Weekly Reflections
Reflection on Matthew 22:1-14 from Lectio Divina 2020
Today’s Gospel presents the parable of the banquet which we also find in the Gospel of Matthew and of Luke, but with significant differences which stem from each evangelist’s point of view. The background which leads both evangelists to repeat this parable is the same. In the communities of the first Christians, both those of Matthew and those of Luke, the problem of living together between the converted Jews and the converted pagans continued in full force.
Today’s Gospel presents the parable of the banquet which we also find in the Gospel of Matthew and of Luke, but with significant differences which stem from each evangelist’s point of view. The background which leads both evangelists to repeat this parable is the same. In the communities of the first Christians, both those of Matthew and those of Luke, the problem of living together between the converted Jews and the converted pagans continued in full force. The Jews had ancient norms which prevented them from eating together with pagans. Even entering into the Christian communities, many Jews kept the ancient custom of not sitting at the same table with pagans. Thus, Peter had conflicts in the communities of Jerusalem because he had entered the house of Cornelius, a pagan, and had eaten with him (Acts 11:3). This same problem existed, though in a different way, in Matthew’s and Luke’s communities. In Luke’s community, in spite of the differences in race, class and gender, they had a great ideal of sharing and of communion (Acts 2:42; 4:32; 5:12). For this reason, in Luke’s Gospel (Lk 14:15-24), the parable insists on the invitation addressed to all. The master of the feast, angry and upset because the first guests, who were invited, did not arrive, sends his servants to call the poor, the crippled, the blind, and invites them to participate in the banquet. But there is still place. Then, the master of the feast orders that all be invited, until his house is full. In Matthew’s Gospel, the first part of the parable, (Mt 22:1-10) has the same objective as that of Luke’s Gospel. It says that the master of the feast orders the servants to let the “good and the bad” enter (Mt 22:10). But it the end, he adds another parable (Mt 22:11-14) concerning the wedding garment, which focuses on something specific to the Jews, the need of purity in order to be able to present oneself before God.
• Matthew 22:1-2: The invitation addressed to all. Some manuscripts say that the parable was told for the chief priests and for the elders of the People. This hypothesis can serve as a key for the reading, because it helps one to understand some strange points which appear in the story. The parable begins like this: “The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding.” This initial statement recalls the most profound hope: the desire of the people to be with God always. Several times the Gospel refers to this hope, suggesting that Jesus, the Son of the King, is the bridegroom who comes to prepare the wedding (Mk 2:19; Rev 21:2, 19:9).
• Matthew 22:3-6: The invited guests do not want to come. The king invites in a more insistent way, but the guests do not want to come. “But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business; and the rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.” In Luke, what prevents them from accepting the invitation are the duties of daily life. The first one says, "I have bought a piece of land and must go to see it;" the second one, "I have bought five yoke of oxen and am on my way to try them out;” the third one, "I have just got married and so am unable to come!" (cf. Lk 14:18-20). According to the norms and customs of the time, those people had the right and even the duty not to accept the invitation they had received (cf. Deut 20:5-7).
• Matthew 22:7: An incomprehensible war! The reaction of the king in the face of the refusal is surprising. “Then the king was furious and he dispatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town.” How is such a violent reaction to be interpreted? The parable was told for the chief priests and for the elders of the people (Mt 22:1), for those responsible for the nations. Jesus had often spoken to them about the need for conversion. He even shed tears over the city of Jerusalem and said, “If you too had only recognized on that day the way to peace! But in fact it is hidden from your eyes. Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise fortifications all around you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on every side; they will dash you and the children inside your walls to the ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you, because you did not recognize the moment of your visitation.” (Lk 19:41-44). The violent reaction of the king in the parable probably refers to the fact of Jesus’ foresight. Forty years later, Jerusalem was destroyed (Lk 19:41-44; 21: 6).
• Matthew 22:8-10: The banquet is not canceled. For the third time, the king invites the people. He tells his servants, “The wedding banquet is ready, but those invited were unworthy; go to the main crossroads and invite everyone you can find to come to the wedding.” Going out on the streets, those servants gathered together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. The bad, who were excluded from participation in worship with the Jews because they were deemed impure, are now invited specifically by the king to participate in the feast. In the context of that time, the bad were the pagans. They also are invited to participate in the wedding feast.
• Matthew 22:11-14: The wedding garment. These verses tell us that the king went into the wedding hall and saw someone who was not wearing a wedding garment. And the king asked, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And he was silent. The story says that the man was bound hands and feet and thrown into the darkness outside. Then the story concludes: “Many are invited but not all are chosen.” Some scholars think that it is a second parable which was added to lessen the impression which one has after the first parable, which speaks about “the good and the bad” who enter into the feast (Mt 22:10). Even if one admits that it is not the observance of the Law which gives us salvation, but rather faith in the gratuitous love of God, that in no way diminishes the need for purity of heart as a prerequisite to be able to appear before God.
Some Thoughts on the Parable of the Wedding Feast and Parabolic Literature
The meaning of most parables is not so obvious, or at least it shouldn't be. If we assume we know what Jesus is talking about, we are probably missing the main point; if we are too familiar with the story (having heard it so often before), we might not think carefully enough about its real meaning.
Parables
* The meaning of most parables is not so obvious, or at least it shouldn't be. If we assume we know what Jesus is talking about, we are probably missing the main point; if we are too familiar with the story (having heard it so often before), we might not think carefully enough about its real meaning.
* Most parables contain some element that is strange or unusual. They should cause you to say, "Wait a minute! That's not how farmers do their work! That's not what kings usually do! That's not what normally happens in nature!" And this strange element should cause you to think!
* Parables do not define things precisely, but rather use comparisons to describe some aspect of how God acts or interacts with human beings. Yet to say "A is like B" does not mean that "A is identical to B in all respects"; so one should be careful not to misinterpret or misapply the parables.
*We might think that Jesus spoke in parables to make it easier for people to understand his message. According to the Gospels, however, he surprisingly does NOT expect everyone to understand them!
In Matthew, at least the disciples of Jesus understand the parables; but in Mark, even they have a hard time understanding, despite receiving extra instructions in private!
(a short analysis by James C. Christensen)
So, in looking at the parable of the Wedding Feast in Mt. 22, we are first alerted that we are in the parabolic realm at the very beginning when everyone in the kingdom refuses the invitation of the king to a wedding feast for his son. This would ever happen to a king in real life.
This reminds me of a genre of literature which employs magical realism; the opening line or paragraph so fantastic that the reader is alerted that we are not dealing with a realistic news story here. I am reminded of John L'Heureux's wonderful short story "The Anatomy of Desire" which opens with this paragraph :
Because Hanley’s skin had been stripped off by the enemy, he could find no one who was willing to be with him for long. The nurses were obligated, of course, to see him now and then, and sometimes the doctor, but certainly not the other patients and certainly not his wife and children. He was raw, he was meat, and he would never be any better. He had a great and natural desire, therefore, to be possessed by someone.
The readers realize at the outset that the author is giving them a wink and a nod and is inviting them to go along on a fantastic ride. It is the same with parables,
They strange or unbelievable elements in the parable let the listeners know that they are in what I might call "tall-tale" territory. They have to suspend their disbelief and go along with the game…
Other oddities:
The feast is already prepared and waiting before the king even knows how many would be attending.
Why would the king summon only those of one city to the feast? Was it everyone in the city, rich and poor?
And finally, when that invitation ends in disaster, the king issues a command to go to some vague set of main roads and haul in whoever they find--not much of a celebration with people no one even knows.
Then the addendum (or some might say, a second parable, has lots of red herrings as well: why would the king have the servants summon the bad and the good alike? Why did only one man not manage to dress properly? It doesn't make sense.
At this point we have to realize that this is neither a realistic story nor a simple metaphor. The Jews who heard this parable did not expect realism or logic. For example: we cannot equate the king and God. The section about the king killing everyone in one city is nothing more than Matthew's no-so-veiled reference to Jerusalem being destroyed by the Romans--something some Jewish-Christians felt they deserved. But horrific, nonetheless.
Parables were meant to catch Jesus' listeners off guard, to make them re-evaluate their normal ways of behaving, and to align their hearts with God's heart. Many parables, like the one about the Pharisee and the Publican, or the one about the Good Samaritan, employed elements which were very countercultural, and shocking to the people of Jesus' time. However, because we have grown up with them, they seem familiar or even ordinary to us. Often, we need to translate those stories using examples from our own social and cultural situations in order to see how truly counter-cultural they are.
These parables, which appear to be simple and straightforward stories, are actually multi-dimensional and complex. Frequently, we are left with things unresolved and have to make some conclusions of our own. Does the elder brother ever go in to join the party welcoming the prodigal son home? How do those in the vineyard who worked much longer hours respond to the words of the vineyard owner? Does the Good Samaritan return, and what happens to the victim? Does the Pharisee ever understand his spiritual arrogance? Once they get inside, do the five "wise" virgins enjoy the banquet, knowing that their sisters are still outside? Why DID a guest at the wedding feast show up poorly attire and refuse to explain why? How we resolve those issues in our own minds tells us a lot about our own attitudes. Are they in line with God's or not?
If there is some overall wisdom to be gleaned from parables, it is this: God's ways are not our ways. Parables tell us that the fight for the kingdom is not played out in palaces and war rooms, but in the everyday events of our everyday lives. The struggle for the kingdom is carried out in our divided hearts, where we sometimes mutter "Thy kingdom come" without fully realizing that we might have to pray "My kingdom go". (Alan Redpath, British Baptist Preacher). The parable demands that each of us answer the question "What do YOU say? How we answer defines our moral landscape.
October 8, 2023, Mass of the Holy Spirit
The Spirit of God is upon us as we begin our new academic year
Scripture: Acts 2: 1–11; 1 Corinthians 12:3b–7; John 20: 19–23
Receive the Holy Spirit
The Spirit of God is upon us as we begin our new academic year
Scripture
Acts 2: 1–11 (First Reading)
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.”
1 Corinthians 12: 3b–7, 12–13 (Second Reading)
Brothers and sisters:
No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the holy Spirit. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.
As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
John 20: 19–23 (Gospel)
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. [Jesus] said to them again: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them: Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Music Meditations
- Veni Sancte Spiritus (Taizé) [YouTube]
- Come Holy Spirit (composed by John Michael Talbot) [YouTube]
- Send us Your Spirit, O Lord (composed by Dan Schutte) [YouTube]
- Nada te turbe (Taizé) [YouTube]
- Holy Spirit (by Francesca Battistelli) [YouTube] (Praise and Worship)
- Amazing Grace (sung by Catholic Community at Stanford "virtual" choir) [YouTube]
Opening Prayer
Give me, O God, stillness and attentiveness so that I may be receptive to the movement of Your Spirit within me. Keep me from fear; reassure me when I falter. Look into my small heart and make it bigger so as to encompass all that you love--the earth itself in all its beauty and those who dwell in it, in all their beauty. Help me, inspired by Your Spirit, to radiate the joy of Your gospel to all those I meet along life’s way.
Companions for the Journey
Today we liturgically celebrate the opening of our academic year with a Mass of the Holy Spirit. Traditionally we call on the Spirit to be with us in the coming year, and declare or faith that the Spirit has already gifted us, individually and as a community with the power to radiate the Gospel and transform the world.
Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles gives us one account, perhaps the most familiar one, of how the mission of Christ was transferred to his followers. The scene is full of biblical imagery. There was a sound “like the rush of a violent wind”. In Greek the words used here for “wind” and “Spirit” are very similar. The whole house was filled with the very Spirit of God. Then “divided tongues, as of fire” were seen resting on each person present. Fire, again, speaks of the presence of God himself. God spoke to Moses from out of a burning bush. As the Israelites wandered through the desert on their way to the Promised Land, a pillar of cloud accompanied them by day, and a pillar of fire by night. God was with his people .The fire here was in the form of tongues, as if to say that each one present was being given the gift and power to speak in the name of God. And in fact:…all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Amazement
Because it was the Jewish feast of Pentecost, the city of Jerusalem was filled with pilgrim Jews from all over the Mediterranean area. They were amazed to hear the disciples speaking to them in their own languages.
How is it that we hear, each of us, in our own language? In our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power. In the Book of Genesis, men tried to build a tower to reach right up to heaven. For such arrogance, they were punished by being made to speak in different languages. No longer able to communicate, they could not finish their project. Now the time of the Tower of Babel is reversed. The disciples have a message which is offered to and can be understood by people everywhere. People are being called to be united again as brothers and sisters under one common Father, revealed to them by his Son Jesus Christ.
A different account
The Gospel from John presents us with a different account of the coming of the Spirit. It is Easter Sunday. The disciples are locked into the house, terrified of the authorities coming to take them away as collaborators with the recently executed Jesus.
Suddenly the same Jesus is there among them and greets them: Peace with you…
It is both a wish and a statement. Where Jesus is there is peace. The presence of Jesus in our lives always brings peace and removes our anxieties and fears. Jesus shows them his hands and side to prove it is himself: the one who died on the cross and the one who is now alive. Then he gives them their mission: ”As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
Their mission and his are exactly the same. Our mission and his are exactly the same.
He then breathes on them. As God breathed on the earth and created the first human being. In Christ, we become a new creation. The breathing also symbolizes the Spirit of God and of Jesus. So he says, Receive the Holy Spirit. With the giving of the Spirit comes also the authority to speak and act in the name of Jesus. If you forgive sins, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. This is not just a reference to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the power to forgive sin. Forgiving sin, reconciling people with God is the very core of the work of Christ and the Christian mission. The disciples are now the Body of Christ, the ongoing visible presence of Christ in the world. This Body will experience injuries and wounds and disease. It will wander at times far from God. It will need healing and forgiveness and reconciliation. It will also try to bring the same healing and reconciliation to a broken world.
A body with many parts
Finally, the Second Reading speaks of the effect of the Spirit on the Christian community. The Church and each community within it reflects unity and diversity. We are not called to uniformity. We are not clones of Christ or each other. Unity presumes diversity and a variety of gifts and talents and responsibilities. So, on the one hand, we are called to be deeply united in our faith in Christ and in our love for each other. At the same time, each one of us has a unique gift. It is through this gift or gifts that we serve and build up the community. They are not just for ourselves, or for our families and friends. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
We are like a body. Each body has many members, each with its own particular function, yet they all are ordered to one purpose – the good functioning of the body as a whole. So it is with the Christian community, which is the Body of Christ. Each member is to be aware of his or her particular gift. This gift indicates the role the member has to play in building up the whole Body, the whole community.
Today let us ask God to send his Spirit into our hearts. Filled with that Spirit, may we each individually make our contribution to the community to which we belong. And, as a community, may we give clear and unmistakable witness to the Truth and Love of God, revealed to us in Jesus our Lord. Come, Holy Spirit, Come!
Weekly Memorization
Taken from the gospel for today’s session…
Receive the Holy Spirit
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
- The disciples were in a locked room because of fear. In what ways has fear kept me locked off from others?
- Jesus repeated his greeting “Peace be with you”. Peace demands tolerance and forgiveness. Which is harder for me?
- Fr. William Bausch said that Jesus Imposed the “Spirit of Second Chances” on them, sending them out to impart to others the spirit of God’s love and forgiveness. Do I look on the Spirit that way?
To whom am I called to go out and extend love and forgiveness? - What is the difference between seeing and recognizing?
What is the difference between hearing and understanding?
Where can I do better in each? - What might it mean to “renew the face of the earth” today?
- Do you ever pray to the Holy Spirit?
Where does the spirit figure in your spiritual life? - Have there been experiences in your life through which the Spirit was speaking to you?
Did you listen? - How do you expect to hear the Lord’s voice?
- Has some person in your life been a source of inspiration and/or courage for you?
- What do you regard as your spiritual gifts?
How do you use them? - What do you see as your mission to the world at large right this moment?
In the future?
Meditations
A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:
Adapted from The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality, by Father Ronald Rolheiser, O.M.I
We need to be on fire again,
for our hope is no longer an easy hope.
We live in a culture of despair
within which Pentecost can no longer be taken for granted.
Hence we must take upon ourselves the burden of the times and refuse to make the Holy Spirit a piece of private property
but a spirit that matters.
—Mary Jo Leddy
Rolheiser asks us to examine the following questions and relate them to the presence of the Spirit in our lives:
What should I be doing?
To whom should I be listening?
Must I get involved in this or can I choose to ignore it?
What is important?
What are the pillars upon which I build my spiritual life?
A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:
Read Acts 2: 1-6. Imagine that you are one of the twelve apostles whom Jesus left behind. What have you been doing since Jesus’ death? What are you feeling about keeping the group of believers together? Has a natural leader emerged? What are your immediate plans for spreading the Good News? Suddenly you hear a sudden wind growing stronger and stronger in volume until it seems there is only noise in the house you are in, and then you see the fire (fire!) hovering over the room, appearing to split into individual tongues of flame and seeming to come to rest over the heads of your companions. Has anything like this ever happened to you before? Were you expecting this? Are you afraid? How does it feel to speak in tongues? Do you feel any different now that you have been filled with the Spirit of God? Return to the present and reflect on any times in your life in which you have felt extraordinary strength from the Spirit to do God’s will. Talk to God about your response to this outpouring of love from the Spirit.
A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:
Read today’s responsorial psalm which is Psalm 104. Using Lectio Divina, pray this scripture hymn. Which words or phrases speak out to you? Sit with them and savor the meaning for you. Is God speaking to you these beautiful words? What works can you do to reflect the role of the Spirit in your life? How can you help the glory of the Lord endure forever? Then speak to God, using your own words and from your heart, about how you want to respond to the gift of the Spirit in your life.
Poetic Reflection:
Read the following poem by Denise Levertov. Does it capture for you how we are protected by the Spirit, the Sustainer of Life?:
“The Avowal”
As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them;
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.
Closing Prayer
Adapted from Sacred Space 2023, a service of the Irish Jesuits:
I pray, Lord, in a special way for the church spread throughout the world under the guidance of Your Holy Spirit. I ask for the grace to grow in love for the Church of which I am a living part. I ask Your Spirit for patience and understanding when I think the Church is changing too swiftly or not changing fast enough. Please guide the Church in being open to the Spirit as it moves through the process of synodality, in order that we all may be witnesses to Your love, Jesus, in the world.
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 1, 2023
What does it mean to say “yes” to Jesus?
Gospel: Matthew 21: 28–32
Which of the two did the Father’s will?
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
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
Meditations
A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:
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
Gospel: Matthew 20: 1–16
Are you envious because I am generous?
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