SCRIPTURE
The Workers in the Vineyard.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just. So they went off. [And] he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first. When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’
He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
AM I NOT FREE TO BE GENEROUS
REFLECTION
The landowner (God) when He saw people sitting idly by late in the day, he sent them into the vineyard. It is never too late to enter the kingdom or preach the kingdom to others. Don’t assume anything, don’t judge others, do the Jesus thing and approach all with compassion….the harvest is great but the laborers few.
Laborers in the vineyard complained that other (Johnny come latelys) were rewarded too. Are we going to complain to God that some late in life came to Him? I hope not! There is a suitable room in God’s mansion that is just right for us. Trust God! God loved us into being and there will be no lack of anything in heaven.
Let’s do a gut check. Am I envious of others? Do I diminish or demean others to make myself look better? Do I complain to God about the so called success of those I perceive as wicked? Judge not less you be judged in the same manner. Judging others is an obstacle to showing them love and compassion, failing the second greatest commandment to love our neighbor.
SCRIPTURE
The Cleansing of the Temple.
Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those engaged in selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And he said to them, “It is written: ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’*but you are making it a den of thieves.” The blind and the lame* approached him in the temple area, and he cured them.
When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wondrous things he was doing, and the children crying out in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes; and have you never read the text, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nurslings you have brought forth praise’?” And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany, and there he spent the night.
MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER
REFLECTION
Sometimes I feel we need to have a cleansing of the temple because of all the abuses in liturgy since Vatican II. Most of the abuses have been by free lancers and not dictated by Vatican II. I speak of Priests saying Mass facing the congregation instead of facing the tabernacle. (ad orientum).
Removal of statues and down playing devotions that were in common practice, especially Marian devotions. The kiss of peace going off the rails and people in congregation holding hands, or lifting up their arms during the Our Father.
Liturgical prayer is prayer that is intended to unite us and it does do this on a spiritual level. But the external unity is also important. Therefore, it’s important that we strive to pray in union with what we call the rubrics of the Mass. As for the rubrics at the time of the Lord’s Prayer, there is no instruction given to the congregation to hold hands or to lift them at that time
Some priests celebrating Mass deviate from the rubrics (a rule for conduct of a liturgical service) and make up their own prayers because they like their way better than the Church’s liturgical guidelines. For example, Washing of hands instead of feet at Holy Thursday liturgy. After all the only one washing his hands during Holy Week was Pilate!
Early on, after Vatican II we had Dancers bringing down the gifts at the Offertory and other experimental displays. Today, Priests offering hosts on platters during this pandemic where you come up after Mass and pick your own “Jesus.” The laity is never to take the host for themselves. It is always given to them! Enough Already!
My house shall be a house of prayer, Chief priests and scribes were shocked at the praise Jesus was receiving from those in need, the blind and lame. “Hosanna to the Son of David,” Chief priests and scribes, wrong-headed again in their pride believing their rules and regulations were superior to attending to the needs of the people.
The Pharisees neglected to care for the needy and the weak. Jesus admonished them because their hearts were not right. They were filled with pride and contempt for others. They put unnecessary burdens on others while neglecting to show charity, especially to the weak and the poor. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Matthew 23:13
SCRIPTURE
The Parable of the Tenants.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance. They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?” They answered* him, “He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times.” Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone….
Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. The one who falls on this stone will be dashed to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls. When the chief priests and the Pharisees* heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.
THIS IS THE HEIR. COME, LET US KILL HIM AND ACQUIRE HIS INHERITANCE
REFLECTION
The servants sent by landowner are like the Prophets of old sent by God to convert his people, to call them back from pagan gods. Many prophets were stoned, persecuted and martyred. Amos, Obediah, Elijah, Jerimiah, Micah, and Ezekial to name a few.
Before His death, Jesus wept over Jerusalem. .“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Matthew 23:37
This Scripture also reminds me of Joseph and his brothers that sold Joseph into slavery. “Here comes that dreamer,’ they said to one another. “Come on, let us kill him now and throw him down one of the storage-wells; we can say that some wild animal has devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams.” Genesis 37:19-20
As it turned out God, as always, brought good out of evil. Joseph ends up in Pharoah’s court in Egypt and saves his Father and brothers from a devastating famine in Canaan.
You know, there are some things you just can’t kill. The Holy Spirit moves where it wills! The religious leaders of the Jews had Christ executed on the Cross. Jesus the Christ rose from the dead and Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire and throughout the whole world even to today.
SCRIPTURE
Paying Taxes to the Emperor.*
Then the Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap him in speech. They sent their disciples to him, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”
Knowing their malice, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that pays the census tax.” Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” They replied, Caesar’s.
At that he said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” When they heard this they were amazed, and leaving him they went away.
RENDER TO CAESAR WHAT IS CAESAR’S AND TO GOD WHAT IS GOD’S
REFLECTION
Those sneaky, deceitful Pharisees are at it again. They thought they would get Jesus this time. If Jesus said it was lawful to pay taxes, his Jewish followers would have been all over Jesus for supporting the Roman oppressors. If Jesus said no don’t pay your taxes then He would be an enemy of Rome, an insurrectionist and executed as a traitor.
Really, trying to outsmart God, the Word Incarnate! Well, they got their come uppance and left with their tails between their legs. Don’t pull on superman’s cape! Jesus not only stunned the Pharisees but delivered a message to all of us. Give to God what is God’s. That is pretty much everything! Think about it.
We are all made in the image and likeness of God. “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female* he created them.” Genesis 1:27 God is Creator of all. God has provided all the material things we need for food, shelter, and air we breathe.
“God blessed them and said to them: Be fertile and multiply…See, I give you every seed-bearing plant on all the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food and to all the wild animals, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the earth, I give all the green plants for food. And so it happened.” Genesis 1:28-30
Catechism of the Catholic Church #2402 In the beginning God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy their fruits. The goods of creation are destined for the whole human race
God has called man to be stewards of what he has made. Are we good stewards of God’s gifts? Do we respect and honor creation? Do we use well what God has given us for the works of our hands? Whether it is material goods we use to build or repair or food we eat. Do we hunt for food or sport? Do we have more than we need or share with those who have less than they need?