Choosing Imperfect Humility

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary on the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time challenge us to consider humility as the ground from which we make our choices.

Humble Walking with the Lord

The Reading from the Prophet Ezekiel rejects the idea that punishment is transferred from one generation to the next.

* [18:25] The LORD’s way is not fair: this chapter rejects the idea that punishment is transferred from one generation to the next and emphasizes individual responsibility and accountability. (Ezekiel, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 25 presents expressions of confidence in God who forgives and guides.

* [Psalm 25] A lament. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Such acrostic Psalms are often a series of statements only loosely connected. The psalmist mixes ardent pleas (Ps 25:1–2, 16–22) with expressions of confidence in God who forgives and guides. (Psalms, PSALM 25 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians is a Plea for Unity and Humility

* [2:1–11] The admonition to likemindedness and unity (Phil 2:2–5) is based on the believers’ threefold experience with Christ, God’s love, and the Spirit. The appeal to humility (Phil 2:3) and to obedience (Phil 2:12) is rooted in christology, specifically in a statement about Christ Jesus (Phil 2:6–11) and his humbling of self and obedience to the point of death (Phil 2:8). (Philippians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus presents the Parable of the Two Sons.

* [21:28–32] The series of controversies is interrupted by three parables on the judgment of Israel (Mt 21:28–22:14) of which this, peculiar to Matthew, is the first. The second (Mt 21:33–46) comes from Mark (12:1–12), and the third (Mt 22:1–14) from Q; see Lk 14:15–24. This interruption of the controversies is similar to that in Mark, although Mark has only one parable between the first and second controversy. As regards Matthew’s first parable, Mt 21:28–30 if taken by themselves could point simply to the difference between saying and doing, a theme of much importance in this gospel (cf. Mt 7:21; 12:50); that may have been the parable’s original reference. However, it is given a more specific application by the addition of Mt 21:31–32. The two sons represent, respectively, the religious leaders and the religious outcasts who followed John’s call to repentance. By the answer they give to Jesus’ question (Mt 21:31) the leaders condemn themselves. There is much confusion in the textual tradition of the parable. Of the three different forms of the text given by important textual witnesses, one has the leaders answer that the son who agreed to go but did not was the one who did the father’s will. Although some scholars accept that as the original reading, their arguments in favor of it seem unconvincing. The choice probably lies only between a reading that puts the son who agrees and then disobeys before the son who at first refuses and then obeys, and the reading followed in the present translation. The witnesses to the latter reading are slightly better than those that support the other.

* [21:31] Entering…before you: this probably means “they enter; you do not.”

* [21:32] Cf. Lk 7:29–30. Although the thought is similar to that of the Lucan text, the formulation is so different that it is improbable that the saying comes from Q. Came to you…way of righteousness: several meanings are possible: that John himself was righteous, that he taught righteousness to others, or that he had an important place in God’s plan of salvation. For the last, see note on Mt 3:14–15. (Matthew, CHAPTER 21 | USCCB, n.d.)

Anish Kochanichottil, SJ, comments that the “inordinate attachment” Saint Ignatius of Loyola talks about is what pulls him away from doing what is right and what is good in the sight of God.

This makes me ask myself, especially when I am unhappy, “What am I clinging to? What are my attachments? It could be a person, an idea, an expectation, power or possession.”

Today I am invited to change, to let go, to make the right decisions in order to be free and happy. The second reading reminds me that Jesus, even though was in the form of God, did not cling to equality with God. He did not cling to a good life or comfort. He emptied himself, became like one of us and died on the cross.

This self-emptying is what all of us are asked to ponder today. You and I need that trust and faith in our heavenly Father to let go, to change and to become better. (Kochanichottil, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes “The Father and his two sons,” author unknown, from the 5th century A.D.

"Who is this if not the God who created all people and loves them with a fatherly affection, the God who preferred to be loved as a father rather than feared as a lord, even though he was Lord by nature? On this account, at the beginning of the commandments of the law, he did not say, 'You shall fear the Lord with all your heart' but 'you shall love the Lord with all your heart' (Deuteronomy 6:5). To elicit love is not characteristic of a lord but of a father. Of the two sons in this parable, the older one represents the Gentiles, since they come from their father Noah. The younger son represents the Jews, who come from Abraham. 'And approaching the first, he said, "Son, go and work today in my vineyard." 'Today' refers to this present age. How did he speak to his sons? He didn't address them face to face like man, but he spoke to the heart, like God. Man only utters words to the ear, but God supplies understanding to the mind." (excerpt from an incomplete Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, HOMILY 40) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winker comments on the texts for today. Ezekiel speaks about the bad one who turns to the good and the good one who turns to evil and punishment. The person is getting what he has chosen. The Philippians were liked by Paul and he teaches them to consider the other as more important than themselves and live a life of service. Jesus emptied Himself of his divinity and took the form of a slave and a human being. He is a Being in the form of God, yet he emptied Himself. Jesus took on our flesh. How much did he know? He was one like us except in sin. Friar Jude ponders if this is the exaltation, the reward, or is the cross the exaltation where we see who God truly is on the cross most clearly. In Hebrew literature citing two extremes means to include everything in between. ALL bow down to the Holy Name. Friar Jude notes this  requires us to treat It with reference too.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Philippians 2:1-11 comments that when we hear St. Paul calling us to be “of the same mind” and “united in heart,” it can seem almost impossible (Philippians 2:2). It’s hard enough staying civil and polite, but to actually be united in heart and mind? Can we even do that? Paul seems to think we can. So let’s consider how we can apply his words to our lives today.

So how can we embrace this calling? One way is to ask yourself if you should be spending less time taking in the news, political commentary, or celebrity gossip and more time serving God. The simple act of putting your energy toward listening to God and being among his people will bring down dividing walls and empower you to follow Jesus’ command to love all of your brothers and sisters.

So enjoy the benefits of our connected world, but remember to guard the true, lasting unity of your family in Christ.

“Jesus, help me to hear your call to unity and respond with love.” (Meditation on Philippians 2:1-11, 2026)

Father Richard Rohr reflects on his first encounter with the writings of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897) as a young man.

It was her underlying spirituality, complemented by Francis of Assisi and Franciscanism, that got me through the seminary. It wasn’t the academic teaching I was being given by the professors, which was still tainted with legalism, and where the unspoken premise was basically, “If you’re perfect, if you do it right, God will love you.” That was the underlying assumption, and it was—and still is—utterly false. I guess I trusted Thérèse because what she wrote felt like common sense to me. Most of my confessors were legalists, and I would just quietly think to myself, “Okay, they’re going to say that, but I know it’s not true.”

It was an important antidote to my own inclination to perfectionism as a “one” on the Enneagram (although I didn’t have the language for it at the time). We “one’s” set a standard of perfection by our own self-centered definition, and so we’re always defeated. We define the rules and then we can’t live up to them. Thérèse is the best counterweight to any theology or spirituality of perfectionism. She was my liberation. I just didn’t believe in it anymore. It simply wasn’t true. (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the Wisdom of the Spirit to be open to those events in life which can be opportunities to affirm our “Yes” to work in the vineyard of the Lord even if our initial response was non committal or “No”.

References

Ezekiel, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/18? 

Kochanichottil, A. (2026, September 27). Daily Reflection September 27, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-september-27-2026 

Matthew, CHAPTER 21 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/21?28 

Meditation on Philippians 2:1-11. (2026, September 27). The Word Among Us. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/09/27/1678507/ 

Philippians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/philippians/2? 

Psalms, PSALM 25 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/25?4

Rohr, R. (n.d.). An Influential Teacher. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/an-influential-teacher/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Which Son Did the Father's Will? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/? 

Fairness and Love

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge our western industrial concepts of fairness and offer a Way of Love to demonstrate our desire to be like Christ. 

Invited to the Table

The Reading from the Prophet Isaiah is an invitation to seek the Lord.

* [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 invites all to praise 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.

* [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 Workers 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.)

Larry Hopp comments that he and his wife have four children and eight grandchildren and they often worry about being fair when doing something for one of these loved ones – will the others perceive our actions as being fair? Today’s Daily Readings clearly speak to this issue from God’s perspective rather than from the world’s viewpoint.

While it is easy to understand that it doesn’t seem fair for a worker working all day to receive the same compensation as the one who only works an hour, Jesus teaches us in this example that the landowner did not cheat anyone, but rather he was simply being generous. The parable could end with this lesson on giving lavishly, but it does not end there, rather it provides us a crucial understanding of grace and redemption. As a fallen man, I have lived too much of my life following sinful thoughts, words and actions. In this story God has left no doubt that He views fairness through a heart lens. I can confidently run to my Savior, knowing it is not too late to bask in His incredible love and mercy. What is important is turning to Jesus, no matter when we make that choice or what the world may think of our choice.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the incredible wisdom you provide throughout your Word. Help us to better grasp how high your ways and thoughts are above ours so that we can confidently seek your truth in every moment of our life. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen (Hopp, n.d.)

Don Schwager asks “What can work and wages, welfare and the unemployed tell us about the kingdom of God?” In the parable of the laborers in the vineyard we see the extraordinary generosity and compassion of God (Matthew 20:1-16). There is great tragedy in unemployment, the loss of work, and the inability to earn enough to live and support oneself or one's family. In Jesus' times laborers had to wait each day in the marketplace until someone hired them for a day's job. No work that day usually meant no food on the family table. The laborers who worked all day and received their payment complain that the master pays the late afternoon laborers the same wage. The master, undoubtedly, hired them in the late afternoon so they wouldn't go home payless and hungry.

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.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that Isaiah speaks about leaving our former ways and turning to the Lord. We have to ask for that mercy. The ways and thoughts of the Lord are not ours. We have to do the best we can, Philippians are a community Paul very much likes and as Paul is facing persecution he proclaims acceptance of living or dying as both serve the Lord. Both alternatives are in God’s hands. An attitude that we should consider is the peace of surrender to what God is calling us to be. In the Gospel of Matthew, the ones who work a short time get a day’s wage as do the ones who worked all day in the heat. Is the anger and jealousy of the first hired out of place? Friar Jude comments that in this end time parable, common in Matthew’s Gospel, we consider that when we are with God that is enough. “Last minute” conversions are for celebrations of mercy and love of God.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Philippians 1:20-24, 27 asks “”So what can we learn from St. Paul’s perspective?” 

First, heaven is something that we can wholeheartedly look forward to. While we may initially think of all that we might lose when we pass away, the truth is that we can expect to experience far more joy and satisfaction in eternity than we ever could in our earthly lives.

Second, we can experience a foretaste of the joy that awaits us in heaven right here and now. We can be so consumed with Christ that we say, with Paul, “To me life is Christ” (Philippians 1:21). How can we be consumed with Christ? Like Paul, we can spend our lives in “fruitful labor,” serving others and pointing to Jesus in all we do (1:22). As Paul delighted in seeing people grow in their faith, so, too, can we find joy in seeing our lives draw others closer to Jesus, even as we await the fullness of life in heaven.

“Lord, open my eyes to the beauty of this life, today and in eternity.” (Meditation on Philippians 1:20-24, 27, 2026)

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, reflects on nonviolent resistance as the primary Christian response to a world of violence.

The gospel and the church both teach nonviolent resistance. Some call it gentle firmness. I believe that it is the Christian moral response. It does not imply absolute pacifism or deny the right to legitimate self-defense, but it requires creative and constant firmness in opposition to evil. Each of us is complicit in this mystery of evil, violence, and harm. Seeking to justify wars, people say, “Well, someone has to die”—but the gospel says, “First of all, it’s you!” Jesus tells us to die to ourselves (see Luke 9:24). This process requires us to agree to carry some of the burden of sin and pain of the world…

The journey of contemplative prayer leads us to a sense of universality, of bearing the burden and resisting the violence of the entire world and not just that of our own country. To be a true Christian, I think, means to be a giant juggler of all kinds of contradictions, all kinds of absurdities, all kinds of death, and all kinds of life. We are each being led to a depth of universal God experience that allows us, in our own spirit, mind, and heart, to know a gospel response to the world’s violence. I don’t think there’s any way we can call ourselves Christians without aiming for nonviolence as our ideal. (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the Wisdom and Understanding gifts of the Spirit to instruct and guide our conversion to live in accord with the “mind of Christ”.

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

References

Hopp, L. (n.d.). Daily Reflection September 20, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-september-20-2026 

Isaiah, CHAPTER 55 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/55? 

Matthew, CHAPTER 20 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/20 

Meditation on Philippians 1:20-24, 27. (2026, September 20). The Word Among Us. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/09/20/1673137/ 

Philippians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/philippians/1?20 

Psalms, PSALM 145 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/145?2 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Nonviolent Resistance. Nonviolent Resistance. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/nonviolent-resistance/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Do You Begrudge My Generosity? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/