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We shall awaken from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion.
-St. Hildegard von Bingen
(Creation is our "extended family." How
does it awaken love in you? How can you work for its protection?) |
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Jgs 9:6-15; Ps 21:2-3, 4-5,
6-7 Mt 20:1-16 Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"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?
Or 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." USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
“Must I give up?” —Judges 9:9, 11, 13
The olive tree, fig tree, and vine did not wish to be generous. They each said: “Must I give up?” The workers who bore the day’s heat and the full burden were treated fairly, but wanted the master to pay by the hour instead of paying by the day. They were envious because he was generous (Mt 20:15).
God is generous. He answered the
question “Must I give up?” by giving up His only Son so that we might have the possibility of repenting, believing, and gaining eternal life (Jn 3:16). . . When disciples of Jesus hold back from leadership and service, the worldly fill the leadership void. Thus the result is selfish or poor leadership. When disciples of Jesus work for a reward rather than for love of Jesus, the work might get
done, but will anyone who observes our grumbling service want to give their lives to the Lord? To serve Jesus, King of the Universe, is worth any sacrifice, even a life spent bearing the heat and burdens (Mt 20:12). Accept Jesus’ rule over you, His way of righteousness (Mt 6:33). “Serve the Lord with gladness” (Ps 100:2). He will provide all that you need (Phil 4:19). Prayer: Father, knowing that I love and serve You is enough reward for me. Jesus, King of kings, reign supreme in my life. Promise: “Thus the last shall be first and the first shall be last.” —Mt 20:16 Presentation Ministries
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-Readings from Jesus Alive in Our Lives, by Philip St. Romain. Ave Maria Press, 1985. Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 2011. Part Two, Encountering the Risen Christ Chapter 4: Christian
Community - Selected quotes Out of this experience (conversion on the road to Damascus), Paul came to understand what he later expressed in 1 Cor. 12 and other places as his
theology of the Mystical Body. If persecuting the Church is persecuting Jesus, then the Church must be a kind of presence of Jesus. Paul understood this to mean that Jesus was continuing his work in human history through the ministry of the Church. Where there was once this single individual named Jesus of Nazareth going about doing good in the land of Israel, now there were these thousands of individuals acting as a kind of social organism, empowered by the same Spirit
who had moved through Jesus. These people of faith and their communities were like a body—a Mystical Body -- living by the Spirit of Christ, carrying out the mission to be reconciled with God that Christ had manifest.
Paul’s theology of the Holy Spirit is related to this understanding of the Mystical Body. The Spirit is given as the Life of the Body; individuals in the Body come to
live by the life of the Spirit and are blessed by the Spirit with gifts, or charisms, which are given to build up the Life of the Body. Some are blessed with gifts of healing, some with teaching, and there are lots of other gifts mentioned in scripture—prophecy, administration, working miracles, tongues, interpreting tongues—and no doubt many going unmentioned. Individuals in the Body have a role to play in building up the Body, but none can say they are more important than
others. If the Spirit gives a certain gift to one person but not to another, that is the Spirit’s business, and nothing the individual can take much credit or blame for. To be a member of the Body is blessing enough; to do one’s part in building up the Body is all that is expected. Paperback and eBook versions
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