Fullerton T

25Th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Isaiah’s call to conversion in the First Reading speaks of God’s readiness to take back the sinner when he says My ways are not your ways; my thoughts not your thoughts. So often in the scriptures, God seems to have a totally different way of approaching things to most of us and we see that here. The prophet contrasts the way God judges with our human way of seeing things. So often, people are judged on past actions, but God sees beyond that.  In the Second Reading  we hear from St Pauls letter to the Philippians this letter was written about 57AD, while Paul was imprisoned.  His courage in suffering ill treatment seems to have been a source of inspiration to many, for which he rejoices in today’s short reading.  There is a hint that execution is a possibility but, alive or dead, he is confident that he is bearing witness to Christ. In another reading we hear that alive or dead we are the Lord’s.

In this weekend’s gospel the parable presents God as a landowner going out at five different times during the day to hire workers for his vineyard. As unskilled workers, they lived day to day at a subsistence level. In areas where such workers can get employment, they got   together in a common area known to employers. The employers sought the workers out, hired them only for the day, and paid them the same night. Day laborers in the vineyard objected to the amount of pay the owner gave them as the first was paid exactly the same as the last one denarius. This tense image rode against the popular view of the Kingdom as a peaceful feast of the faithful in paradise. Jesus told this story to emphasize how the Kingdom differed from people’s ideas and expectations what people expected, and the actual kingdom of God were two very different things. According to Jesus, the faithful, even those who practiced faith all life long, did not earn the Kingdom. The Father gave his children the Kingdom as a gift. The pay issue scandalized Jesus’ followers the most, however. Imagine the most dedicated and hard-working people were paid the same as the others. And they were paid last! Beyond the question of money lie the question of social treatment. The owner treated those who worked for only an hour as he would treat his own family. Those hired at dawn were treated as mere workers. The owner gave greater honor to those who worked the least by paying them well and paying them first. The owner belittled those who worked all day long by paying them so little and paying them last. And, when the workers grumbled, the owner rebuked them in public.

If our ways of thinking and judging are truly far from the Lord’s way, then we have some work to do! Perhaps we need to work harder in the areas of forgiveness, mercy, and generosity, to think as God thinks requires openness and a broad vision, free of self-pity and selfish brooding. It takes gratitude. It means sitting down and reflecting, “What does God want me to do in this or that situation?” It takes courage and humility and grace to act this way. It helps if we just ask ourselves a simple question: What would Jesus do. The parable of the workers in the vineyard is the Lord’s call to all of us to share generously with all people what we meet and that means sharing our resources and our time. All of us share equally in the task, whether called early in the morning or late in the evening of the day, we are called to build up the kingdom of God in this unjust and often times hard world. When we focus upon the needs of others, we give ourselves for the Kingdom. What are we willing to give up for the Kingdom of God as we proclaim the good news in what we say and what we do as we remember the words of the psalm that the Lord is close to all who call on him.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the First Reading for this Sunday Ezekiel pictures himself as a watchman on the city walls, on the lookout for danger. However, he is God’s watchman, with a duty to bring people to a recognition that they are at fault in the eyes of God. In the Second Reading Paul expands on the theme of the ‘living sacrifice’ he outlined in last week’s reading. It is love above all that must guide the followers of Jesus; blessing those who persecute them, feeding the hungry and so on. Love is at the heart of the commandments.

In our Gospel passage for this Sunday St Matthew recounts Jesus’ instructions to the disciples about how they should deal with a brother who does something wrong. This passage is very different from those of the two previous Sundays. They were dramatic stories, marked by deep emotions and implications for the people involved. This is a very practical common-sense teaching on that most common and most prosaic of community problems conflict. It is a great wisdom teaching which continues to be valid for us in our own time. Management has become a science today, and Jesus’s teaching stands for us as a model of how to “manage” conflict in any situation. We are told It is the duty of the disciple to point out the error even if our correction might not be well received. Matthew wants to let the Christians in his community know how to deal with those who drift away from the teaching of Christ or blatantly contravene the commandments.  Matthew chooses those words of Jesus which most stress the authority and the competence of the Christian community, the Church, to deal with these cases.  However, there are some safeguards built into this teaching on reproving those who go astray. Jesus says that first of all you must have it out with him alone. This might lead to a speedy solution and the person’s good name is preserved.

Yet it seems from the gospel reading that the only sanction is that the person be excluded from the community of the Church. But in considering such matters we must be very careful; for getting all worked up about the behavior of someone else can frequently be a sign of something else, something much closer to home.  Encountering the truth about another person and ourselves is daunting because it makes us face up to the weaknesses that are part of us and all we are. We may try to make others a function of our egos, but it fails. Rather than enter the struggle, in many cases we ignore it. In a society where individualism prevails, people usually “mind their own business’: But together all of us form a community of faith and love.  That spirit of love, concern, and caring characterizes the members of Christ’s Church. Our human relationships mirror our relationship with God sometimes good often times not so good. And this is why the Lord tells us today that when we make the decisions that ultimately matter about how we are going to use the lives we have been given, we must trust, not in the authority of men who believe they know God but, in the wisdom, and the authority of the Christian community as a whole. We have to open our hearts and our minds as we listen to the voice of the Lord as He speaks to us.We should not be afraid to encounter the truth about ourselves and others as we deal with the world around us these day’s knowing that Jesus is making the journey with us

19th Sunday of OrdinaryTime

In the first reading the prophet Elijah is on the run from the anger of King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel.  He finds refuge in a cave on Mount Horeb where God reveals himself to Elijah not through earthquake, wind or fire, but rather through a gentle breeze – the breath of God.  The subtlety of God’s presence is so gentle it could easily be missed by those expecting great signs and wonders.

In the second reading Paul, familiar with the teaching of his former Jewish faith and converted by his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, struggles to understand why his Jewish brethren have not also understood ‘the truth’ that guides him. Perhaps his anguish is heightened because he was accused of turning away from his Jewish faith to preach to the gentiles.

The gospel reading this Sunday is all about Jesus’s walking on water but if you look beyond the walking on water this story is really about trust and faith in God. We have no problem identifying with Peter, he is so like us. He is confident one moment and then, when things get difficult and he realizes that he has bitten off more than he can chew, he falls apart. By then it is too late and he needs help and that is when Jesus offers peter his hand.  and he acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God. Life is like that, we start something like a new job, college, marriage, or a project to help others, but then it gets complex and beyond what we are capable of. We are sinking, we are drowning. Not an uncommon experience in so many situations in life and in the way we deal with them. God doesn’t always give us an immediate cure or a fast solution when we bring ourselves in prayer for others or for ourselves to God. God, through Jesus, is not distant from our problems. Jesus shows us that when he reaches out a hand to Peter and to us, he is companion with us in the storms of life.  

At times we may well be floundering, like Peter, but Jesus reaches out to help us, to rescue us. What better analogy could there be of our own lives and relationship with Jesus. We live messy lives, we doubt and we lack faith but nevertheless we are still moving towards the Lord. This Sunday we are reminded that we should   listen for God in quiet moments and trust Him in hard times. Elijah found God in a gentle whisper. Peter walked on water but sank when he doubted. Jesus saved him, showing that God does not abandon those who call out for help and that include all of us today.

17th Sunday of Ordinary Time

This Sunday is the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time and the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly. We give thanks to God for our Parents and grandparents and all they mean to us today. Last Monday in Dublin as part of the Parable Tour Father Mike Schmitz spoke at the National Stadium with 1600 young people attending.  Before the event A special was Mass organized by the Irish Bishops’ Conference’s Council for Evangelization, Catechetics and Pastoral Renewal and was celebrated by Bishop Fintan Gavin, Bishop of Cork and Ross. Many people attended the Mass and the next day when I watched Father Schmitz speak on YouTube there was something real and honest in his words, as he encouraged those who may be uncertain in their faith not to wait until they have all the answers before taking the next step. He said  “To anyone standing on the edge of faith  uncertain, hesitant, or searching  the invitation is not to have all the answers before you begin. Throughout Scripture, we see that obedience often comes before understanding. “Mary is a fantastic example of this.  The Archangel Gabriel appears to her and says, ‘You are going to be the mother of the Messiah.’  She then asks, ‘How can this be?’  He gives her a clarifying answer and she says,  ‘Let it be done to me.’ “He does not give her understanding;  He does not give her a plan;  He does not give her a roadmap.  He simply gives her enough information to take the next step.  That is the invitation for every one of us.  God always gives us enough light and enough information to take the next step, and we can trust Him with that next step.”

The readings for this the 17th Sunday  help us see what is truly valuable. They remind us that wisdom, faith, and God’s kingdom are worth more than anything else we could ever own. These gifts bring life, joy, and strength when we seek them with open hearts. In the First Reading God tells Solomon to ask for anything he wants. Solomon asks for wisdom to rule well. God is pleased and gives him great wisdom, more than anyone before or after him. In the Second Reading we are told that God works for good in the lives of those who love Him.  He calls people, makes them right with Him, and gives them glory. He shapes them to be like His Son.   

In the Gospel reading Jesus tells us that The kingdom of heaven is like a hidden treasure or a rare pearl so valuable that people give up everything to have it. When its great value is recognized, one gladly does all that is necessary to obtain it. Being members of the Kingdom means sharing our knowledge of it with others.  To truly believe in Christ means leading other people to the same knowledge by what we say and do; for secret faith is no faith at all. We should be happy to bring out of the house that is our life all kinds of treasures to share with our neighbors. We know life and service in the reign Jesus is proclaiming, will require sacrifice.  But these parables encourage us to take the plunge, they tell us, “It is worth whatever you must change, or give up.” But these treasures are not physical things but spiritual attitudes and otherwise that are virtues like love and justice and truth and hope and so on. What we bring out from our treasure store are the values of the Kingdom, the attitudes of Jesus and the knowledge of the one true God. God loves us just the way we are, but He refuses to leave us that way. He wants us to become treasure for other people so that they can discover the faith which is the pearl of great price the treasure hidden in the fields of our hearts.  

 In the life and ministry of Jesus many people experienced the Kingdom through their encounter with him which brought dignity, love, forgiveness, release from illness, disability, guilt, shame and even death.  Jesus made present the reign of God’s grace for people in all kinds of need.  While we are sometimes overwhelmed by the experience of the presence of God within our hearts, more often we experience the reign of God’s grace through others. These people, like Jesus, somehow make present, make real the presence and action of God especially but not only in our moments of need but in every good or bad situation we might find ourselves in.  God always gives us enough light and enough information to take the next step, and we can trust Him with that next step.” The big question for us today is are we prepared to make the next step on our journey in faith and trust?

16th Sunday of \Ordinary Time

This Sunday is the 16^th Sunday of ordinary time as the summer continues to go by at breakneck speed. Our first reading from the Boof of Wisdom is taken from a long passage in which the author sings the praises of God and all the things he has done for his often-ungrateful people. Justice, mercy and forgiveness are the qualities the Lord shows towards us, and by inference these are the qualities which in us most reflect the glory of God that we should show to other people. In the Second Reading these verses from Romans follow directly on from last Sunday’s reading. Paul is very aware that to talk of the distinction between the ‘unspiritual’ and the ‘spiritual’ is all very well, but in practice we sometimes find ourselves literally ‘lost for words’ when we try to pray. This doesn’t matter; Paul assures us. If we are alive with the Spirit we can be assured that God knows what we cannot express. 

In the Gospel we hear the story is the parable of the seed and the weeds. In this parable Jesus recognized good’s co-existence with evil. He also held out the hope that the Kingdom would right all wrongs. I think that there is the potential in each of us to be either wheat or darnel that is good and bad. We need to ask ourselves who are we called to be in a world where weeds and seeds grow side by side.  Should we hide from the messiness and make faith a private personal relationship with God? Should we insulate ourselves – sharing with those we think are worthy of our love, deciding who is worthy? Where is God in all this concern, worry and judgment?  If we pray about these three questions and our problems and those of others, we will see God is there in the middle of everything and his hand will guide us and as a result we will be the seeds that flourish and not the weeds that die.  Jesus used parables to challenge his audience to think, and he uses the parables in today’s world to challenge all of us. In truth and charity, we must speak to others and teach them about the great responsibility they have to choose to be weeds that die or seeds that flourish. All of us have the power to freely choose Him or to reject Him. May we see the seeds of the Kingdom of Heaven grow and flourish in our midst.

Today, as we look at our present situation, we can still detect weeds in ourselves. Rather than being overcome by discouragement, the parable proposes a note of hope. After all, good seed has been planted in us and is growing. The burden of the struggle is not ours alone. Our calling then is to participate as best we can in building up a world where God is King! God will decide on its membership, not us and he will guide us along the roads that lead to Salvation and he will help us to be the seeds that flourish instead of being the weeds that die.