False or Fair

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to discern the systems of inequality and discrimination in our society and to respond, as Jesus teaches, with action that addresses the needs of people.

Fairness and Need

In the reading from the Prophet Ezekiel, he condemns Israel’s False Shepherds.

* [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 | USCCB, 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).

* [23:3] Right paths: connotes “right way” and “way of righteousness.”

* [23:5] You set a table before me: this expression occurs in an exodus context in Ps 78:19. In front of my enemies: my enemies see that I am God’s friend and guest. Oil: a perfumed ointment made from olive oil, used especially at banquets (Ps 104:15; Mt 26:7; Lk 7:37, 46; Jn 12:2).

* [23:6] Goodness and mercy: the blessings of God’s covenant with Israel. (Psalms, PSALM 23 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches 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.)

Steve Scholer invites us to think back on all the joy we have experienced in our lives because we have a relationship with Christ.

Think of all we would have missed, had we waited until the end to accept Christ and ask for his forgiveness. Imagine the grandparent who, while on their deathbed, sees their adult grandchildren for the first time. Think of all the joy and love they missed because they delayed having a personal relationship with them.

Having a lifelong relationship with Christ guides us in our daily lives. What type of people would we be, if our lives were not built around the Ten Commandments and the duty to love our neighbors as ourselves? Would we, too, end up like the thief on the cross?

As one commentator said, If you don’t want anything to do with Christ right now, why do you want to spend eternity with Him? (Scholer, 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 Ezekiel 34:1-11 comments that not many of us would consider ourselves equivalent to the “shepherds” the prophet confronted in his day. But then again, maybe we are. Each of us is a “shepherd” because Jesus has called us to love our neighbor as ourselves. And he has made it clear that we are all neighbors to one another (Luke 10:29-37).

So try something a little different today. At your next meal, pray for the people who made it possible: the ones who farmed your food, the ones who packaged and delivered it, and the ones who prepared it. Pray also for those who will go without a meal today. Acknowledge how you are connected to people you may never meet, your “neighbors” near and far. As you do, the Lord will gradually turn your indifference to love that bears fruit in action.

“Jesus, teach me how to love all my neighbors.” (Meditation on Ezekiel 34:1-11, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the condemnation of Ezekiel for the leaders of Israel who failed to be good shepherds. The parable of the Workers in the Vineyard invites us to ponder the fairness of all workers receiving the usual daily wage regardless of the time in the field. Friar Jude reminds us that God is true to His Promise of being merciful.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces CAC staff member Jennifer Tompos who invited Living School affiliate faculty member Carmen Acevedo Butcher to reflect on the role of mentors in developing resilience.

I am so glad you’re bringing up Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha because they feel grief … and I feel it with them. A few days ago, I was rereading “Appendix Five: Talking to Children About Our Current Situation” in Brian McLaren’s book Life After Doom. I began to cry because of the grief, and my students also feel it. I think it’s so important to sit with this uncomfortable conversation [with them], because many come from very difficult backgrounds: first generation students, low socioeconomic status, various disabilities. They feel anger at the older generations for our platitudes and obtuseness, and I listen. I’ve even heard myself in class say, “I just want to apologize for how we were not on this, and y’all have inherited such a mess, so many difficulties.” Then there’s this intergenerational dialogue that takes place. (Rohr, n.d.)

We ask the help of the Spirit to STOP (Stop,Take breath,Observe,Proceed) when we are offered the opportunity to choose kindness, mercy and compassion in our response to the needs of our brothers and sisters that we encounter on our journey.

References

Ezekiel, CHAPTER 34 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 21, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/34?1 

Matthew, CHAPTER 20 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 21, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/20?1 

Meditation on Ezekiel 34:1-11. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 21, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/08/21/1055674/ 

Psalms, PSALM 23 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 21, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/23?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Intergenerational Learning. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved August 21, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/intergenerational-learning/ 

Scholer, S. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. OnlineMinistries. Retrieved August 21, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/082124.html 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Do You Begrudge My Generosity? Daily Scripture net. Retrieved August 21, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=aug21 

Bad and Good

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to respond to bad situations in our lives with love, compassion, and mercy for people who hurt us or treat us unfairly.

Loving Enemies

In the reading from the First Letter of Kings, Elijah pronounces God’s Sentence on Ahab.

* [21:20–26] In these verses the narrator uses against the third Israelite dynasty the same condeKmnation formula that was uttered against the first two dynasties, those of Jeroboam (14:9–11) and Baasha (16:2–4). Part of the formula is put in Elijah’s mouth, in an oracle against Ahab and his descendants (vv. 21–22), and part of it in an aside to the reader that extends the condemnation to Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, and his whole household (vv. 23–24). The oracle against Jezebel will be fulfilled in 2 Kgs 9:36; the obliteration of the dynasty will be recounted in the bloody stories of 2 Kgs 9–11. (1 Kings, CHAPTER 21 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 51 is a prayer for Cleansing and Pardon.

* [Psalm 51] A lament, the most famous of the seven Penitential Psalms, prays for the removal of the personal and social disorders that sin has brought. The poem has two parts of approximately equal length: Ps 51:3–10 and Ps 51:11–19, and a conclusion in Ps 51:20–21. The two parts interlock by repetition of “blot out” in the first verse of each section (Ps 51:3, 11), of “wash (away)” just after the first verse of each section (Ps 51:4) and just before the last verse (Ps 51:9) of the first section, and of “heart,” “God,” and “spirit” in Ps 51:12, 19. The first part (Ps 51:3–10) asks deliverance from sin, not just a past act but its emotional, physical, and social consequences. The second part (Ps 51:11–19) seeks something more profound than wiping the slate clean: nearness to God, living by the spirit of God (Ps 51:12–13), like the relation between God and people described in Jer 31:33–34. Nearness to God brings joy and the authority to teach sinners (Ps 51:15–16). Such proclamation is better than offering sacrifice (Ps 51:17–19). The last two verses express the hope that God’s good will toward those who are cleansed and contrite will prompt him to look favorably on the acts of worship offered in the Jerusalem Temple (Ps 51:19 [20–21]). (Psalms, PSALM 51 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches Love for Enemies.

* [5:43–48] See Lv 19:18. There is no Old Testament commandment demanding hatred of one’s enemy, but the “neighbor” of the love commandment was understood as one’s fellow countryman. Both in the Old Testament (Ps 139:19–22) and at Qumran (1QS 9:21) hatred of evil persons is assumed to be right. Jesus extends the love commandment to the enemy and the persecutor. His disciples, as children of God, must imitate the example of their Father, who grants his gifts of sun and rain to both the good and the bad.

* [5:46] Tax collectors: Jews who were engaged in the collection of indirect taxes such as tolls and customs. See note on Mk 2:14.

* [5:47] Jesus’ disciples must not be content with merely usual standards of conduct; see Mt 5:20 where the verb “surpass” (Greek perisseuō) is cognate with the unusual (perisson) of this verse.

* [5:48] Perfect: in the gospels this word occurs only in Matthew, here and in Mt 19:21. The Lucan parallel (Lk 6:36) demands that the disciples be merciful. (Matthew, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)

Maureen McCann Waldron comments that what Jesus offers us today is to go beyond our own limits and love our enemies.  Not to pretend we don’t have negative feelings for others, but to pray to God to help us to overcome them. 

Pope Francis says the mystery of Christian life is loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us.  “The challenge of Christian life is asking the Lord for the grace to bless our enemies and to love them.” 

Francis also suggests that we can stop complaining!  “How many times do we complain about the things that we lack, about the things that go wrong! Jesus knows about all the things that don’t work. He knows that there is always going to be someone who dislikes us. Or someone who makes our life miserable. All he asks us to do is pray and love.”

Impossible?  On my own, yes.  But not if I recognize my own shortcomings and ask God for the strength, wisdom and maturity to overcome them as I deal with others.

Loving Jesus, help me to be more patient and less whining and complaining about those who push my buttons, those who disagree with me and those I judge as unkind or cruel.  Teach me to love them with an open heart as you do. Share with me your peace of heart.   (McCann Waldron, 2024)

Don Schwager quotes “Pray for those who persecute you,” by John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D.

"For neither did Christ simply command to love but to pray. Do you see how many steps he has ascended and how he has set us on the very summit of virtue? Mark it, numbering from the beginning. A first step is not to begin with injustice. A second, after one has begun, is not to vindicate oneself by retaliating in kind. A third, to refuse to respond in kind to the one who is injuring us but to remain tranquil. A fourth, even to offer up one's self to suffer wrongfully. A fifth, to give up even more than the wrongdoer wishes to take. A sixth, to refuse to hate one who has wronged us. A seventh, even to love such a one. An eighth, even to do good to that one. A ninth, to entreat God himself on our enemy's behalf. Do you perceive how elevated is a Christian disposition? Hence its reward is also glorious. (excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 18.4) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 5:43-48 comments that Elijah’s example can encourage us to pray boldly that those who have harmed us would have a change of heart.

Sometimes as you pray, God will change your own attitudes toward those you formerly regarded as enemies. You might take another look at the person who hurt you and see how deeply he himself has been wounded. Or you could come to discern the good intention behind an action that wound up inflicting harm.

It’s good to remind yourself that God never gives up on any of his children. He longs to pour out his love and mercy even on your enemies. That means you can be an instrument of God’s love and mercy in your corner of the world! Whether or not you see any way to cooperate with God’s mercy directly, you can sincerely pray for your enemies and trust God to work for good in their lives. Because your love and your prayers do make a difference!

“Lord, soften my heart toward my ‘enemies.’ Teach me how to pray for your blessings upon them!” (Meditation on Matthew 5:43-48, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler cites the Hebrew sense of  “As the sin so the punishment” in commenting on the punishment for Ahab after the murder and theft of the vineyard of Naboth. An individual responsibility for sin was not developed in the time of 1 Kings. Augustine understood evil as the absence of good and Friar Jude reminds us to be aware of evil as a symptom of brokeness that we may be able to minister to in those who are bad to us. 

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces author Cole Arthur Riley who considers this year’s Daily Meditations theme of radical resilience.  CAC teacher and psychotherapist James Finley shares that it’s through the wounded places in us that God’s love reaches us.

 It is in experiencing and accepting how difficult it can be to free ourselves from our hurtful attitudes and ways of treating ourselves and others that we begin to understand that the healing path is not a linear process in which we can force our way beyond our wounded and wounding ways. Rather, it is a path along which we learn to circle back again and again to cultivate within ourselves a more merciful understanding of ourselves as we learn to see, love, and respect the still-confused and wounded aspects of ourselves. Insofar as these wounded and wounding aspects of ourselves recognize that they are seen, loved, and respected in such a merciful way, they can feel safe enough to release the pain they carry into the more healed and whole aspects of ourselves.  

We are now attempting to bear witness to the sweet secret of experiential salvation in which the torn and ragged edges of our wounded and wayward hearts are experienced as… the opening through which the gentle light of God’s merciful love shines into our lives. [3] (Rohr, n.d.)

Our Baptismal anointing as priest, prophet and leader is our perfect consecration to connect us to the Holy Spirit and the strength to love those who hurt us and pray for healing of our wounds.

References

Matthew, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5?43 

McCann Waldron, M. (2024, June 17). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/061824.html 

Meditation on Matthew 5:43-48. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/06/18/1003007/

1 Kings, CHAPTER 21 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1kings/21?17 

Psalms, PSALM 51 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/51?3 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/resilience-requires-flexibility/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=jun18