All Saints (November 1, 2020)

 

“We Shall Be Like God”

Matthew 5:1-12a

 

The writer of the First Letter of St. John attests to God’s transformative love.  “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God.”  The writer repeats, “We are God’s children now.”  This love of God is transformative because “we shall be like” God (Second Reading). 

 

With the Beatitudes, Jesus teaches us how we can allow God’s love to transform us to be like God. 

 

Today, as we celebrate All Saints, we celebrate all those who have responded to God’s transformative love that makes them like God. 

 

They have done it.  How about me?

 

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30th Sunday - A (October 25, 2020)

 

Loving God in Loving Our Neighbor

Matthew 22: 34-40

 

Today’s Gospel comes from Matthew Chapter 22.  In this same chapter, last Sunday Jesus told us to “repay to God what belongs to God” (v. 21)

 

Perhaps that instruction gives me a reason to strive to love my neighbor.  My neighbor and I are both gifts from God.  It is God who has created us in God’s image and likeness.  We are redeemed by God’s only Son, Jesus Christ.  We are temples of the Holy Spirit.    

 

We do not always act or live as gifts from God, or as people redeemed by Christ.  We do not always reflect God’s image and likeness.  We do not always behave as temples of the Holy Spirit. 

 

Regardless, nothing could nullify the source of our existence, God.  Nothing can undo Christ’s redemption.  Nothing can destroy the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.        

 

When we love one another, we witness to the life, power and presence of God.  Likewise, we express our love and gratitude for God, our Creator and the Gift-giver.

 

 

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29th Sunday - A (October 18, 2020)

 

“Repay To God What Belongs to God”

Matthew 22: 15-21

 

The question then is, “What does not belong to God?”

 

All things and all people are from God and belong to God.

 

In the current social and political climate, this fact challenges us to examine our attitude regarding all that God has created. 

 

Some possible questions are:

Do I allow myself, other people, or created things to take God’s place in my life and in my heart?  One practical application of this question is in our political viewpoint and affiliation.  Is the #1 rule in my life God’s law, or my political agenda, or that of my political party or leader?

 

Another question:  How do I treat others, particularly those who hold different opinions than mine?  In the Second Reading, St. Paul reminds us that we all are “brothers and sisters,” “chosen” and “loved by God.”  

 

Today is also World Mission Sunday.  View Pope Francis' message for this day  here.

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28th Sunday - A (October 11, 2020)

 

“All Peoples”

Matthew 22: 1-14

 

Isaiah uses the image of a banquet to speak of God’s Reign.  About seven hundred years before the time of the Messiah, Isaiah prophesized, “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples” (First Reading, emphasis mine).   

 

In the Gospel, Jesus tells a parable signifying the time has come when he fulfills that prophesy.

 

In Jesus Christ, God invites to his banquet all kinds of people, “bad and good alike.”  They are now all “guests.” 

 

Our world today still needs to know this inclusivity of God’s Reign.  And each follower of Christ must be a witness and instrument of God’s invitation and welcome for all people. 

 

I might think “I’m in” and become full of pride, forgetting that I cannot earn a place at the banquet.  Besides, I might be tempted to judge people by my standards, to allow some in and keep others out.  

 

It is helpful to keep in mind that the banquet is God’s, not mine.  And it is God who offers the invitation and who is also the host, not me.

 

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27th Sunday - A (October 4, 2020)

God’s Patience

Matthew 21: 33-43

 

“The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.”  These words from the Prophet Isaiah (first reading and the response) provides the background for Jesus’ use of the vineyard image in the Gospel parable.

 

The Lord also treats the Church, the new Israel, as His vineyard.

 

So does God treat each of God’s children. 

 

Think of God’s patience and repeated efforts to care for the vineyard, each one of us, and to enable us to bear fruits.

 

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