27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s first reading and gospel we have two parables about vineyards from Isaiah 5:1–7 and Matthew 21:33–43. Both parables begin with great expectations and hope and both end with destruction and violence. Although these parables are similar in many ways, there are some substantial differences.

In Isaiah’s parable the winegrower carefully tended his crop from clearing the land to harvesting only to destroy it in the end when it did not yield an acceptable crop. In Jesus’ parable the winegrower planted the crop then entrusted its care to tenants while he went on a journey. When the tenants attempted to swindle the winegrower, and murder his servants and his son, they were destroyed and the vineyard was passed on to other tenants who were willing to give the winegrower “the produce at the proper times.”

Isaiah and St. Matthew explained the meaning of their parables clearly. Both winegrowers represented God. For Isaiah the vineyard was “the house of Israel” and the plants were “the people of Judah.” The God presented to us in the Old Testament carefully nurtured the vineyard and the crop but ultimately destroyed everything and everyone that did not meet God’s expectations.

In Jesus’ parable the carefully planted vineyard was the kingdom of God and the tenants were the people to whom God entrusted the care of the kingdom; the “chief priests and the elders of the people.” I think it is safe to assume that if the new tenants failed to fulfil their obligations they would meet a similar fate.

What is the lesson for us thousands of years later? These parables are lessons on our stewardship in the kingdom of God. We are as much a part of the kingdom as the people of Judah in Isaiah’s time and the chief priests and elders in Jesus’ time. We have the opportunity to produce good fruit, acknowledging God’s role in the process or we can produce wild (sour) grapes.

God gives us everything we need to build the Kingdom and produce good fruit. He trusts us to do the work. He gives us second and third opportunities to succeed. And, as St. Paul reminds us in today’s second reading from Philippians 4:6–9, God expects us to perform our tasks with an attitude that is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent and worthy of praise. If we can accomplish all of this, then we can be assured that “the God of peace will be with” us forever and ever.

Lord God, our Father,

today you ask us:

What more could I have done for you?

Teach and help us to respond with our whole being

to your daily forgiveness and patience,

to the riches of life brought us by Jesus,

to the prompting of the Holy Spirit,

that we may be a people that bears lasting fruits.

May we bring to all a justice animated by love,

may we learn to share as you do with us.

Show us your mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

12 Steps to Self Care

 

Feast of St Jerome - September 30

St. Jerome Writing

Caravaggio

"Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ."

He translated the Bible into Latin, creating the text known as the Vulgate.

He is a Doctor of the Church.

He is the patron saint of translators, librarians, and biblical scholars.

Prayer for Christ's Mercy

by St Jerome

O Lord, show Your mercy to me and gladden my heart. 

I am like the man on the way to Jericho 

who was overtaken by robbers, wounded, and left for dead. 

O Good Samaritan, come to my aid. 

I am like the sheep that went astray. 

O Good Shepherd, 

seek me out and bring me home in accord with Your will. 

Let me dwell in Your house all the days of my life 

and praise You forever and ever with those who are there. 

Amen.

Feast of the Archangels

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

We are familiar with Michael, the fighter and warrior of God, and with Gabriel, God’s messenger to Mary and Zechariah for the birth of their sons. The Archangel Raphael, “the Medicine of God,” appears in the book of Tobit to heal Tobit from his blindness​.

Another Beatitude

Blessed are they who understand.

My faltering step and shaking hand,

Blessed, who know my ears today
Must strain to catch the things they say,

Blessed are they who seem to know
My eyes are dim and my mind is slow,

Blessed are they who looked away,
I spilled my tea on the cloth that day!

Blessed are they who, with cheery smile,
Stopped to chat for a little while,

Blessed are they who know the way
To bring back memories of yesterday,

Blessed are they who never say,
"You've told that story twice today!"

Blessed are they who make it known
That I'm loved, respected and not alone,

And blessed are they who will ease the days
Of my journey home, in loving ways.


By Elizabeth Clark

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Eighteenth Chapter of Ezekiel is about personal responsibility. Using the example of a man with two sons, God, speaking through Ezekiel, draws comparisons between the sins of the father and the sins of the sons. He assures us that the father’s sins are not the responsibility of the sons and that the sins of the sons are not the responsibility of the father. In verse 20 he says, “Only the one who sins shall die. The son shall not be charged with the guilt of his father, nor shall the father be charged with the guilt of his son. Justice belongs to the just, and wickedness to the wicked.” God goes on to remind us of his compassion and mercy saying “But if the wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live. He shall not die! None of the crimes he has committed shall be remembered against him; he shall live because of the justice he has shown” (EZ 18:21-22).

This brings us to today’s first reading from Ezekiel 18:25-28. Here God responds to human accusations that “"The LORD's way is not fair!” God asks, “Is it my way that is unfair? Are not your ways unfair?” There is no sense blaming someone else for our individual sins. In verses 30 and 31, God makes clear that, “I will judge you, house of Israel, all of you according to your ways…. Turn, turn back from all your crimes, that they may not be a cause of sin for you ever again. Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.”

In today’s Gospel from Matthew 21:28-32, we hear another story about a father and his two sons. Both the sons disappoint their father. The first son humiliates his father by refusing a request but later has a change of heart and complies. The second son lies to his father by agreeing to the request but fails to fulfil his obligation. Jesus asked the Chief Priests and Elders “Which of the two did his father's will?" Their answer was that the first son did his father’s will. Jesus used this answer as a teaching moment reminding the priests and elders that sinful people who experience a change of heart will enter the kingdom of God before the apparent “Godly” people who pay lip service to God but fail to meet God’s obligations.

Although the sinners in this story do get into the kingdom of God, they are not shining 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 nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others” (PHIL 2:3–4).

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

Young Bride

A young bride was extremely anxious on the day before her wedding. The priest realized she was nervous, and he asked her about it.

"I'm going to make a mess of the whole thing," she said. "There are just so many people looking at me!"

The priest broke the ceremony down into small parts. "Hey," he said. "This is your church, your family's church. You know everything about this church. So, as your dad takes you by the arm, concentrate on the aisle. Just focus on the aisle."

"OK," she said.

"Then, as you turn the corner, you'll see the altar. It's the same altar that's been here for years, and you're familiar with it. Focus on the aisle, and then the altar."

"OK," she said.

"And then," said the priest, "you'll see your groom! Just focus on him, and you're there! Focus on the aisle first, altar second, and him third!"

So, just as she'd been promised, she zoned in on the three simple steps. But imagine her Dad's feelings when he heard her saying it over and over and over, as they got closer and closer and closer . . . "Aisle, altar, him. Aisle-altar-him. Aisle-alter him!"