Twenty-sixth Sunday - 2020

Matthew  21:28-32 Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not, ' but afterwards changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, ‘but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" . . . LINK . . .

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Twenty-fifth Sunday - 2020

Children may often be heard complaining, "But it's not fair!" No doubt when they perceive a brother or sister received a larger portion than they. But this complaint is not exclusive to only child. In the competition of life and in the interest of social rest, we have establish fairness as the key to maintaining harmonious relations.  But our perception of fairness can easily be carried over to the way we expect our relationship with God to transpire. Since we consider that the good should be rewarded and the bad punished, relating to a God of mercy and forgiveness can be problematic. And when we are told that we must imitate this very same compassionate and merciful behavior in our dealings with others, we hit a stumbling block in our relationship with God. Jesus characterizes this very problem in the parable for today. Justice vs mercy is a long standing issue in the scriptures. In the Old Testament people learn what is right through the Law, and so it is perceived that obeying the law should have its reward. But a problem arises when they see the good suffering. The book of Job tackles the question and struggles to answer why the perfectly God-fearing and Law-biding Job is suffering such disaster. In the gospels, Jesus meets the problem head on, most profoundly and definitively in his passion, death and resurrection. In Matthew 9: Jesus comes upon a paralyzed man begging - (no doubt considered by all as punishment from God for his sins). Jesus announces his sins forgiven, accompanied by his immediate healing. Later he tells his detractors, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (referring to Ez. 9:23) Jesus has come to redeem, to rescue souls from death. "Death", is existence apart from God, to exist but to have no participation in the glory of God - not to "live" in the presence of God in the heavenly realm, this is death. Living in God presence is not something we merit, it is pure gift, God's purpose and design intended for every one. We did not choose to exist, and we can never not exist, but we can choose to accept or reject living in God's presence. What is fair is that God wants all people to have the opportunity to live in his presence.  There is a person who lives in Toledo Ohio, who's first name is Walter - he is real, his name is in the phone book. He does not care if you are sick or in need in any way, like he would for others he knows. We would not say that it is not fair that he does not care about you, he does not even know you exist. But God does know that you exist and does care that you have life eternal - if he did not, that would be unfair.  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.… Jo. 3:16 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.… 1 Jo. 4:9 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.… 1 Jo. 3:1 Death is God's enemy and so is our enemy also. So this is fair; 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' "I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Lk. 15:6 Now a further question might be asked, is it fair that we were given a choice to accept or reject life eternal? Are there rocks in heaven. Do they know where they are?

Twenty-fourth Sunday - 2020

"As I hope you can see, there is a lot going on here.  This is a very, very rich passage.  So the first point we want to make about these words, in context, is to remember that we've just heard about Jesus's instructions about what to do when a brother sins against you; and how to take it up with him individually, and then take two or three witnesses, and then take it to the Church if he doesn’t repent.  So we just heard that in the previous verses, and in that context Peter basically says 'okay, well how often do I have to do that, how many times do I have to forgive?' " . . . .  LINK TO THE VIDEO

Twenty-third Sunday - 2020

This year the gospel readings are taken from Matthew’s gospel. It was first addressed to Jewish people who had become converts to Christianity. But they were still shaped by many of the traditions found in Jewish law. Earlier in Matthew we hear Jesus say; Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Mtt. 5:17 As Christian communities grew, forming the early churches, how members were expected to conduct their lives began to take shape, and especially how the church was to deal with one who sinned in a way that harmed or scandalized the Church members and yet remained within the community. The basic formula for establishing these laws of discipline we find laid out by Jesus in today’s gospel text.  First there is to be private correction (Mt 18:15); if this is unsuccessful, further correction before two or three witnesses (Mt 18:16); if this fails, the matter is to be brought before the assembled community (the church), and if the sinner refuses to attend to the correction of the church, he is to be expelled [18:15–20]  Of special note is the third one – tell the church and if he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector – in Jewish practice that was to have no dealings whatever with that person. This gave shape to the church’s practice of excommunication. Throughout the  Church’s history, the practice of excommunication continued to develop. Basically, to be excommunicated is to be excluded from participation in the sacramental life of the church. The purpose for imposing such disciplines is to encourage the sinner to repent and return right living. Over the years, laws of excommunication took many forms and covered many different sinful practices. But in resent times, it was felt that Code Canon Law had become too encumbered with an excessive number of laws and needed to be updated and simplified. In the 1983 a revised Code of Canon Law was issued. In it there were simply nine sins carrying the penalty of automatic excommunication: abortion, apostasy, heresy, schism, violating the sacred species, physically attacking the pope, sacramental absolving an accomplice in a sexual sin, consecrating a bishop without authorization, and directly violating the seal of confession. In the case of abortion, priests needed to be specially authorized to absolve, but Pope Francis, for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, extended to all priest this jurisdiction, and now has made it permanent. We live in a pluralistic, liberal society that has a broad tolerance for all manner of human behavior. But the church continues to hold many, many things as sinful which society considers amoral and a matter of personal choice. Some things the Church considered so serious and intolerable as to require excommunication.  We are called to a higher standard then our society promulgates. We must form our conscience and structure our lives on the wisdom and truth taught to us through the gospel and the magisterium of the Church. Therefore, it is essential that we structure a plan of personal Christian formation whereby we maintain that vital connection with God’s Word of life – that we continue to be attentive to the VOICE of God.

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