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 justice? 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 will include eternal life. He adds, “Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” Then he tells them the parable 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 those who worked longer 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 to us 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, our sense of ​​justice may be flawed. Eternal life is not a reward for work but a gift from God to his children. Neither saints nor reformed murderers deserve heaven any more than a baby deserves 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 deserving 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.

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

 

Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs

(I Corinthians 12:31-13:13; Luke 7:31-35)

N.T. Wright is a well-known Anglican Biblical scholar and bishop.  He introduces one of his books on Jesus with a controversial claim.  He says that people don’t want to accept Jesus for how he is described in the gospels.  Rather they accept him for how he confirms their pre-established religious and social convictions.  It’s the same problem that Jesus faces in today’s gospel.  The people don’t want to listen to him because he differs from their expectations of God’s prophet.

What was Jesus like and what did he teach that was so difficult to accept?  The answer to these questions is perhaps best expressed by St. Paul in today’s first reading.  Jesus incarnated God’s perfect love and taught it to anyone who would listen.  Because of the radicalness of that love, he bore the enmity of religious leaders, believed in people who had given up hope for salvation, and endured the greatest human suffering.

Saints Cornelius and Cyprian, the martyrs we celebrate today, were different from most people in this respect.  They understood that Jesus called them and everyone else to a self-sacrificing love and did not waver in practicing it.  They died a premature and violent death to honor Jesus for his sacrifice and his teaching.

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

 

Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

(I Corinthians 12:12-14.27-31a; John 19:25-27)

In today’s gospel Jesus is doing more than providing for his mother in his absence.  He is making his Church a family of followers.  The Beloved Disciple, faithful to Jesus to the end, represents all Christian believers.  With Mary as their common mother, they are to love one another as brothers and sisters.  That is, they now share more than common ideas and values but an intimacy of blood -- Christ’s blood in their veins.  Helping one another will be as natural for them as an elder sister taking care of younger siblings when parents are off giving birth to another child.

Mary provides the community a sure and substantial influence with Christ, her Son.  She is especially close to the Lord not only because of her natural relationship as mother but, strangely even more so, because of her attention to him as a follower. Like Catherine of Siena’s mother followed her mystic daughter on her benevolent missions, Mary accompanied her ever-gracious son on his salvific journey.

We do not have to pray to Mary.  After all, as the Letter to the Hebrews teaches, Jesus himself is our most efficacious mediator with God, the Father.  But there are times and conditions when we can pray to Mary with more fervor.  Certainly, a mother mourning her dead child will have common cause with the Mother of God.  And so might most of us when we think of how close our mothers once were to us.  As hurting or needing children, we called upon our mothers and unfailingly had their assistance.