The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today exhort us to examine the actions of the greedy shepherds of our time as a preparation to attend to the prompting of the Spirit to work in faith for truth, beauty, and love in our environment.
The reading from the Prophet Ezekiel contrasts Israel’s false shepherds with God the True Shepherd.
* [34:2] Shepherds: the leaders of the people. A frequent title for kings and deities in the ancient Near East; the ideal ruler took care of his subjects and anticipated their needs. Ezekiel’s oracle broadens the reference to include the whole class of Jerusalem’s leaders (v. 17). The prophet assures his audience, the exiles in Babylon, that God holds these leaders responsible for what has happened to Jerusalem and will give Israel a new shepherd worthy of the title. (Ezekiel, CHAPTER 34, n.d.)
Psalm 23 praises the Divine Shepherd.
* [Psalm 23] God’s loving care for the psalmist is portrayed under the figures of a shepherd for the flock (Ps 23:1–4) and a host’s generosity toward a guest (Ps 23:5–6). The imagery of both sections is drawn from traditions of the exodus (Is 40:11; 49:10; Jer 31:10).
* [23:1] My shepherd: God as good shepherd is common in both the Old Testament and the New Testament (Ez 34:11–16; Jn 10:11–18). (Psalms, PSALM 23, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches about the Labourers in the Vineyard.
* [20:1–16] This parable is peculiar to Matthew. It is difficult to know whether the evangelist composed it or received it as part of his traditional material and, if the latter is the case, what its original reference was. In its present context its close association with Mt 19:30 suggests that its teaching is the equality of all the disciples in the reward of inheriting eternal life.
* [20:4] What is just: although the wage is not stipulated as in the case of those first hired, it will be fair.
* [20:8] Beginning with the last…the first: this element of the parable has no other purpose than to show how the first knew what the last were given (Mt 20:12).
* [20:13] I am not cheating you: literally, “I am not treating you unjustly.”
* [20:14–15] The owner’s conduct involves no violation of justice (Mt 20:4, 13), and that all the workers receive the same wage is due only to his generosity to the latest arrivals; the resentment of the first comes from envy. (Matthew, CHAPTER 20, n.d.)
The visit of Pope Francis to Canada’s Indigenous People reminds Joan Blandin Howard of Nicholas Black Elk, an Oglala of the Lakota Sioux tribe, who In 2017, the Vatican authorized his cause for canonization and he was named “Servant of God”.
World-wide we witness the idolatry of greed, self-aggrandizement, and the mistreatment of those whose dreams, faith traditions, and spiritualities are different from ours. Nicholas Black Elk was a Catholic and a Lakota Sioux. In his 87 years he experienced, valued, respected and lived the sacredness of both traditions.
Today, we have heard harsh tones, impatience, frustration maybe even condemnation from the Lord.
However, the most lasting and powerful words in today’s readings:
“I am coming…I will save my sheep.” Says the Lord. (Creighton U. Daily Reflection, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “Christ our householder,” author unknown, from the 5th century A.D.
"The householder [in Matthew's parable - chapter 20] is Christ, to whom the heavens and the earth are like a single house; the family is as it were the multitude of creatures both angelic and earthly. It is as if he built a three-storied house: hell, heaven and earth, so that those struggling may live upon the earth, those conquered below the earth, those conquering in heaven. We too, set in the middle, should strive not to descend to those who are in hell but ascend to those who are in heaven. And in case perhaps you do not know which one you ought to shun or which one you ought to aspire to, he has given you as it were a little taste of both while you live between light and darkness: night as a taste of hell, daylight as a taste of heaven." (excerpt from an incomplete Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, HOMILY 34) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 20:1-16 comments that we all possess a sense of justice that cries out, “It’s not fair!” That can be a good thing when it energizes us to address unjust situations in our society. God cares about these things, as should we. But there’s no such thing as “it’s not fair” when it comes to God’s mercy, grace, and the eternal life he died to give every one of us.
Jesus knew we would find this parable jarring; as humans we are so used to limits and comparisons. He told it in order to expand our understanding of how generous God is and how much he longs for us to be united with him. So even if it’s a struggle, today try to imagine the joy you will feel in heaven when your brothers and sisters who came to the vineyard later than you receive the same blessings you are enjoying. What a celebration that will be!
“Jesus, I praise you for the unlimited, never-ending grace and mercy you pour out on me!” (Meditation on Matthew 20:1-16, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler recounts how the kings and priests of Israel preyed upon their flock and how Ezekiel prophesied that God would become their Shepherd. Jesus shared the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in connection with the celebration of the Dedication of the Temple. Friar Jude counters our sense of jealousy with the fact that we have been blessed with great gifts that carry great expectation for our labour in the Vineyard.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, teaches about the trustworthy authority that belongs to those who have stood with and “held” the suffering of their lives and the world—rather than fled and avoided it. Jesus and Mary model such “staying power”
Unfortunately, our natural instinct is trying to fix pain, to control it, or even, foolishly, attempting to understand it. The ego insists on understanding. That’s why Jesus praises a certain quality even more than love, and he calls it faith. It’s the ability to stand in liminal space, to stand on the threshold, to hold contraries, until we are moved by grace to a much deeper level and a much larger frame. Our private pain does not take center stage, but is a mystery shared with every act of bloodshed and every tear wept since the beginning of time. Our pain is not just our own. The normal mind can’t deal with that. That’s why mature religion always teaches some form of contemplation—to break our addiction to this egoic, disconnected thinking. [1] (Rohr, n.d.)
We contemplate the gifts of the Spirit we have received to enable our continued labour in the vineyard of the Lord to make His Love and care visible to all with whom we journey.
References
Creighton U. Daily Reflection. (n.d.). Online Ministries. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/081722.html
Ezekiel, CHAPTER 34. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/34?1
Matthew, CHAPTER 20. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/20?1
Meditation on Matthew 20:1-16. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/08/17/470168/
Psalms, PSALM 23. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/23?1
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/stay-where-the-pain-is-2022-08-17/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=aug17
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