Homily Cycle A 10/04/2020
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100420.cfm
In the 19th century a philosopher named, Frederick Nietzsche declared “God is dead”, Nietzsche made his statement in the context of idealism. In an analogous way the tenants in the Gospel point to the same thing.
St. Matthew indicates that Jesus, true God and true man was killed by the people of His day and we know He isn’t accepted by many people in our day. Today’s readings challenge us to be honest with ourselves regarding our PRIORITIES. As followers of Jesus Christ our #1 PRIOROTY should be becoming a saint!
We are the tenants in the Lord’s vineyard of Holy Mother Church here on earth. Our job is to produce good fruit, our job is to become a saint.
HOW?
St. Paul provides some insight for us – we should do what we have learned and seen. Pray to God and accept God’s answers with Thanksgiving.
Our Entrance Antiphon [for this Mass] is, “Within your will, O Lord, all things are established, & there is none that can resist your will … you are the Lord of all.” [27th Sunday in Ordinary Time]
Today’s parable reminds us God will judge us on how we live our faith. God will judge our words & our actions, what we say & what we do.
The Scriptures urge us to live as if the “vintage time” is near, one day our vintage time will come. Working in the vineyard sometimes causes us to become jaded, like the tenants. Little kids can teach us to be holy, to become the saints we are called to become.
Maybe this story can help us with life in the vineyard.
The late Brian Doyle was a witty and insightful writer/poet.
He wrote from the perspective of a loving spouse, bemused dad and faithful, struggling Catholic. He wrote about attending Mass at the University of Portland ….
He was sitting near four-year-old twin boys. They tried to be quiet & reverent, but it was a hopeless cause. When fists & elbows began to fly, their wise & experienced mom pulled two cookies out of her pocket. That quieted them — for a moment.
“I love having little kids at Mass,” Doyle wrote. “I love it when they are bored and pay no attention and squirm. I love it when they get distracted by a moth & spend five minutes following the moth’s precarious voyage among the lights. It’s all good . . .
Yes, it’s often hard to see, but the “holy” can be found in our midst in the simple, the ordinary, the everyday — and the annoying.
God is present in the laughter of mischievous children in the front row and in the clasped hands of the elderly couple in the fourth [pew] — and God is present in everyone in between. [Sometimes] we don’t realize the bounty of [the] vineyard God has entrusted to us….
So, let us give thanks for the blessing of God’s presence in the pieces of crackers and broken crayons on our church floor. [Connections 10/04/2020]
“The duty of discipleship—what really does take time for most of us—is learning to recognize God’s beloved face in the very moment it appears.” [America Magazine, 9/30/2020, Terrance Klein, S.J.]
Today take some time to reflect on your call to be holy, to be good, to be a saint, to be a worker in God’s vineyard.
May God Be Praised!
COVID 19 Pandemic Prayer
Hear my cry! “Lord, listen to my prayer: turn your ear to my appeal.” You are my refuge and my hope, I turn to you during this COVID 19 Pandemic and plead for Your intercession. In Your mercy and Your compassion “… grant eternal rest to the dead, comfort to mourners, healing to the sick ….”
[Psalm 143 and Collect from Mass Time in Pandemic]
Provide strength to the first responders, compassion to the medical personnel, and wisdom to government leaders. End this coronavirus scourge. Send Your light to me as I wander in the darkness of this pandemic and give me hope in Your eternal love today and every day. Amen. [Dcn. George Kelly]
No comments:
Post a Comment