Desire and Dissonance

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to contemplate our desires for a good life and exhort us to action in accord with the limitless generosity and mercy of God.

Generosity and Migration

The reading from the Book of Isaiah is an invitation to Grace as we contemplate the thoughts and ways of God.

* [55:6–9] The invitation to seek the Lord is motivated by the mercy of a God whose “ways” are completely mysterious. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 55 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 145 praises the Greatness and the Goodness of God.

* [Psalm 145] A hymn in acrostic form; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Acrostic poems usually do not develop ideas but consist rather of loosely connected statements. The singer invites all to praise God (Ps 145:1–3, 21). The “works of God” make God present and invite human praise (Ps 145:4–7); they climax in a confession (Ps 145:8–9). God’s mighty acts show forth divine kingship (Ps 145:10–20), a major theme in the literature of early Judaism and in Christianity. (Psalms, PSALM 145 | USCCB, n.d.)

The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians urges steadfastness in Faith through a life worthy of the gospel of Christ.

* [1:19–25] Paul earnestly debates his prospects of martyrdom or continued missionary labor. While he may long to depart this life and thus be with Christ (Phil 1:23), his overall and final expectation is that he will be delivered from this imprisonment and continue in the service of the Philippians and of others (Phil 1:19, 25; Phil 2:24). In either case, Christ is central (Phil 1:20–21); if to live means Christ for Paul, death means to be united with Christ in a deeper sense. (Philippians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew presents the Parable of 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.

* [20:16] See note on Mt 19:30. (Matthew, CHAPTER 20 | USCCB, n.d.)

Molly Mattingly comments that prayer practice is important to her relationship with God. And, what happens in her prayer is not reliant upon her efforts, but upon God.

“Are you envious because I am generous?” asks the vineyard owner in today’s parable. The truth is, sometimes, yes. Yes, sometimes I am envious when I see how generous God is to others, and I am blind to how generous God is to me (like the elder son in another parable). Yes, sometimes I’ve put in effort and not seen the results I was hoping for. Yes, sometimes God answers another’s prayer but doesn’t seem to answer mine. Yes, sometimes I see another’s gifts and the seemingly effortless fruit they bear, and I wonder why God hasn’t given me those gifts instead of the ones I have. But it is impossible to limit God’s grace! (Mattingly, 2023)

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 it doesn’t matter that they came later to the vineyard. God and his angels in heaven still rejoiced, and so should we anytime we hear of someone turning to God later in life.

God is always inviting people to “go into my vineyard” (Matthew 20:4). Today at Mass, pray for the people you know who have not yet accepted his invitation. May they one day receive the reward he so graciously has in store for them!

“Father, I praise you for your mercy and generosity, which have no bounds!” (Meditation on Matthew 20:1-16, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that the text from Deutero Isaiah, written after the Babylonian exile, urges us to think of God as mercy more than justice. Paul, writing from prison, expresses both the joy of serving Christ and joining Christ in the afterlife. Friar Jude reminds us to avoid the zero based mentality in which we lose when generosity is shown, by God, or humans, to others in need.

Jack Mahoney SJ, Emeritus Professor of Moral and Social Theology in the University of London and a former Principal of Heythrop College, University of London, discusses how Jesus’ parables used familiar, everyday situations to illustrate truths about God, and suggests how the behaviour of the employer in this parable might prompt us to think about our idea of justice.

Given the contrast between justice understood as recognising deserts, and justice understood as meeting people’s needs regardless of what they deserve, we must conclude that the latter is much more consonant with the gospel, both with regard to God’s attitude to us – as is the point of this parable – and also with regard to our desirable attitude to one another. Our whole attitude to God should not be one of claiming a proper reward for our efforts, as the disgruntled all day labourers muttered, but one of holding out our needs to God, confident of his continual concern for each one of us as individuals. (Mahoney, 2009)

 On the World Day of Migrants and Refugees , Pope Francis reminds us of the conditions that often force people to emigrate.

Joint efforts are needed by individual countries and the international community to ensure that all enjoy the right not to be forced to emigrate, in other words, the chance to live in peace and with dignity in one's own country. This right has yet to be codified, but it is one of fundamental importance, and its protection must be seen as a shared responsibility on the part of all States with respect to a common good that transcends national borders. Indeed, since the world’s resources are not unlimited, the development of the economically poorer countries depends on the capacity for sharing that we can manage to generate among all countries. Until this right is guaranteed – and here we are speaking of a long process – many people will still have to emigrate in order to seek a better life. (Message for the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2023 | Francis, 2023)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, stresses that the prophets’ love for God and passion for justice came from a transforming experience of “sacred space”.

The secret of the Hebrew prophets is they had a transforming experience of sacred space. The calls of Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel each are a clear description of a transformative moment of sacred space. Their world is reconfigured, life is reconfigured, and afterward, they have to go back to what looks ordinary but now has become entirely extraordinary for them. They see reality with a different set of eyes. I think the reason that we need a place like the CAC or a school for prophets is because we’ve got to find a way to honor and send people on this serious search for God. That is primary, and it’s from this that we develop critical consciousness. (Rohr, 2022)

We seek enlightenment of the Spirit to become conscious of the needs of our brothers and sisters and to respond with generosity in our time, treasure, and talents.

References

Isaiah, CHAPTER 55 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 24, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/55?6 

Mahoney, J. (2009, August 18). The Parable of the Living Wage? Thinking Faith. Retrieved September 24, 2023, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20090818_1.htm 

Matthew, CHAPTER 20 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 24, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/20?1 

Mattingly, M. (2023, September 24). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved September 24, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/092423.html 

Meditation on Matthew 20:1-16. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved September 24, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/09/24/790847/ 

Message for the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2023 | Francis. (2023, May 11). The Holy See. Retrieved September 24, 2023, from https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/migration/documents/20230511-world-migrants-day-2023.html 

Philippians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 24, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/philippians/1?20 

Psalms, PSALM 145 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 24, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/145?2 

Rohr, R. (2022, October 2). Sacred Space. CAC Daily Meditations 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/sacred-space/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Do You Begrudge My Generosity? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 24, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=sep24 

Gospel and Observance

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the balance between religious observance and action in serving others on our journey.

Living the Gospel

The reading from the Letter to the Colossians presents Paul as a servant of the Gospel.

* [1:21–23] Paul, in applying this hymn to the Colossians, reminds them that they have experienced the reconciling effect of Christ’s death. He sees the effects of the cross in the redemption of human beings, not of cosmic powers such as those referred to in Col 1:16, 20 (all things). Paul also urges adherence to Christ in faith and begins to point to his own role as minister (Col 1:23), sufferer (Col 1:24), and proclaimer (Col 1:27–28) of this gospel. (Colossians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 54 is a prayer for Vindication.

* [Psalm 54] A lament in which the person under attack calls directly upon God for help (Ps 54:3–5). Refusing to despair, the psalmist hopes in God, who is active in history and just (Ps 54:6–7). The Psalm ends with a serene promise to return thanks (Ps 54:8–9). (Psalms, PSALM 54 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus addresses a question about the Sabbath.

* [6:1–11] The two episodes recounted here deal with gathering grain and healing, both of which were forbidden on the sabbath. In his defense of his disciples’ conduct and his own charitable deed, Jesus argues that satisfying human needs such as hunger and performing works of mercy take precedence even over the sacred sabbath rest. See also notes on Mt 12:1–14 and Mk 2:25–26. (Luke, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)

Steve Scholer references Luke 5:1-11 in his commentary and the post from Thursday, September 7, 2023 Living as Disciples. A question raised today can be asked at any time “.How can we demonstrate that Christ is the center of our lives?”

Our gifts to support the church are worthy; but our active participation in the lived Gospel is the real work of the church that Jesus wants and needs us to do. Maybe we need to remind ourselves of the old adage, “Walking with Christ means walking like Christ.” (Scholer, 2023)

Don Schwager quotes “Withered hands - withered minds,” by Athanasius of Alexandria (295-373 AD).

"In the synagogue of the Jews was a man who had a withered hand. If he was withered in his hand, the ones who stood by were withered in their minds. And they were not looking at the crippled man nor were they expecting the miraculous deed of the one who was about to work. But before doing the work, the Savior ploughed up their minds with words. For knowing the evil of the mind and its bitter depth, he first softened them up in advance with words so as to tame the wildness of their understanding, asking: 'Is it permitted to do good on the sabbath or to do evil; to save a life or to destroy one?' For if he had said to them, 'Is it permitted to work?' immediately they would have said, 'You are speaking contrary to the law.'

"Then he told them what was intended by the law, for he spoke as the One who established the laws concerning the sabbath, adding, 'except this: that which will be done for the sake of a life.' Again if a person falls into a hole on a sabbath, Jews are permitted to pull the person out (Matthew 12:11). This not only applies to a person, but also an ox or a donkey. In this way the law agrees that things relating to preservation may be done, hence Jews prepare meals on the sabbath. Then he asked them about a point on which they could hardly disagree: 'Is it permitted to do good? (Matthew 3:4, Luke 6:9) But they did not even so much as say, 'Yes,' because by then they were not in a good temper." (excerpt from HOMILIES 28) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Colossians 1:21-23 comments that “Thank God” that heaven doesn’t depend on our merits! Out of pure love, his Son willingly gave up his life as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Through his cross and resurrection, Jesus has purified us. Now anyone baptized into Christ is washed clean of sin and “reconciled” with God (Colossians 1:22). No wonder the gospel is called good news!

Today in prayer, praise the Lord for the amazing gift he has given you: forgiveness of your sins and the hope of life eternal. Then tell him that you want to be “holy, without blemish, and irreproachable” (Colossians 1:22).

“All praise and glory to you, Jesus, my Redeemer and my Savior!” (Meditation on Colossians 1:21-23, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes how the passage from Colossians underlines that the Gentiles who were once alienated from God are now made holy and are urged to remain stable in their faith. The fence the Pharisees placed around the Law made plucking a few heads of grain an offence when harvesting was intended to be prohibited. Friar Jude reminds us of Jesus' proclamation as Son of God and interpreters of the Law.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Father Dan Riley who presents a Franciscan way of practicing Lectio Divina.

Francis was reading and learning about God everywhere, beyond the church or the classroom, and responding to the Word as it was alive in everything…. Word and world—indeed this is our home, and we are finding ways to choose to live here together with one another. We need to pick up the Bible and at the same time our world, holding them and letting them hold us, tenderly and gently opening and beginning to page through them, but only as they offer themselves to us. We need to look everyone and everything in the face and be amazed at the face of God looking back at us. (Rohr, 2023)

We are led by the Spirit in our mission of serving the Gospel in the encounters we have with our environment every day.

References

Colossians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 9, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/colossians/1? 

Luke, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 9, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/6?1 

Meditation on Colossians 1:21-23. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved September 9, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/09/09/778235/ 

Psalms, PSALM 54 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 9, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/54?3 

Rohr, R. (2023, September 9). The Franciscan Way: Weekly Summary — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC Daily Meditations 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-franciscan-way-weekly-summary-2023-09-09/ 

Scholer, S. (2023, September 9). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved September 9, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/090923.html 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 9, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=sep9