25th Sunday - A (September 24, 2017)

Matthew 20: 1-16

“Go into my vineyard”

The owner of the vineyard offers the same invitation to five group of laborers. 

It is the same invitation for those who are ready to work “at dawn.”  It is the same invitation for those who are “standing idle in the market place” at 9 o’clock, those who were there at noon, and at 3 o’clock.  And finally, with the same words, he invites those who have been “standing idle all day.”

All are invited to labor in the vineyard.

At what hour in my journey of life does God invite me?  More importantly, it does not matter what type of laborer I am.  What matter is that it is God who offers me the invitation, “Go into my vineyard.”

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24th Sunday - A (September 17, 2017)

Matthew 18: 21-35

“Fellow Servants”

Last Sunday, Jesus instructed us on reconciliation.  This week, we continue with Chapter 18 of Matthew.  And now, Jesus speaks of forgiveness.

There is no reconciliation without forgiveness.

And there is no forgiveness when I fail to recognize that the offender and I are both sinners, indebted to God.  This might be one way of applying the parable of the unforgiving servant.  The offender and I are both “fellow servants.”  We are both indebted to God, and have both received God’s forgiveness.   

Moreover, as St. Paul reminds us in today’s 2^nd reading, not only has God forgiven us, by Jesus’ death, God has given us life. 

When we forgive, we allow God’s mercy and generosity come to life in us.   

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23rd Sunday - A (September 10, 2017)

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Matthew 18: 15-20

Commentary

Missing the Mark

The word Matthew uses in this passage for sin (18:15) is “originally from the world of archery and means “missing the mark.” [1]

Looking at it this way, sin is what makes me less than the person God calls me to be.  And on the communal level, sins make us less than the people God calls us to be.

Self-examination and communal building must then be based on that question, “What makes me less than the person God calls me to be?”  And “What makes us less than the people God calls us to be?”  

And community life involves helping each other to become the people God calls us to be. 

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[1]  www.progressiveinvolvement.com
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22nd Sunday - A (September 3, 2017)

Matthew 16: 21-27

Conform

We probably don’t want to admit it, but we all conform to certain things, from trends, styles, fashions, to ways of thinking or acting. 

St. Paul urges his community then, and us today, “Do not yourselves conform to this age.”  On the contrary, we are to conform ourselves to Jesus Christ and his way of love. 

In order to conform ourselves to Jesus Christ, we must carry the cross and follow him.

It is probably true that most of us will not have to die for Christ as martyrs.  The question, as Matthew Kelly, the Catholic writer and speaker, asked, is whether we are living for Christ. 

In the daily carrying of our cross and in small acts of loving we live for Christ, and in this way, conform to him.  

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