26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

One of the greatest complements given to any person is that they are a person of integrity. The American Heritage Dictionary defines integrity as the “steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.” The definition I really like is in Wikipedia, “integrity is consistency between one's actions, values, methods, measures and principles.” The opposite of integrity is hypocrisy.

In today’s gospel, Matthew 21:28-32, Jesus presents the chief priests, scribes and elders of the temple with the story of a man and his two disappointing sons. Neither son is a person of integrity. The first son is rude and disrespectful to his father although in the end he does what the father asks. The second son politely lies and then ignores his father’s request. He is a hypocrite.

Jesus tells this story after his triumphant entry into Jerusalem and after he drove the money changers out of the temple. The chief priests, scribes and elders of the temple confront him, questioning his authority. St. Matthew tells us that “they were indignant” (Mt. 21:15). Jesus in turn confronts them with their lack of faith and refusal to repent. They did not believe the message of John the Baptist nor do they believe the message of Jesus. The people who heard, believed and repented were the tax collectors and prostitutes; the notorious sinners. Like the first son in this story, they openly chose to live sinful lives, but changed their minds and changed their lives. And so the tax collectors and prostitutes are “are entering the kingdom of God” before the chief priests, scribes and elders.

Although the notorious sinners in this story do get into the Kingdom of God, they are not stellar examples for us as Christians. Our role model is Jesus. In today’s second reading from the 2nd Chapter of Philippians, St. Paul tells us to “have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus.” We are to “Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine like lights in the world….”

Father in heaven,

Form in us the likeness of your Son

And deepen his life within us.

Send us as witnesses of gospel joy

Into a world of fragile peace and broken promises.

Touch the hearts of all people with your love

That they in turn may love one another.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Morning Prayer

I Feared

I feared being alone until I learned to like myself.

I feared failure until I realized that I only fail when I don't try.

I feared success until I realized that I had to try in order to be happy with myself.

I feared peoples opinions until I learned that people would have opinions about me anyway.

I feared rejection until I learned to have faith in myself.

I feared pain until I learned that it's necessary for growth.

I feared the truth until I saw the ugliness in lies.

I feared life until I experienced its beauty.

I feared death until I realized that it's not an end but a beginning.

I feared my destiny until I realized that I had the power to change my life.

I feared hate until I realized it was nothing more than ignorance.

I feared love until it touched my heart making the darkness fade into endless sunny days.

I feared ridicule until I learned to laugh at myself.

I feared growing old until I realized that I gained wisdom everyday.

I feared the future until I realized that life just kept getting better everyday.

I feared the past until I realized that it could no longer hurt me.

I feared the darkness until I saw the beauty of the starlight.

I feared the light until I learned that the truth would give me strength.

I feared change until I saw that even the most beautiful butterfly had to undergo a metamorphosis before it could fly.

Source Unknown

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

I can't think of a parable more challenging to us today than the Parable of the Generous Vineyard Owner found in Matthew 20: 1 - 16a. It clashes with our human sense of justice. The landowner’s generosity to all his workers does not seem fair. Why should someone who has worked only one hour in the vineyard receive the same wages as the person who worked all day long? Where does this parable fit in with Catholic Social Teaching on the dignity of work and the rights of workers? Our Church teaches that "the basic rights of workers must be respected -- the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to organize and join unions, to private property and to economic initiative." Were the wages the generous vineyard owner offered to the workers decent and fair? How you answer this question may depend on which of the workers you associate to yourself. If you identify yourself with the group of workers who labored all day, then you probably feel that the vineyard owner cheated the hard workers and by association you. HOWEVER, if you identify yourself with the group of late comers, you might feel that the vineyard owner was incredibly kind and generous.

Let me give you an example of a late comer. The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee named Saul who hated Christians so much that he made it his life’s purpose to wipe out belief in Jesus Christ. He stood by and watched as Stephen was stoned. We are told in the Acts of the Apostles that he “entered house after house, dragged men and women out, and threw them into jail” (Acts 8:3). Saul had a great conversion experience. He saw and heard Jesus, changed his name to Paul and became the greatest missionary of the early church. He wrote almost half of the 27 books in the New Testament. He endured sickness, imprisonment, rejection, and repeated attacks on his life to bring the message of God's grace and forgiveness to Gentiles. He was martyred. He was the apostle largely responsible for the spread of Christianity. Paul’s conversion was so complete that his life meant Christ as we heard in the 2nd reading today.

However, Paul was a late comer to the Jesus movement. He was not accepted with open arms by most of the original disciples. “They were all afraid of him” (Acts 9:26). They didn’t trust him (for good reason) and they “refused to believe that he was a disciple”. Like the first laborers in the vineyard of the gospel today, the disciples grumbled and complained about Paul. Did Paul deserve a full day’s pay for his work in the vineyard of Christ?

Where we fit in the hierarchy of workers isn't really the focus of this parable. The Parable of the Generous Vineyard Owner is not about us. It is about God's abundant mercy, it is about God's unconditional love, and it is about God's generous forgiveness that God offers to every one of us over and over and over again. The Kingdom of God is not built on what is fair; the Kingdom is built on grace. We don't deserve it and we can't earn it. And most of us will never really understand it. Kingdom economics simply don't make sense in our secular world. In the first reading from Isaiah 55: 6 - 9, God, speaking through the Prophet tells us, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts."

God most high,

your ways are not our ways,

for your kindness is lavished equally upon all.

Open us more to the free gifts of your grace,

help us accept them with gratitude

and appreciate how liberally you give to others.

Turn our ways into your ways of love.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Friendship

St. Francis de Sales tells us: "Friendship requires great communication." Mt 6:6 says to us: “But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”

In the First letter of Peter 5:7 we are told: “Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.”

And so, the only way to have a friend is to be one. A real friend is someone who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.

Minor Decisions

A married couple was celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. At the party everybody wanted to know how they managed to stay married so long in this day and age.

The husband responded, "When we were first married, we came to an agreement. I would make all the major decisions, and my wife would make all the minor decisions."

At which point the wife took up the tale, "And in 60 years of marriage we have never needed to make a major decision."

Walking in a way that honors Christ may sound like a major decision - to walk in a way worthy of your calling. But in a sense, this major decision is made with a long series - a lifetime, even - of minor decisions. You just make ‘em one at the time, like one little step at a time, and pretty soon, you're walking in a brand new way, right into heaven.

Good Trade

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel from Matthew 18:21-35, St Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, if my brother sins against me,

how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus’ answer was staggering, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” Jesus then told a parable about a man who was forgiven a colossal debt but who in turn refused to forgive a very small debt. The man was turned “over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.” And Jesus warns us that “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart." According to Jesus, there is no statute of limitations on forgiveness.

As adult Christians, we all know that forgiveness is one of the keys to the kingdom. Yet so often we are like the sinner in today’s first reading from Sirach 27:30, “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.” Why do we do it? What is it about bitterness, vengeance and hate that is so addictive? To be honest, I don’t know the answer. But I do know that clinging on to these destructive emotions can enslave us and prevent us from living full, joy filled lives.

A number of years ago someone gave me a book called, The Book of Joy, written by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Abrams. The book chronicles a weeklong visit between Archbishop Tutu and the Dalai Lama to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday. There is a beautiful chapter on forgiveness in this book. Both the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu had myriad reasons to be bitter and angry but they weren’t. Both men chose the course of magnanimity. Archbishop Tutu contended that “we do have a nobility of spirit…. you and you and you and you have the potential to be incredible instruments of compassion and forgiveness” (p. 231). Archbishop Tutu went on to say that “Forgiveness …is the only way to heal ourselves and to be free from the past” (p. 234). Quoting from another of his books, The Book of Forgiving, that he coauthored with his daughter, Mpho, Archbishop Tutu wrote, “Without forgiveness, we remain tethered to the person who harmed us. We are bound to the chains of bitterness, tied together, trapped. Until we can forgive the person who harmed us, that person will hold the keys to our happiness, that person will be our jailer. When we forgive, we take back control of our own fate and our feelings. We become our own liberator” (pp. 234-35).

In his Good Shepherd discourse, Jesus said, “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:9-10). Unforgiveness is like the thief who steals, slaughters and destroys life. Jesus came to give us abundant life. That life is one filled with mercy, compassion and love.

O God, Most High,

you are slow to anger and rich in compassion.

Keep the memory of your mercy alive in us;

calm our anger and take away all our resentments. 

 Create in us a new heart,

formed in the image of your Son,

a heart strong enough to bear every wound

and gentle enough to forgive every offense,

so that the world may see

how your people love one another.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ,

your Son, who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.

AMEN

Eggs

A lady asks: "How much do you sell your eggs for?"

The old vendor replies "50¢ an egg, madam.” The lady says, “I'll take 6 eggs for $2.50 or I'm leaving.”

The old salesman replies “Buy them at the price you want, Madam. This is a good start for me because I haven't sold a single egg today and I need this to live.”

She bought her eggs at a bargain price and left with the feeling that she had won.

She got into her fancy car and went to a fancy restaurant with her friend. She and her friend ordered what they wanted. They ate a little and left a lot of what they had asked for.

They paid the bill, which was $150. The ladies gave $200 and told the fancy restaurant owner to keep the change as a tip...

This story might seem quite normal to the owner of the fancy restaurant, but very unfair to the egg seller...

The question it raises:

Why do we always need to show that we have power when we buy from the needy?

And why are we generous to those who don't even need our generosity?

I once read this somewhere ,that a father used to buy goods from poor people at high prices, even though he didn't need the things. Sometimes he paid more for them.

I was amazed. One day his son asked him "Why are you doing this Dad?" His father replied: "It's charity wrapped in dignity, son.

The story is told of an elderly couple who lived together in a nursing home. Though they had been married for 60 years, their relationship was filled with constant arguments, disagreements, and shouting contests. The fights didn't stop even in the nursing home. In fact, the couple argued and squabbled from the time they got up in the morning until they fell in bed at night.

It became so bad that the nursing home threatened to throw them out if they didn't change their ways. Even then, the couple couldn't agree on what to do.

Finally, the wife said to her husband: "I'll tell you what, Joe, let's pray that one of us dies. And after the funeral is over, I'll go live with my sister.

Anxiety

Do not let anxiety sabotage

your search for God.

You know well that when

you search for something too anxiously

you can come upon it a hundred times

without ever seeing it.

Anxiety masquerades as true spiritual energy,

even as it wearies out mind,

drains our enthusiasm,

and deadens our soul.

It pretends to stir up our soul,

but all it does is dampen our spirit.

It pushes us until we stumble over our own feet.

We need to be on the watch for this impostor

that would have us believing

that our spiritual life

depends completely on our efforts,

so that the more panicked we are,

the more anxiously we search,

the more likely we are to find God.

Let God do his part.

Be patient.

Not even our best efforts

can earn the blessings of God.

Our role is to be ready

to receive God’s gifts

with an open heart -

carefully, humbly, and serenely.

Set Your Heart Free -

The Practical Spirituality

of Francis de Sales

by John Kirvan

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reality shows have dominated television in the United States for decades. It appears that we, as a nation, are obsessed with other people's trials, tribulations, conflicts, suffering, and occasionally their successes and failures. Few of us enjoy having our own faults, flaws, inadequacies or mistakes pointed out to us or to others. However, if we use TV ratings as our guide, clearly, we enjoy watching the public humiliation of others. Public humiliation as entertainment is big business but it has no place in the kingdom of heaven.

In the Gospel this Sunday from Matthew 18: 15 - 20, Jesus provides some guidelines on how to deal with grievances tactfully, seeking reconciliation rather than punishment or retaliation. The object of this process is not to abuse, ridicule or humiliate our sisters and brothers in faith. Rather, the purpose is to bring them back into God’s loving community. In the Jerusalem Bible translation Jesus says “If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves.” If that does not work, “take one or two others along with you.” Then, if that does not work, take the issue “to the community” and let the community decide how to handle the situation.

Too often, we are quick to judge others without knowing all the facts or we condemn the person rather than condemning the action. Ultimately, it is God who judges all of us. In his book, God and the World: A Conversation with Peter Seewald, Pope Benedict XVI, commenting on Matthew 18 said, "we should always recall that we are going to be judged and that we will be judged according to the standards that we ourselves have applied. In this way, it exhorts us to use a true standard, to keep a limit, to have a proper respect of others. Thus, Jesus gives us an inner standard for making those judgments that are indispensable. It consists of always recognizing these final limits of what God reserves to himself"(p. 287).

Our challenge in reacting to grievances no matter how hurtful is to respond with love. St. Paul tells us in Romans 13:10, “Love can cause no harm to your neighbor, and so love is the fulfillment of the law.” And in Colossians 3: 12 – 14 St. Paul says, “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection."

O God, whose Word is life,

grant us a bold and faithful spirit,

that we may proclaim your truth in love. 

 Grant us a new heart

so that we can become people

whose law is love for one another

and whose peace and reconciliation is Jesus

who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

Before you ...

 

Judged on Love

 

I Came to Church Today

Hello God, I came to church today

To talk a little while
I need a friend who'll listen
To my anxiety and trial.

You see, I can't quite make it
Through a day just on my own
I need your love to guide me,
So I'll never feel alone.

I want to ask you please to keep,
My family safe and sound.
Come and fill their lives with confidence
For whatever fate they're bound.

Give me faith, dear God, to face
Each hour throughout the day,
And not to worry over things
I can't change in any way.

I thank You God, for being here
And listening to my call,
For giving me such good advice
When I stumble and fall!

Your true presence, God, is the only one
That answers every time.
I never get a busy signal,
because I know your are mine.

So thank you, God, for listening
To my troubles and my sorrow.
Thank you God for loving me
and dying for all my tomorrows.

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

One of my mother’s frequent admonitions was “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I heard this phrase a lot when I was in my teens, usually when I said or did something I thought was well-meaning without thinking about the consequences; or when I intended to do something but forgot. I suspect that most of us have had similar experiences. There are many times when we intend to say or do what we think is right and it turns into a muddle. This is especially true when we hear something we don’t like, we don’t understand or is painful.

In today’s gospel from Matthew 16:21-27 Peter got caught in this trap of good intentions. Having just been told that he is the rock upon which Jesus will build his church and that he will receive the “keys to the kingdom of heaven,” Peter muddled it. When Jesus delivered the news that he would suffer, be killed and “on the third day be raised” Peter did his usual knee-jerk reaction. Without thinking his very human response was, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." The author of Sirach wrote, “Do not find fault before making thorough enquiry; first reflect, then give a reprimand” (Sirach 11:7). At this stage of his life, Peter was not reflective.

Jesus’ statement about his suffering, death and resurrection was far beyond Peter’s capacity to understand. And when we reflect on this situation, we have to ask; how could Peter possibly have understood what Jesus meant? Peter’s understanding of the Messiah or Christos in Greek was the king of Israel, someone like King David or King Solomon who would rule a Jewish empire that was established by God. He did not understand that Jesus’ victory could only come through sacrifice, suffering, death and resurrection. He would not grasp Jesus’ meaning until after the resurrection.

St Paul tells us in today’s second reading from Romans 12:2, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” If all of us follow St Paul’s advice, we will be less likely to pave the road to hell with our good and not so good intensions. Ultimately, St Peter learned this lesson. We can too.

Father, help us to seek the values

that will bring us lasting joy in this changing world.

in our desire for what you promise,

make us one in mind and heart.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

God, forever and ever.

Amen