Urban Hermit at 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006 US - Year A, 23rd - 27th
| Year A, 23rd - 27th |
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A): Loving and Forgiving Ezekiel 33:7-9—I will hold you responsible. Psalm 95: If today you hear God's voice, harden not your hearts. Romans 13:8-10—Love is the fulfillment of the law. Matthew 18:15-20—Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Sometimes it would seem as if our own personal, individual thoughts and actions are meaningless in comparison to the cosmos, or the planet, or even to human destiny. What difference, we ask ourselves, can we make in the broad scheme of things? Does what I do really matter? Our scriptures today answer with a resounding yes. We have the power to forgive and not to forgive, and that power stretches to heaven, eternally. What great power! If we hold something against a person, our grudge and our hatred go on and on. If we forgive a person, our forgiveness stretches into eternity. It's no wonder that Paul writes to the Romans that "love is the fulfillment of the law." The law commands us to love, and when we love we keep the commandment. Furthermore, in the reading from Ezekiel we are told that God will hold us responsible for the salvation of our neighbors. We may not turn away without attempting to right a wrong. We must act to bring good into the world. No matter how small our area of influence, no matter how weak our abilities, each one of us is required to act morally, to forgive, to love. Our tiniest effort reaches to the stars. 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A): Forgive! Sirach 27:30-28:7—Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor; remember the Most High's covenant, and overlook faults. Psalm 103: God is kind and merciful, slow to anger and rich in compassion. Romans 14:7-9—Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. Matthew 18:21-35—Forgive from your heart, not seven times but seventy-seven times. Forgive, forgive, forgive! God continues to bombard us with the message of forgiveness, and we continue to ignore it. "Wrath and anger are hateful things," Sirach tells us in this week's first reading, "yet the sinner holds them tight." Now four years since terrorists killed 3,000 civilians in the United States, and we still see people holding on to their anger, eager for vengeance, thirsting for retaliation. "Forgive your neighbor's injustice," Sirach's message urges us. And we see many people who have done exactly that, who have forgiven and gone on. In a similar way, Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath have shown us the extremes of human character. On the one hand we witness anger and hatred and recrimination, even lawlessness and atrocity. We already see the wrath of this "second storm" striking us in images of looters, images of dead bodies unburied, images of angry politicians and finger-pointing pundits. On the other hand we witness the deep-down goodness of hundreds of thousands of honest, loving people, responding with charity and concern. No matter what stirs us to anger, we are required to do whatever is needed to get past atrocity and set aside hatred. Likewise to the point, this week's pericope from Matthew tells the parable of the unforgiving servant. Whereas Peter, in suggesting seven instances of forgiveness, thinks he is going far beyond the law that required only three times, Jesus calls him—and us—to unlimited, unconditional forgiveness. How different is that from President Bush's manipulations to launch a war against the sovereign nation and people of Iraq in retaliation for attacks by independent terrorists! Our nation in this instance seems somewhat to be acting like a toddler or a dog, in pain from an injury, lashing out at the nearest target, yet we know that the President has clandestine motives related to failures in his father's term as president as well as our country's reliance on Middle Eastern oil. That's not to say it's easy. We feel anger toward the suicide pilots. We feel anger toward the Islamic religion that the terrorists twisted in order to justify murder. We feel anger toward the countries that gave them birth and the countries that nurtured them in their psychopathic worldview. We feel anger toward the systems that leave the poorest and the most helpless behind in the face of natural disaster, the systems that rescue the wealthier majority. It's important to remember that forgiveness does not mean approval of the wrongful action, nor does it mean turning away from security precautions to prevent future terrorist atrocities or failing to set up evacuation plans to respond to future disasters. We need not pretend that the terrorist attacks were not a horrible injustice; we need not pretend that the systemic racism that permeated the nation's response to Hurricane Katrina was not a terrible wrong. We must, however, remember—as Paul reminds us in the second reading—that we belong to Christ. No matter how we might justify striking back in retaliation for the mass murders of September 11, our Master counsels otherwise. No matter how we might justify striking out at those who save themselves and their property at the expense of the "other" among us, Jesus calls us to a better way. We are to forgive from the heart, over and over and over again. Furthermore, we must not only forgive the dead terrorists and their living fellow conspirators and the people who blame the hurricane victims and victimize them even further, we must also carry forgiveness into the fabric of our daily lives. The clerk who snaps at us, the pastor who abuses, the boss who fires us, the parent who fails us, the child who rebels, the brother and sister who take our share, the friend who betrays—all must find us forgiving from the heart. And because it's so close to home, that's probably harder than forgiving the terrorists of 9/11 and the scavengers of the Gulf Coast. 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A): Countercultural Isaiah 56:6-9—My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways. Psalm 145: The Lord is near to all who call. Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a—Conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ. Matthew 20:1-16a—The last will be first, and the first will be last. Today's readings call us to a radical countercultural life in very clear terms. First, the prophet Isaiah tells us that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and God's ways are not our ways. Then Paul explains how we are to live in God's ways. Finally, Matthew relates a parable that turns our ideas of God upside down. Exactly what is OUR way as opposed to GOD'S way? Paul tells us that we must live in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ even while our culture shouts at us with ways that are not worthy of Christ. It's more, too, than the persistent message to consume; it's the constant bombardment with the untruth that we deserve the best. Matthew's story of the laborers in the vineyard carries a countercultural message: those who think their being first in line will bring them more of God's gifts are bound to be surprised. We are indeed equal in God's magnanimous love. Throughout the gospels Jesus takes a prophetic stance, calling to task those who would place the rules ahead of people. He clearly rejects the idea that we can "earn" our salvation by following institutional rules, yet our parishes remain replete with examples of people who still hold to it: the DRE who rejects a new program because she did not think of it; the coordinator who discourages new lectors because he didn't train them; the prayer group that criticizes a new parishioner for following the practices of his old parish. For Jesus, it doesn't matter when a person gets in line. For Jesus, it doesn't matter how long a person has been there. We are called to get in line with whatever we have, whether it be a little or a lot of time, talent, or treasure. In that way all of us—the first and the last—will be living in a way worthy of Christ. As we go about this week, let's look at the way we live and ask whether we are following God's way or our own way. Does my life qualify me to be called a radical countercultural Christian? Am I speaking in opposition to war against the culture's cries for revenge? Am I befriending the marginalized? Whose ways am I following? It's never too late to get in line. 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A): Taking Our Own Measure Ezekiel 18:25-28—Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? Psalm 125: Remember your mercies, O God. Philippians 2:1-11—Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus. Matthew 21:28-32—Which one has done the father's will? Week after week we fulfill our Catholic Christian obligation to attend the Eucharistic Liturgy, the Mass. We are dependable. We fulfill the law. We are righteous. We greet others warmly, listen attentively to the readings and homily, queue up to join in receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, and are sent forth "in peace to love and serve the Lord." And so we go. Sometimes we aren't even past the door of the church when we prove that we have only paid lip service to the Lord. Snide remarks at the coffee hour; angry glares as we jockey for position heading out of the parking lot; and sharp remarks to our parents, spouses and children point to a lesson not taken to heart. Today's readings continue to challenge us to examine the ways in which we put into practice the message of justice and servanthood that frames our belief. Ezekiel points to our grumbling criticism of God's mercy towards others whom we, in our pride and arrogance, deem less worthy than we are. Paul calls us to follow Christ to the cross, the epitome of unfairness in its sacrifice of the innocent one. Matthew relates the parable of the two sons, presenting us with the opposing pictures of obedience and hypocrisy. The point is clear. Now it's up to us to look at the way we are traveling the journey and see how our actions measure up. 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A): What Will We Reap? Isaiah 5:1-7—Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? The Lord of hosts looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed! for justice, but hark, the outcry! Psalm 50: The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel. Philippians 4:6-9—Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you. Matthew 21:33-43—The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and give to a people that will produce its fruit. Week after week the scriptures seem to teach us the same lesson: If we tend the gifts God gives us, we will have peace; if we do not tend the gifts we've been given, they will go to others. As we continue to see the ravages of war wreaked by the policies of the President of the United States—no longer "our President," since he no longer speaks for those who stand for justice—we must conclude that the God of peace will not be with our country if we do not object to injustice. In the aftermath of devastation from hurricanes, we hear more reports of systematic abuse of Iraqi POWs and our military's continuing refusal to bring to justice those who have allowed the atrocities to take place. Our nation continues to wage war against Iraq in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the wishes of the international community. At home our economy trembles. God has allowed us the great gift of freedom in this country, and we are not tending it well. And it's not only on the international and national scene that we fail to tend the gifts God gives. Right in our own backyards we violate the goodness of God's earth. We spread chemicals in the form of pesticides and herbicides. We buy tools for every possible use, from lawn mowers to electrically rechargeable blackboard erasers. We drive our sedans and SUVs, with one or two people, for the shortest distances, letting them idle away at fast-food drive-through windows. We run air conditioners and lights when no one is home, and we heat and cool our homes instead of dressing for the weather. We squander the great resources God has given us. As we go about this week, let's return to these scriptures as we look at our lifestyles. What will the Lord of hosts find when the harvest comes for our land?
