From Our Pastor's Desk
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From Our Pastor's Desk
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GENEROUS SERVICE God is love
Love does not contradict justice, but rather, enhances it. The parable of the laborers helps us see the heart of Christ. Beyond all expectations, he gives the same opportunity and reward to all. The mission of a Christian consists in freely loving and serving others without reserve. How far we are from meeting this ideal! Brothers and sisters: 1. God loves us for who we are and not for what we do. This parable isn’t aiming at teaching us how to be landowners, workers, or laborers, but it speaks to us about life in the kingdom of God. It’s hard for us to accept that God’s ways are not our ways. Christ comes to us as a generous landowner who doesn’t pay according to how much we get done, but from a free and unmerited love. “Not as we deserve, but according to your goodness.” This is the good news of the Gospel. 2. We’re making a big mistake when we seek to apply our human standards of justice, which are always unjust, to God. Instead of trying to become like God, we try to make him more like us: applying calculations, taxes, expenses, and salaries. We want to make a deal with God. We want instant payment for the time we dedicate to his work, which practically reduces us to the level of employees who fulfill certain rites without any personal commitment, who pray without putting any heart into it and who participate in the Sacraments without any fervor. We want a “just” God, who gives each one his due; the one who does more deserves more, and the one who does less, less. We want a meticulous account of all that we’ve done so that we can be paid proportionally, fairly. 3. The God of this parable is a generous God who doesn’t limit his gifts to what we deserve. He gives without expecting anything back; he chooses to love us for who we are and not for what we do. The laborers weren’t irritated on account of being underpaid; but they felt they were victims of some injustice because they witnessed the landowner’s love and goodness towards the others. There are Christians who believe that religion is about what they give to God. But no, religion is about what God gives to us. This is the mindset of mercenaries. They don’t capture how dangerous it is to demand “what is just” from God. The true laborer, after the Lord’s heart, doesn’t care about his salary. His delight is to work for the Kingdom of God. It is a gift to be called to serve Christ. But when our encounter with God through faith happens after a long waiting period, we’re speaking of a free and generous gift. We should always look to the things that are above, opening our hearts to welcome the gift of God and tell him: Thank you Lord! This is what we are going to do now as we continue the Celebration of the Eucharist. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests We often ask ourselves: What must I do to live my Christian life the way God wants me to? If we pay attention to the gospel each Sunday, we will find the answer quickly, and it will motivate us. Today Jesus reminds us of something crucial and fundamental: we are all brothers and sisters. We do not show our love for our neighbor by kind, praising words alone, but also, when necessary, with words of encouragement or even correction. Sisters and Brothers: 1. We are all responsible for one another. If we truly are brothers and sisters we cannot act as if we had nothing to do with one another. It is often so easy to just criticize each other instead of helping each other by good example to live like Christians. What most helps people to follow Christ is seeing others living out their faith, hope and love. We all know this through our own experience. A true Christian should share the weight of his neighbor’s successes and failures, his growth or his sin. The sins of our neighbor are not just “his own problem”, but they are in some way “ours”. Precisely because we love our neighbor so much his sins should feel like a failure not only on his part, but on ours. 2. Jesus teaches us the importance of correcting our neighbor at the right time. In the first reading the Lord urges the prophet Ezequiel not to be silent, because his silence would make him responsible for the ruin of his people. God made him a “watchman” among his people, so that he would sound the alarm when necessary and remind them not to stray from the ways of God. What is the use of a watchman who does not sound the alarm? What is the point of a guard dog that does not bark at strangers? But no one is a stranger to a Christian: he should feel responsible for the well being of all. “If your brother sins, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.” Since we are responsible for our brothers and sisters, we must be willing to enter into their lives, whenever we can help – but always with love. 3. We are all brothers, sons of the same Father. Today’s gospel begins with these words: “If your brother…” This is the key for how we should behave with others: not indifferent, not superior, but as brothers. Yes, we should correct our brothers and sisters with love: just as a father is not always silent, but speaks to his children and encourages them and sometimes scolds them; as a teacher is with his students; as a friend is to a friend; as Christ was, who knew when to correct his disciples – especially Peter – with delicacy and vigor, and so help them mature in the right direction. With love, from love. To end, let us not forget that when we are the ones who receive words of correction, we must react well. At the time it hurts when others must tell us that something is not right, but later we see that it helps us to improve. Others often know our defects much better than we do. With the help of God, and with our own sincere effort to help one another, we will feel more and more like brothers and sisters each day. Amen. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests |
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