and our prison system, including capital punishment. First, we need to think about why we have prisons in the first place. They seem to have several purposes: retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. A majority of people consider retribution the primary purpose of prisons. Depriving criminals of their freedom is a way of making them pay their debt to society by punishing them for their crimes. And these prisons should not be country clubs; they should be uncomfortable and maybe even harsh. These criminals are being PUNISHED! They hurt others; we need to hurt them. The whole issue of the death penalty is usually part of the discussion about retribution.

Incapacitation removes these people from society so they will not hurt others. The type of prison accommodations for these offenders might be less harsh if those in charge favored removal from society over punishment.

Deterrence means the prevention of future crimes by those see what happens to those who have done the same thing. Fear of incarceration and punishment is thought to be a motive in keeping others from criminal acts. There have been studies which demonstrate the effectiveness or the ineffectiveness of this theory.

Rehabilitation, for some, is the major object of incarceration. Changing criminals in law-abiding citizens requires a change of heart and mind, and it is a long and arduous process, especially if childhood abuse or addiction are part of the picture It is obvious that providing counseling education. Vocational training, spiritual accompaniment, connections to loved ones being strengthened, an ongoing support system after release from prison.

These four major purposes have not been stressed equally, and in some cases are in direct opposition to one another. As a result prions differ in their facilities, staff and operations. Local public opinion can be widely divergent and often acrimonious in determining prison policies in various areas of our country.

In reading this passage from Matthew, we have to ask ourselves what gospel principles should inform our attitudes on prisons and punishment. What do I think is the purpose of incarceration? How do we deal with the victims and their loved ones? How do I feel about the morality of capital punishment? Do I have a responsibility to address these issues as a Christian? In the spirit of Jesus, am I called to do anything for prisoners, such as writing to death row inmates, or volunteering to visit or work with prisoners in any way? The very least I can do is write someone in prison, especially someone on death row. (WriteAprisoner.com …)

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Examen:

From “Sacred Space” a service of the Irish Jesuits:

I think of those who have caused me hurt and how I have reacted. I pray for them and, even if I can’t wish them well now, I pray that one day I might…

Poetic Reflection:

Is this like God’s forgiveness? How can we mirror it?

“To My Mother”

I was your rebellious son,
do you remember? Sometimes
I wonder if you do remember,
so complete has your forgiveness been.

So complete has your forgiveness been
I wonder sometimes if it did not
precede my wrong, and I erred,
safe found, within your love,

prepared ahead of me, the way home,
or my bed at night, so that almost
I should forgive you, who perhaps
saw the worst that I might do,

and forgave me before I could act,
causing me to smile now, looking back,
to see how paltry was my worst,
compared to your forgiveness of it

already given. And this, then,
is the vision of that Heaven of which
we have heard, where those who love
each other have forgiven each other,

where, for that, the leaves are green
the light a music in the air,
and all is unentangled,
and all is undismayed.

—by Wendell Berry (a former Stanford Stegner Fellow) from Entries

Closing Prayer

Adapted from “A Psalm for Pardon” from Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim by Father Edward Hays:

Grant me, O gracious One,
Your great gift of pardon.

I have searched for it
In every pocket and hiding place
........
I know it is here,
Buried beneath my pain
in a back corner of my heart;
But for now it is lost.

I know that to forgive is divine, but I am not a deity,
And I fear that I will become a demon
Who, by failing to forgive
Will spread the kingdom of darkness.
Remind me ten times and more
Of all that you have forgiven me—
Without even waiting for my sorrow,
The very instant that I slipped
Make me your messenger of your good news I cannot now speak
Give to me the healing words of forgiveness. Amen.

Reflection on Matthew 18:21-35 from “Living Space”

LAST SUNDAY’S GOSPEL, from the same chapter as today’s, was about fraternal correction and about the possible necessity to expel a member from the Christian community. We are talking about someone who persists in behaving in a way which is totally at variance with the values of a community whose life vision is based on the Gospel. Such expulsion may be necessary, if the community is to be a credible witness to the Gospel and to be seen as the visible Body of Christ. But such an expulsion need not be permanent, in fact, it is hoped that it will not be. At the first sign of repentance, the offender is to be welcomed back and helped to re-integrate into the community.

So, today’s Gospel is about forgiveness. Peter, who is beginning to learn his Master’s ways, asks how many times he should forgive. Seven times? It sounds pretty generous. But it is not generous enough for Jesus: “Not seven times, Simon, but 77 times,” he says, that is, indefinitely.

A story of two servants

And, to make his point, he goes on to speak of a king and his two servants who owe very differing sums of money. One owes a huge amount to the king and, by rights, should be thrown into a debtor’s prison, until he has paid off his debt – something he was unlikely to be able to do. After passionate entreaties, his debt is wiped out by the king. Then the same servant goes after a fellow-servant who owes him what is relatively a paltry sum. Because this second servant cannot pay up at once, he is thrown into the debtor’s prison. When the king hears about it he throws the first servant to the torturers until he has paid off the debt. The message is perfectly clear: “And that is how my Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

God forgives us without limit. If we are to be like him – and that is our calling in life – we must do the same. And it is not just a piece of advice. Our very salvation depends on it.

Vengeance is mine

What Jesus is condemning is made clear in today’s First Reading from the Book of Ecclesiasticus: “Resentment and anger are foul things, and both are found with the sinner…” “He who exacts vengeance will experience the vengeance of the Lord…

“Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you, and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven…

And note that the writer says that when we forgive a brother or sister, it is MY sin, not THEIR which is forgiven by God.

“If a man nurses anger against another, can he then demand compassion from the Lord?  Showing no pity for a man like himself, can he then plead for his own sins?…

“Mere creature of flesh, he cherishes resentment; who will forgive him his sins?…

“Remember the last things, and stop hating…”

How forgive?

If hate and resentment get us nowhere, what are we to say about forgiveness? Is it just a matter of turning a blind eye to what people do to us or to others? Are we to say, “Oh, never mind! Forget about it!” Can we turn a blind eye to murder, violence, physical abuse, gross dishonesty and corruption, sexual abuse and infidelity…? Not according to last Sunday’s Gospel: If a person remains unrepentant of the harm he/she has done, then “treat him like a pagan or a tax collector”. In other words, boot him/her out of the community.

In the Gospel, forgiveness always includes reconciliation and personal healing. It also includes unconditional love (agape, ‘agaph), the love of the God who makes his sun and rain to fall on good and bad alike. Forgiveness – in the Gospel, as with God — must include not just overlooking the wrong done but in bringing back the wrongdoer. The parables of the good shepherd and his lost sheep, the woman and her lost coin, the loving father and his lost son tell us how God acts – and how we, too, should act.

It is important to note at this point that our faith is not simply a question of good and bad actions but of relationships. Forgiveness is not about undoing evil actions (what is done is done and cannot be undone) but of restoring broken relationships, about healing and reconciliation.

A sacrament for reconciliation

So we speak now, not of the ‘Sacrament of Confession’ or the ‘Sacrament of Penance’ but of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This sacrament is not, as many seem to believe, a sacrament of wiping out our past acts as if they no longer existed. Rather, it is a matter of turning back to, of restoring our relationship with God and also with all those who have been touched (and may still be hurting) from our sins, our failures to love.

And, just as we expect God to accept us back into his loving arms again and again without limit, so he expects us to be ready to do the same for others.

Of course, it can be a long process. Like God, like the father in the parable, we often have to wait patiently, lovingly, hopefully for the turning point of someone who has hurt us.

As the Gospel earlier this week reminded us, those who have hurt us, our “enemies”, most need our prayers, they need God’s blessings to soften their hearts. And, when it happens, we need to be ready to receive back our brother or sister just we expect God to receive us back when we say ‘Sorry’ to him.