Bulletins on Sunday Bulletins (Page 8)

Using another parable about the coming Reign of God, Jesus employs the image of a wedding feast, to which the invited guests do not attend. To fill the banquet hall, servants went looking for others to bring to the feast, any who could be found. The troubling part of the parable relates to the person who did not wear his “wedding garment” to the banquet. Why was he cast out “into the darkness,” with hands and feet bound? This seems problematic, since this guest was presumably one of those gathered, “good and bad alike” from the highways and byways. Jesus preached this parable against the Jewish leaders who refused to welcome Him as the Messiah, the last-called are the non-Jewish people who become believers. Some have theorized that the wedding garment is the metaphorical baptismal robe, worn by a life of faith and virtue. Jesus’ invitation is a fulfillment of the words of the prophet Isaiah: On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines (Isaiah 25:6).

We sometimes fall into the same trap as the people of Israel at the time of the prophets. Although God had chosen them to be His own, his “precious vineyard,” they lived in such a way as to lose their status as highly favored by the Lord: “Now, I will let you know what I mean to do with my vineyard: take away its hedge, give it to grazing, break through its wall, let it be trampled!” (Isaiah 5:5) Jesus echoes these words in telling the parable of the tenants who killed the landowner’s son so that they could have the vineyard for themselves: “What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?” . . . “He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times” (Matthew 21:41). In all things, let us remember the expression that “The earth is the vineyard of the Lord, and we are laborers there.” What does God ask of us? That we be faithful coworkers, aware of our responsibilities toward God and toward one another. All of this can be summed up in the words of our second reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, which can be a source of hope and joy for us: Brothers and sisters: Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:6-9).

The gospel passage this weekend tells the story of two brothers whose father sent to work in the vineyard. One refused, but eventually did go, while the other brother agreed to work, but never did. Jesus asks the question as to which son did what his father wanted, and the answer is clear that it was the one who had originally said he would not do the work. God’s grace often enters our lives, not along straight lines, but through torturous curves and turns, sometimes even reversing direction, as in the son who eventually went to the vineyard. Let us be open to that grace, whenever it comes to us and let us try to be that grace – God’s abiding presence in our world – to one another

In this Sunday’s gospel reading, Jesus teaches us about the coming Reign of God. Set in terms of the owner of a vineyard who hired workers throughout the day and paid all the same “usual daily wage” that had been agreed upon, no matter what time of the day they began work. Perhaps, we might agree with the complaint of those who worked a full day when they discovered that even those who worked only one hour were paid the same amount. But the question asked by the landowner should make us think: “Am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?” It is true that faith comes to us in the context of family and community, the gospel passage urges us to do our best and not to compare the progress of our growth in the life of Baptism with that of others. In doing the best that we can, we trust in the mercy and love of God Who, like the parable’s landowner, is generous beyond our imagining. Perhaps we can also be so generous in the ways we are with one another.

The Old Testament reading this Sunday (Sirach 27:30 -28:7) complements Jesus’ parable on forgiveness, as found in the Gospel of Matthew 18:21-35. From Sirach (also known as Ecclesiasticus), we will hear: Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. The vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance, for the Lord remembers their sins in detail. Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the Lord? Could anyone refuse mercy to another like oneself, can he seek pardon for one’s own sins? In the end, we should not expect from God that which we refuse to extend to others: mercy, forgiveness and love. If we continue to “hug tight” our anger, then we are on a path that leads not to forgiveness for our sins, but, in the words of the parable, “to be handed over to the torturers.” Let us not be that way with us… Remembering God’s mercy toward us, we are moved to forgive those who have wronged us.

In terms we might use today, Jesus is advising subsidiarity… Resolve issues at the most basic level, between the two individuals who are at odds with each other. If that does not work, then bring in others and, only as a last resort, should the two go to a larger group (the Church or the Courts). Subsidiarity implies that most differences can be resolved privately. Not all things need to be referred to a central governing authority. This should be true in our homes, in our Church and in civil society. The urge to litigate disputes of every kind can rob individuals of their own ability to make peace by way of mutual understanding and even compromise. As if to magnify the “power of two,” Jesus promises that “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Through His Spirit, Jesus is the bond than unites us and empowers us in the ways of reconciliation and peace.

Immediately following (in last week’s gospel) the declaration by Peter that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” there is a not-so-pleasant encounter between Peter and the Lord. For Jesus, the revelation of His identity was inextricably bound with His coming suffering and death. In the gospels, everything builds to the event at Caesarea Philippi and flows from there toward the Crucifixion. This is not what Peter or the other Apostles had been expecting, so Peter tries to persuade Jesus to follow another path (“God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”), to which the Lord responds: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Jesus could not and would not follow Peter. Instead, he invites him to “Get behind me,” to follow the Lord, instead of trying to lead along the easier path. Nearly 2000 years later, we believers are still tempted to take the path that leads from pain, suffering and loss. Jesus sees in us, too, obstacles to the work that He still needs to accomplish in our lives and in the world. In the end, we cannot avoid sorrow and suffering any more than Jesus did. It is the cost of being a disciple today, as it has been in every age.

The “confession” of Peter (“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”) was inspired by God, an inspiration to which Peter listened. However, Peter was slow to understand the implications of the truth that he had spoken. Peter’s heart was usually in the right place and from time to time his words were there, too. The challenge for Peter – and for us and all believers – is, in colloquial terms, “to say what we mean and mean what we say,” or to be those who hear the word of God and keep it, with all of its consequences – sometimes demanding and costly and at other times, the source of great joy and reward.