Urban Hermit at 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006 US - Year A, 28th-Christ the King
| Year A, 28th-Christ the King |
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A): Living the Abundant Life Isaiah 25:6-10a—The Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples; the Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face. Psalm 23: I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20—I know how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. Matthew 22:1-14—The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.
Living in humble circumstances is an experience many of us have had. Perhaps it was lack of sufficient money, or sufficient food, or sufficient clothing, or sufficient housing. We had to make do with less than we needed. And, for most of us, if we've lived long enough, we've also had the experience of having more than we need: enough money to live on, enough food, enough clothes, a house to live in. Those are not uncommon human experiences in the United States of America. However, Paul's assertion that he knows "how to live in humble circumstances" and "how to live with abundance" should give us pause. The fact that we have done so does not necessarily mean that we know how to do so. In my own experience of humble circumstances I can recall times when I grumbled and complained because of the lack of something, usually something "more" than what I had, which was already enough, or when I murmured against people around me who seemed to have more than I had. Indeed, I can recall many times when I needed to learn "how to live in humble circumstances." Similarly, I have been blessed with great abundance, particularly in adulthood. I have life, health, food, clothes, friends, work, a home, and a car… and I squander them recklessly. Unsatisfied with the many blessings God showers on me—the full supply of all I need—I see myself using and abusing them in a frantic search for more. This week's readings are clear in their challenge: we are invited to the great feast of heaven and earth, provided by the Lord God of hosts. We must prepare ourselves with the resources God has supplied, not wandering about tending to our own business as if it could provide for us. 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A): What Belongs to God Isaiah 45:1, 4-6—I have called you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not. I am the Lord and there is no other, there is no God besides me. Psalm 96: Give God glory and honor. 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b—We give thanks to God always for you, knowing how you were chosen. For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction. Matthew 22:15-21—Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. What, exactly, belongs to God? Everything, of course. So today's gospel encourages us to take a look at everything we do and everything we are and to put our lives and efforts in proper perspective. It is not enough to tithe our income without tithing our time; indeed, it is not enough to tithe at all. Our entire fortune, our entire effort, our entire life belong to God. So how is this to be done? It would seem an impossible task, especially in this technological society we live and work in. How can we give all to God when we must earn a living in the world? How can we give all to God when we must manage at least the minimal in taxes, food, water, clothing, shelter? How is it possible to give everything to God? Won't we end up in jail for vagrancy or tax evasion or public nudity? God couldn't possibly want that! The everything we owe to God is more subtle. We owe our love to God, first of all, with our whole heart, whole soul, whole mind. And we owe God the love of our neighbor. The difficulty is in discerning when we are loving God and others and when we are holding our love to ourselves. Take a look at time, for example. For about eight hours each day, five days a week, we work to earn the money required to survive in our society. Some basic questions need to be answered: Do I work a fair day's work for my wages? Do I respect my employer's property? Do I respect my co-workers? Do I do my best? Then, even further: Do I work for an employer whose policies reflect Catholic social teaching? For me that question causes great concern. As an employee of the church, what does God call me to do about the injustice that is done to people as a result of Catholic Church employment policies? What does God want me to do about the unfair wages paid to women in the church? What does God want me to do about the harassment of women in the church? What does God want me to do about the unjust hiring and firing practices? What does God want me to do about the secretive budgetary processes? About the hypocritical planning processes? Am I required to withhold my services to the church until the church acts with justice? How can I say I am loving God and neighbor when the church is able to continue its injustice in part because I agree to work for less than a living wage? The real danger, perhaps, is confusing the Church with God. As Catholics, we often identify God's will with service to the Church, and sometimes we are wrong to do so. As we go about this week, let's look at our lives with the fresh eye of the Gospel. Perhaps it's time to make some changes in what we do and how we act because of who we are and whose we are. 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A): The Greatest Commandment Exodus 22:20-26—I will hear, for I am compassionate. Psalm 18: I love you, God, my strength. 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10—You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. Matthew 22:34-40—You shall love the Lord, you God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. In recent years I have heard Matthew's gospel interpreted as if Jesus said the commandments to love God and to love neighbor are a two-part "greatest" commandment. I have even heard homilists assert that the commandment to love your neighbor is the "greatest" commandment. But it's very clear that Jesus states that "the greatest and first commandment" is to love God. He says that "the second is like it," that is, similar to it, but not identical. And to love your neighbor as yourself is truly the second, not the first commandment. These misreadings of Matthew's gospel probably occur in reaction to the pre-Vatican overemphasis on private devotions in contradistinction to active service. Since Vatican II our church has developed strong social justice teachings and has encouraged the faithful to put those teachings into practice in our daily lives. The clear message was spoken to us: it's not enough to pray for someone and not to do something to help. We are called to evangelize our culture. In the process of pulling this People of God out of our pre-Vatican private stupor of mumbled meditations, some in our church seem to have let the pendulum swing too far in the other direction. In fact, the love of God is the greatest commandment, and our good works are hollow if they do not spring from our radical love of God. Paul tells the Thessalonians that they have turned from idols to serve the living and true God. When we put our service to others in place of loving God, we make idols of our own projects. That does not mean that we should be praying and not serving; it simply means that we must have our relationship with God as the foundation and root of all that we do. Many humanitarians have done great things without reference to the deity, and their works certainly glorify God. But we, as Christians, are called to follow Jesus, and that means that we must do and be everything with reference to the greatest commandment: love God with all our being--our hearts, souls, and minds—and the actions that flow from us will by necessity show that we love our neighbor as ourselves. Malachi 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10—Have we not all the one father? Has not the one God created us? Why then do we break faith with one another, violating the covenant of our fathers? Psalm 131: In you, O God, I have found my peace. 1 Thessalonians 2:7b-9, 13—We give thanks to God unceasingly, that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received not a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe. Matthew 23:1-12—The greatest among you must be your servant. Examples of ungodly behavior masquerading as Christianity are rampant in our world today. We can start with our country, led by a President who calls it Christianity when he wages war internationally and dismantles environmental protections domestically, when he undermines the power of the world community and increases the power of big money interests. We can look at our church: the examples here include the very visible priests of our Church who run parishes as if they were fiefdoms belonging to them by divine right, or the members of religious communities who treat act as if other laypersons lacked some essential moral character. We see priests violating the rule of celibacy, turning parish income to their own ends, and leading lives of upper-class comfort. We see sisters simpering over their priest friends, hoarding material goods, or subverting the communal nature of their promises. And, of course, we see lay people on Finance Committees or church organists on Liturgy Committees who dictate their personal preferences for the entire assembly without hint of collaboration or who preserve prerogatives as if by the entire parish were their own turf. The examples, unfortunately, seem endless… and they may even include us. So how is it that we know that the word of God is at work in those who believe? How do we discern that our own belief is not "a human word?" Today's scriptures give us a straightforward answer. The word of God is at work in us when we serve. Our practice must match our preaching. We must be the first to lift the burden we ask others to carry. We must not seek places of public honor but places for private prayer. We must look for ways to serve the people around us. It's perhaps too easy to see those who bend Christianity to the point that it is obviously no longer Christianity. But how about those of us who bend it just a little bit? Do we expect deference because of our age or our position in the Church? Do we think ourselves more worthy because we've been ordained or consecrated or because we have theological education? Jesus warns his disciples not to seek titles, yet we blithely follow the path of our society in considering people's worth to be equal to the titles they hold. God will take care of the title we are to have, and if we end up with the anointing of anonymous servanthood, we will have done what we have been asked to do and will have the right to be called Christian. As we go about this week, let's pursue service to others as our first choice. Let's take a close look at our practices to see if they really match what we preach.
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A): Let's Get around to It
Wisdom 6:12-16—Taking thought of wisdom is the perfection of prudence, and whoever for her sake keeps vigil shall quickly be free from care, because she keeps her own rounds, seeking those worthy of her, and graciously appears to them in the ways, and meets them with all solicitude.
Psalm 63: My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord, my God.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18—Console one another.
Matthew 25:1-13—The bridegroom came, and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.
How many times during the past week have I thought to myself, busy at some task or other, that I would get around to… whatever. Get around to taking a walk. Get around to praying. Get around to visiting an aged relative. Get around to telephoning my brother. Get around to cleaning the house. Get around to taking those squash over to Claver House. Reading today's gospel reminds me that there will not always be time to get around to it. In short, the time is now to get my priorities in order.
How many people have we heard of who postponed things for retirement, only to die before they could carry out their plans? Or couples who postponed vacations together waiting for the kids to leave the nest, only to find themselves in ill health and unable to travel as they had hoped? Their dashed hopes should sound a warning call. If it happens in the ordinary routine of life, so much more is it possible to take the wrong turn spiritually.
Indeed, this is life. Each minute of this day is life. It comes once, and then the door is locked on it forever. Like the foolish virgins in Matthew's gospel, each of us holds a lamp that is going out. Do we have our jar filled with oil so that we may replenish it when we need to? Or have we filled the jar of our life with things that will give no light?
As we go about these last days of our liturgical year, let's get around to it. For each one of us, the end time is nearer today than yesterday. Let's be ready.
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A): Come Share Your Master's Joy!
Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31—Let her works praise her.
Psalm 128: Happy are those who fear the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-6—All of you are children of the light and children of the day.
Matthew 25:14-30—Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.
Whenever we encounter the Word of God, we find that it speaks to each of us in several ways, often in different ways at different times of our lives. Given that, allow me first to make a feminist extension of the parable in today's gospel from Matthew.
- The one who received five talents immediately went out and tried to trade with them, but she found that women were not allowed in the marketplace as equals. So she spent the five talents on clothes, makeup, and jewelry, attracting a rich husband with twice the money she had been given, and convinced him to embark upon great deeds of philanthropy.
- The one who received two talents used them to get a degree in theology, but when she tried to get a job where she could use her education to serve her church, she found that women were allowed to be secretaries and nurses but not preachers or ministers. So she took a job in a factory, doing her work well and spending her spare time helping her co-workers and neighbors. She doubled the money she had been given, contributing significant sums to educating poor children.
- The one who received one talent saw what happened to the first two. She took her talent, bought a small piece of land, and raised food, which she gave to the poor.
- When the master returned, he praised all three women for their wisdom and perseverance. "Good and faithful servants," he said, you have been faithful in charity and justice in spite of the obstacles. Come, share your master's joy!"
In an alternative view of this parable, Ched Myers looks at the story through the lens of jubilee justice. He warns that we must not take this as another kingdom parable because it lacks the introduction common to such, "The kingdom of heaven is like…." Myers points to the description of the man as one who is demanding, who reaps where he does not sow, and asserts that this is a description of evil, not of good. The talents are not abilities and skills but monetary units. Furthermore, this worldly master wants interest on his investment, an outcome acceptable in 21st century America but not in 1st century Judaism. Finally, the third servant is thrown outside where there is weeping—a description of the cry of the poor that God hears.
And in yet another interpretation—a common one--over the years we've become accustomed to hearing sermons about his parable that focus on using our "talents" wisely.
However we hear this Word today—however it speaks to us in the nitty-gritty specifics of our own lives—we can rejoice that it's meant for us. It may be advising some of us to turn everything into a work of justice and charity; it may be cautioning others of us to follow the path to God instead of the worldly path; it may be encouraging still others of us to use the talents and resources we have been blessed with… and countless more messages still to come in the ever-new Word that God speaks.
Christ the King (A): Serve the Least
Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17—I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28—So that God may be all in all.
Matthew 25:31-46—Whatever you did for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me.
The Word given us on this last Sunday of the year is clear. We will not be saved through our worship space renovations or the numbers at Sunday Eucharist. We will not be saved through the preservation of historical art in our buildings or through the depth of our scholarly Scripture research. We will be saved if we have served, and even more clearly, if we have served the least.
Among other things lately I've heard it observed from the pulpit that family breadwinners are serving the least when they work for food for their families, that parents tending their toddlers are serving the least among us, and that teachers are serving the least among us. While these examples certainly show people adhering to a Christian value system, I question whether Jesus was suggesting that our service stop there. Indeed, it would seem that providing for our families, tending our babies, and teaching our children are the expected actions of a civilized people.
Jesus calls us to more, to serve the least among us--people with AIDS, people with disabilities, the homeless, the jobless, the working poor. As we finish out the old year and look forward to preparing a place for the Savior to dwell with us, it's time for a reality check: Exactly who are we serving with our lives?
