25th Sunday, Year A

Did you too get upset at the landowner when you heard this gospel passage? Did you side with the laborers and say to yourself ‘that’s not fair!”? I know I did. It takes a second look to really understand what is being said here and the underlying message of this parable.

In the previous passage in Matthew’s gospel, we hear the story of the rich young man who asks Jesus what he must do to enter eternal life. Jesus tells him to keep the commandments. The young man says that he observes them already, ‘am I lacking anything else?” he asks. Jesus then tells him to give away all his possessions and give them to the poor. Well, we know what happens, he walks away in sorrow because he was quite rich and didn’t want to give up anything.

Was Jesus unfair to him?

In the parable today, Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a landowner who hires workers throughout the work day to come work in his field. At the end of the day all the laborers are lined up and they get paid the usual daily wage, all of them! There is instant grumbling among the workers; ‘we worked all day and they worked one hour’, ‘why are they getting the same pay for less work’, ‘this is not fair!’

The landowner reminds them that they all agreed to work for the daily wage and indeed they all received it. So why are we seeing disgruntle laborers and, in the passage right before, a sad young man?

We need to look at the first reading for some context. God is telling Isaiah “my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways…as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts”.

The way we reason, judge fairness, seek justice and think what is acceptable is not how God does it nor perceives it- this is the point of contention with the characters in the gospel.

The crowds of followers are beginning to see and grapple with the fact that Jesus is the real thing, He is God and what He is telling them is of importance for their salvation. They desire to be with God and to be saved. They desire the goodness and riches of the Kingdom, they just need to know how to get there. Obviously, they are going to think in their terms and are going to impress upon the Kingdom their ways.

Jesus is quickly dismissing this.

The landowner is willing to pay the usual daily wage if they come and work. He makes no stipulation about hours put into the work or how long you have been at it; all that matters to him is that you show up and do what is asked. The thinking of the workers is that you have to labor and sweat all day for the daily wage and that it is unfair to pay someone the same who has not done so. But, this is earthly thinking, human thinking. We are incessant upon earning what we have and deserving what we’ve earned – there is little room for generosity or free giving. This, though, is the thinking of the landowner. He desires to freely give the wage to everyone; it doesn’t matter to him that the ones who worked for one hour haven’t earned it in the sight of the other laborers.

This too is the method of payment in the Kingdom.

It doesn’t matter how long you have been living a life of holiness. It doesn’t matter how long you lived a life of sin. It doesn’t matter if you have been struggling your whole life or came to God at the moment of death; as long as you show up to work, the landowner is willing to pay you the wage anyways.

That wage is the Kingdom!

One of my favorite saints is St Dismas. He was the thief crucified to the side of Christ who begged him to remember him when He comes into His Kingdom. Jesus, in all his agony, assured him that ‘today, you will be with me in paradise’. Dismas, a thief and sentenced to death, desired in the final moments of his life, Jesus to remember him and love him and to see the Kingdom.

“If you want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, you need to not only follow my commandments, but sell and give away all the wealth and riches you have accumulated, for they mean nothing in the Kingdom” “If you want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, you must show up at the field to work”. We can hear Jesus impressing his followers that the way to the Kingdom is not by their means, ways or thoughts. The way is through Him and giving up everything because of Him.

Jealousy or envy over others and desiring what they have ‘earned’ only knocks us off course. We need to be willing to sell and give away everything and be willing to freely accept the gift of our salvation from a generous and loving God, not from our efforts of earning it. We do not deserve it so we cannot work to earn it. It is a gift and we need to accept it as that.

Let us listen to the landowner and come work in the field and receive our wage

9/11 Must Lead to Love & Forgiveness

It has become an iconic question when remembering back to iconic events in our history, "Where were you?" For people in my grandparents generation, they may remember where they were on the day of Pearl Harbor or D Day. Many remember where they were when they heard about Dallas or when Dr King was gunned down. The same question is quite often asked for what we remember today, 9/11. It is amazing how the human mind sears these images and memories like no others. I remember being in sophomore health class in high school when it was announced on the PA system and the rest of the events of that day are as clear as if they were yesterday.

Looking back on these memories, we can also recall our emotions that swam through us allowing us to experience feelings we may have never endured. One feeling that comes to my mind is anger. Anger that a select few thought it was okay to take the life of over 3000 mom and dads, brothers and sisters, fiances, best friends, role models, family members and loved ones from our midst. Anger that countless people go through their lives everyday now with loss and pain due to a senseless act of violence. Anger that people just can't seem to get along and coexist in this world!

This is exactly where the gospel slips in. Jesus tells us to forgive, forgive and forgive till you breathe your last. It is simple to lash back and hate those terrorists and all those who cause us harm in our own personal lives - 'to forgive them is something they need to earn and beg for!'- Jesus says that this is exactly what we can NOT do.

No one deserves forgiveness and no one should work to earn it, it needs to be a free gift because forgiveness is Love. We cannot love freely if we do not forgive freely. We cannot love if we do not forgive.

Love is the way of the Christian. Love is the way of the baptized. Love is the way to peace.

Yes, there are wars going on right now because of these events, but this cannot be an excuse for us to hate. Our military defends our country from aggression, they do not act in our stead to execute aggression, revenge and hatred. As they are defending us, we need to support them by giving them a country that is worth defending. We need to love because love is what conquers the ideologies that incite violence that leads to wars.

We need to be people of love and forgiveness because if we are, then evil cannot exist. The devil preys on our grudges, our hatred, our anger and aggression - defeat the devil by getting rid of all that which you harbor!

We need to grieve and mourn those who died in unimaginable horror and in unthinkable ways; this was truly a catastrophic tragedy and act of genocide. BUT, this needs to lead to forgiving those who harmed us. We do not understand them and their actions. We can only know the Heart of Jesus who loves and forgives everyone for their sins.

We need to imitate that love and not allow ourselves to hate.

Twenty Third Sunday, OT A

Love is the fulfillment of the Law.

Law and Love may sound antonymous and incompatible, even having nothing to do with each other. We often tend to define Law as ‘that which I have to do’ and Love as ‘that which I want to do’. If you look at those words from an earthly and secular point of view, t hen I suppose you could say that. But, Christ is not coming from a secular point of view and he indeed gave us both Law and Love; so what does this mean?

Ezekiel is declaring to us that we have been set as watchman over our neighbors. A watchman, in OT times, had the responsibility to keep watch over the town and warn the inhabitants of any impending dangers or disasters. We are watchman. We have been called by God to be those individuals who look out for others. If we see anything that is sinful, wrong or impending, we have the responsibility to warn them. If we do not live up to the call we have been given, we too will perish along with them. But, if we do warn our brothers and sisters about their sin, their unbelief or an impending danger looming their way – even if they do not heed, we will be saved.

The Gospel is giving us a procedure of how to deal with someone who has sinned against us. We need to first go to them in person. If this does not work then bring a few more witnesses along with you. If this doesn't work, then bring them before the church. If they still don’t listen to you and seek forgiveness, then let them be and God will take care of it – we have done all we can.

These two scripture passages, Matthew and Ezekiel, are challenging us and pushing us to follow a law of God that is not easy and is one that we hardly compare to love. Almost none of us like or prefer going and confronting others who have sinned, are in the wrong, believe something false or are in the midst of addictions. This can be extremely scary, embarrassing and difficult. How easy is it to just gossip about them or ask someone else to go talk to them? We all prefer it. But, these are not acts of love; these are not ways to follow the law of God.

We cannot live our lives isolated from others as in not caring about them or what they do. Upon our hearts, God has laid His law and gives us His love – we need to give it back to God by living accordingly. The more we know about the Law of God in our minds, the more the Love of God will burn within our hearts. The Law is not a parameter for which we live our lives, that is a too simplistic and sterile understanding. The Law of God is and needs to be our way of life. It needs to encompass us in every aspect. In doing so, we will see that law does not constrict us, but it frees us. We are shown a life by which we live freely in the Love of God.

The only way we can begin to experience the immensities of God’s Love is by beginning to accept His will and desires for our life. His Law will lead us to His Love.

Citing church documents

Handy for beginning a new school year

4th Theology

It has come!

After seven years of seminary formation, I am now in the infamous 4th Theology year of seminary. I am a transitional deacon and only a matter of months away from the priesthood.

When you are young and starting out in the seminary, you look at the 4th year men, the deacons, and view them as little less that immortal and privileged to be where they are. Being in their shoes was unimaginable reality, but now it is!

This semester I am taking courses geared heavily towards the practical and ministerial aspects of both the diaconate and the priesthood. Going back to the parish every weekend will be an invaluable lesson and enriching experience. I will be able to bring my experiences from my ministry in the parish back to class and synthesize everything and hear the experiences of my classmates.

I have a mixture of feelings and emotions. I am very anxious for this new seminary experince and being able to get back to the parish which I have come to love and feel at home at. It also excites me to think that this is my last year of school and seminary. It is rather intimidating though to think that within a matter of months, I will be assuming the role and responsibilities of the priesthood - it is getting real!

I was very anxious and antsy to be ordained a deacon. You wait years for it and you desire to do all that the deacon can do. Now that it is here, I am very content and peaceful in that I am now a deacon. I now have been entrusted with a lot and I am comfortable with waiting one more academic year for priesthood. I really want to take full advantage of what the diaconate can offer for me and how I can grow in this role.

Also, I see how awesome the responsibilities of being a deacon are and I appreciate the reminder prep time to get ready for the even more surmounting tasks and responsibilities entailed in the priesthood.

Let's crack open those books...for one last year!

"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

(title of a sermon by an American Colonial minister, Jonathan Edwards)

I am slacking in regularly posting on here. It has been an irregular past several weeks and I have not had a lot of time to devote to my blog, sorry. I would like to pick back up with some thoughts on some aspects of being ordained.

It was a great summer, my first summer ordained. Having been ordained a transitional deacon on April 30, I have had continual encounters that have been new, exciting, scary and challenging.

My parish I was at for the summer, and all school year, has a lot of masses so I was able to preach almost everyday and a couple of the Sunday masses. Preaching is something that I have been wanting for so many years. I have envisioned being up at the pulpit (or ambo) and giving fiery and inspirational homilies for many years. Now, it is a reality, sort of. At ordination, you are entrusted with the awesome task of being the caretaker and voice of the Sacred Scripture. It is I, the ordained deacon (or priest) that proclaims, teaches and preaches the Word of God - I am who the Church has bestowed this responsibility upon - this is REAL. What I learned quickly is that the Church did not entrust me because of any intelligence, savviness, eloquence or persuasiveness I could apply, no, the church has entrusted me with this responsibilty because God has chosen me to do it. I have done nothing and am nothing that deserves or qualifies me to do it - I have been called by God and answered the call. God has given me graces, graces that no one can truly understand unless they are themselves ordained and in need of relying on them.

What I quickly learned is that I know very little. I really am not an expert in any particular field of theology. I know the foundations and I understand how the Church thinks, but I am not endowed with any special knowledge that allows me to do this task. I have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit speaks through my words, fills in my gaps, rests in the hearts of those who hear me and is the one who truly decides what I say.

This is why I say my desire to be an amazing homilist is sort of realized. I can now preach and do all the preparatory work involved like prayer, meditation and study to prepare for it, but it is God who is the one preaching. If someone says "nice homily, deacon", take it as a compliment and it is encouraging, but I know that I was only an aspect of that homily, God was the other and larger one speaking.

This is something that I probably had a head knowledge of prior to ordination, but now my heart has truly assented to that truth.

I have also come to see that preaching is a challenging task. The Holy Spirit is my guide and inspiration, but I still need to be knowledgeable in the ways of God, of Scripture, of humanity and of how they all interact. I need to continually learn and all my learning needs to have as its aim "How does this relate to the relationship of God and man?" and "How can I teach this to those entrusted to my care?". My existence is and has to be that of a person who has been entrusted with much, as a person of whom much is expected and of a person truly in love with God and all he does and creates in the world.

This is what I have come to learn, so far, from my task and ministry of preaching.

19th Sunday Ordinary Time, A

Well, we’ve made it through another successful Shark Week on The Discovery Channel and, my personal favorite, Mob Week on AMC. Just when the country thought another week was going to be hijacked by Washington and the 24/7 “news” channels, we, Americans, were able to find solace and joy in Al Pacino and Great White Sharks! I hope you did tune in to either or both.

I think many to all of you would agree that our lives are punctuated and often times augmented by the unexpected. The unexpected in various degrees: good, bad and neutral. Sometimes what is unexpected can have profound effects on us, while some are just so ordinary and insignificant, that we don’t bat an eye at them; but unexpected events occur quite often in our lives. Some fun, some sad.

Consider for a moment things that have happened unexpectedly that had a significant effect on your life. Lose a job, Get a divorce, Death, Lost money in the markets, or won some money, you were proposed to, a relationship turned sour; you fill in the blanks. We each can tell unique stories of our own experiences of situations that we found ourselves in that we had not planned on and were not prepared to handle and take on. When these occurrences happen, what does our view of/relationship with/understanding of/desire for God go through? It changes, it takes on new meaning, it grows and matures as we do.

Elijah went up the mountain, the same one Moses went up to converse with God, for that very purpose, to talk to Him, to encounter and experience Him. Elijah knows the ordinary circumstances: some great force of nature or spectacular event will happen and God will be present there to talk to. Except this time, it didn’t happen that way. The loud forces of nature take place and Elijah expected God in anyone of them, but God wasn’t there. But then, silence. A quiet whisper, a deafening silence fell over Elijah, and there God was; absolutely not what Elijah had anticipated.

Jesus, after having multiplied the loaves, asks the disciples to go off ahead of him and he wants to stay behind and pray for a while. During the fourth watch, between 3-6 am, they are caught in the midst of a storm on the lake. While these men, some experienced fishermen, were navigating to boat in the storm, Jesus comes walking towards them on the water! Out of nowhere with no real warning, Jesus is walking on water and coming towards them. Naturally, they thought it was a ghost and call out to it to identify itself. Christ answers I Am – the name of God. Peter, after seeing its Christ asks Him to let him do the same that He does. Jesus calls him out. The extraordinariness of the event was too much for him and he began to sink. Those twelve men received and encounter and revelation of God that they certainly never expected to be part of, yet it changed them and supplied them with a new and changed faith and relationship with their friend and Lord.

The unexpected can happen in our lives, and It does, expect it. God also reveals himself in unexpected ways and through unexpected people. We need to release some of our expectations and soften our rigidness in living life. We cannot put up expectations and unfair demands on others, ourselves, the world and God and have those be the only parameters for what is right and good. We have to accept that life will be what life will be and we have to deal with how it is dealt to, not what we construct it and force it to be. If something bad happens to us, it is not a sign that God hates us or that we are no good; it is merely an opportunity and occasion for us to rise up and be what we need to be. If we don’t see or hear God as we think we ought to, we need to let go of how we think God should be and realize how he truly is. If you think you are going to have only depressing news to watch and there is shark week and mob week on, are you going to watch it? If someone doesn’t seem to love you like they should; be it a mom or dad, child, spouse or friend, remember, just because someone doesn’t love the way you want them to, does not mean they don’t love you with everything they are. The unexpected, in an unexpected way, not the way I wanted it to happen – these synonymous expressions are part of the rhythm of life. They are going to occur. The real question arises, how you are going to respond to it.

Elijah, Peter and the other disciples accepted the unexpected with faith. They trusted that in the end, God was on their side and would not abandon them, that was and still is the only expected!