Tuesday, September 22, 2026

 

Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(Proverbs 21:1-6.10-13; Luke 8:19-21)

During World War II a man spotted a GI lying on the sidewalk outside a bar after midnight.  Approaching the soldier, he asked if he needed help.  But the drunken soldier could not reply.   The man took the wallet from the soldier’s pocket, noted his address on the identification, removed ten dollars, and called for a taxi.  Then he placed a note in the wallet saying that the money was used for transportation, put the wallet back in the soldier’s pocket, and sent him home. 

The man went out of his way to help another in dire need.  As a matter of fact, the man did not believe in God and would have objected if it were said that he “acted like a Christian.”  He only did what he thought was “right and just” as today’s reading from the Book of Proverbs says.   

Christians have no monopoly on righteous deeds.  Yet we see such acts as that of the man who rescued the soldier as “Christian.” They exemplify what Jesus says in today’s gospel: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”

Monday, September 21, 2026

 

Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist

(Ephesians 4:1-7.11-13; Matthew 9:9-13)

Caravaggio’s “The Calling of Saint Matthew” is one of the most celebrated paintings in Rome.  It hangs in the Church of Saint Louis of France.  The painting shows Jesus pointing to Matthew at his post in the custom’s house in Capernaum.  While Jesus is dressed in the clothes of the first century, Matthew sports attire of a sixteenth century gentleman.  Very significantly, Jesus’ hand is postured like God’s hand in Michelangelo’s masterpiece of the creation of man on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  There is no doubt that Caravaggio intended this.

Caravaggio is preaching to his viewers that like Jesus calls Matthew to follow him in the first century, they are being called at the turn of the seventeenth century.  Like Jesus’ disciples and the Pharisees, they must learn the critical lesson of the prophet Hosea and today’s gospel: “’I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’”

And so, Jesus is calling and teaching us today.  It would be contrary to Jesus’ mission to say that God does not want us to offer sacrifice, but perfectly in line with the mission to emphasize mercy as the end or purpose of sacrifice.  If our sacrifices do not make us more like Jesus in his care of the poor and unevangelized, they may be shams, and we deficient in our following of Christ.

Sunday, September 20, 2026

 

TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, September 20, 2026

(Isaiah 55:6-9; Philippians 1:20-24, 27; Matthew 20:1-16)

Have you ever noticed how attentive children are to fairness? If you give one child a larger piece of cake than another, they will shout, “That’s not fair!” However, children often lack the experience and wisdom to discern true justice.  They see only the outcome of an event without considering other factors involved in justice. The child who receives the larger piece could have been last in line when the hamburgers ran out. Today’s Gospel reading tells of workers who also lack a full sense of justice.

The parable of the vineyard owner and the workers follows the story of the rich young man who asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus tells him to sell his possessions, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow him, the rich man leaves him saddened. Then Jesus proclaims that it is impossible for humans to save themselves, that only God can give eternal life. At this point, Peter reminds Jesus that the disciples have left everything to follow him, and Jesus assures them that their reward of eternal life is secure. He adds, “Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” Then he tells them the parable of the workers in the vineyard to explain the meaning of the saying.

The “first” in the parable are those who have worked all day under the blazing sun. They receive the denarius that was promised them in the early morning.  However, they expected more because those who came to work much later received the same denarius. When they complain to the landowner, they are told that they received the agreed-upon amount. They were neither cheated nor deceived.

The issue here is the fairness of the landowner and, because the landowner obviously represents God, the fairness of God. Is God just or not to Jews who have lived under the full weight of Torah their entire lives while Greek Christians, who came to know God’s will seemingly yesterday, have the same glory as their destiny? We have the same unease when we see the rich arriving at Mass in their Lexuses and the poor on the bus. Although God may seem capricious for not rewarding those who have sweated harder more reward, we must recognize that we don't know all the factors involved. We are like children crying, "It's not fair!" However, it may also be that our theology is flawed. Eternal life is not a reward for work but a gift from God to his children. Neither saints nor reformed murderers merit heaven by themselves any more than a baby merits to be born in the United States and not in Haiti. Only by having lived as God’s children, demonstrating the love of the Holy Spirit to all, can we speak of meriting the Kingdom of heaven.

We must not think of God's grace as arbitrary. The Second Vatican Council taught that God has provided everyone, even the unbaptized, with the grace to attain eternal life. As the prophet says in the first reading, the ways of the Lord are not human ways. Some may not have to struggle as much as others; however, no one lacks the means to reach God’s Kingdom.

One more thing. After hearing the complaint of the first workers, the vineyard owner responds to one of them: “'Friend, I am not being unfair to you.'” The Greek word used here for “friend” is not meant to signify a loved one. The Greek does not say “philos” but “hetaire,” which does not carry the affection of “friend.” “Hetaire” is more of a comrade than a friend. This is significant because true friends of God would not complain to see others receive His blessings. On the contrary, friends of God, endowed with the Holy Spirit, would rejoice when they see His other friends favored.

Friday, September 18, 2026

 

Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Corinthians 15:12-20; Luke 8:1-3)

A famous painting of Mary Magdalene hangs in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.  It shows a loosely clad woman meditating in front of a looking glass.  She is fingering a skull, which sits in front of a burning candle.  “What’s it all about?” she seems to ask herself as she contemplates life and death, herself, and Christ, the light of the world.

The painting is called “The Repentant Magdalene,” but this is a misnomer.  That title reflects a popular but unfounded belief that Mary Magdalene was a reformed prostitute.  Preachers through the ages have concluded that she is the same as “the sinful woman” who bathed Jesus’ feet with her tears in yesterday’s gospel passage.  But today’s gospel identifies her only as the woman “from whom seven demons had gone out.”  Demon possession in the New Testament is associated with sickness and hysteria, not moral depravity.  Mary Magdalene’s presence at this point in the gospel likely indicates Luke intention of showing how Jesus attracted different kinds of women, as well as of men, to himself.

The mirror in the painting invites us to ask the same question Magdalene seems to ask: “What’s the point of it all?”  Is our destiny just dry bones that will wither in time?  Or is Jesus the fire who enlightens our minds today and will raise our desiccated bones from death tomorrow?  We know the answers to these questions.  Our tasks are to live with the implications of the answers in mind and to share them with the world.

Thursday, September 17, 2026

 

Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 7:36-50)

At the beginning of his letter, Paul wrote that he was responding to questions he had received from the Corinthians.  He reserves addressing the question of the resurrection from the dead for last because it is the most important of all.  Indeed, as John 3:16, proclaimed at Mass just the other day, testifies, human salvation hangs upon belief in it.  Why is the question of resurrection so critical? Two reasons come to mind.

The first reason presents the issue from the human perspective.  Death is the greatest of evils, the most formidable of human enemies.  This is evident in the death of a youth when most of the joys and hopes of life are yet unrealized.  But even for an elderly person, death takes away all that is of greatest meaning – loving relationships, growth in knowledge and wisdom, and hope of union with the Creator.  God’s gift of resurrection from the dead assures the realization of these blessings.

The second reason suggests God’s perspective.  Belief in the resurrection– the permanent and completely unexpected victory of life – implies acceptance of Jesus’ message.  Jesus came to preach God’s gratuitous and inviolate love for humans.  Acceptance of this love requires a similarly radical belief in the outrageous claim of resurrection from the dead.  Paul provides a long list of witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus.  Nevertheless, belief for rational people is still daunting.  It takes an abiding trust as well as a firm conviction of will to reorient our lives in line with God’s love.