26 Sunday A - Words and Deeds

Opening Story:
“A companion of Francis of Assisi, Brother Juniper is remembered as a “fool for Christ” and there are all sorts of wild stories about his antics. He was notorious for constantly giving his possessions away and living with a winsomeness that sometimes got him in trouble. At one point he was ordered by a superior not to give away his outer garment to the beggars anymore. But it wasn’t long before he met someone in need who asked him for some clothing. He said, “My superior has told me under obedience not to give my clothing to anyone. But if you pull it off my back, I certainly will not prevent you.” (Another version: "I can't give, but you can take.") Francis is said to have joked about how he wished for a forest of Junipers.”
“Lord, you did not withhold even your life for our benefit. If nothing is too much to offer you, remind us that nothing is too much to sacrifice for our brothers and sisters. Amen.”
Many Pairs: Jesus presents us with many parables of pairs to show how God's mercy works far beyond the rules of justice.
a. Pharisee and Publican praying in the temple
b. Prodigal son and elder brother
c. Simon (Lk 7) and the sinner woman
d. Woman caught in adultery (Jn 8) and the Pharisees with stones
e. Two thieves hanging on the cross
f. Samaritan woman and the disciples
g. Priests and the good Samaritan

************
An associate pastor, new to the parish, saw the need to start a Bible study group where people could learn to read the word of God and deepen their faith. After service one morning, he presented the idea to the people and received a unanimous and enthusiastic feedback. "It is a wonderful idea," they all said. Then the young associate pastor went and told the pastor that the people were happy with the idea of starting a Bible class. The older and more experienced pastor told the associate to rephrase the question and consult the people again. The following day the young priest asked the same congregation, "Who would like to sign up for the Bible study group? Only four hands went up. Then it dawned on the young man that saying yes to an idea is one thing and doing what is required is another. (Fr. Munachi, cssp)

25 Sunday A - Workers at the Vineyard

Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration

When we assemble around the Lord’s table we bless God for his forgiveness, mercy, generosity and love: he has sent us his Son to bring us pardon, to transform us from being isolated individuals into the community of his love, and he gives us the hope of everlasting life. So, as God’s holy people, we recall that God is merciful and forgiving; God is life-giving and generous; and that God is love.

******

Michel DeVerteuil
General Comments 

We have another parable this Sunday, one that many people find particularly difficult to interpret.

As I said in last week’s meditation guidelines, method is always the root problem with interpreting
parables, and to adopt the right method we must have a right understanding of what a parable is. It is not the kind of story where we identify “good guys” and “bad guys” and then draw the conclusion that we must imitate the good and avoid being like the bad.

25 Sunday A - Job Security - NCR

From the NCR:

What the parable of the vineyard workers really says

Sr. Rose Pacatte  |       

 A few summers ago, I had taken to driving to St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., for Sunday vigil Mass. Most Sunday liturgies in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are so well-attended and run at an hour or more, and I have MS and heat can provoke symptoms. St. John's was the only chapel or church within miles that had air conditioning. The priest who celebrated Mass most of the time was from Africa. He was a gentle soul, kept his homilies under 10 minutes, and was well-regarded by the regulars in the congregation, most of a certain age, not really infirm and highly ambulatory. Before the new chapel opened in a distant building, prompting me to change venues because of inaccessibility, people came and left so fast after Communion it was practically a drive-thru.

Father was a student and had just completed his graduate degree. He would be leaving in a couple of weeks to return to his home diocese in Africa. Sorry to say, I do not remember his name. But I remember his face, his voice and one homily that changed me forever.
***
It was the 25th Sunday of the Year, cycle A. The Gospel reading was -- and remains -- one of the most incendiary of Jesus' parables: that of the generous landowner and the vineyard workers he hired in the morning. Trouble came when the landowner hired workers throughout the day -- at the same wage. 

 

Father's gently modulated homily followed, as best I can remember it:

24 Sunday A - Forgiveness - Seven Times

Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration

We often describe ourselves as ‘the People of God’ and as ‘a people set apart’; and very often such names have been misinterpreted by Christians to mean that we are somehow ‘God’s elite’ or that he has some special friendship for us and our doing that he does not show to others. Today’s gospel confronts us with the reality of what it means to be ‘a people set apart’. We are the ones who must reject the desires for vengeance and retaliation, and in the face of those who offend us must work for reconciliation. To start afresh, working for what is good, after one has been hurt is never easy; it goes against a deeply embedded instinct in our humanity that calls for retribution. But to be the group who seek to continue the reconciliation of the world that was accomplished in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus is what we are about. Now, as we begin to celebrate this mystery, let us remind ourselves that as ‘a people set apart’ we must be willing to be those who bring forgiveness and new hope into the world. Let us ask ourselves whether we are willing to be reconcilers.

Exaltation of the Cross

1.     Fr. John Speekman:

 The Triumph of the Cross - Year A

Numbers 21:4-9; Philippians 2:6-11; John 3:13-17 

The Cross in our lives usually occupies the same space we put all the other unpleasant, unwanted things – disappointments, hurts, humiliations, failures - all the burdensome things we don't want to remember, all the broken relationships and sufferings of our lives. Needless to say it's not a pleasant spot to go; it's a dark, uncomfortable place, to be avoided at all costs. 

23 Sunday A - Prayer and Reconciliation

Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration

We have just declared that we have gathered here as the people who in the Spirit’s power follow the way of the Son to the Father. However, we all know that following the way of the Lord is much easier said than done. Our own shortcomings lead us to stumble again and again, while the shortcomings of other Christians both hurt us directly and embarrass us. Yet we must continue our task of being disciples, we must be prepared to take the risk of pointing out the failings of others, and, what is even more difficult, we have to have the humility to hear and learn from those who point out our blind spots, weaknesses, and failings. Let us reflect on our need for forgiveness, our need to grow as disciples, and our need to have greater self-knowledge.

22 Sunday A - Take up your Cross

Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration

In today’s gospel we hear the call of Jesus to become his followers. This is no easy invitation: ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.’ We enter into the cross of Jesus, and begin our following of him, when we are baptised. It is at that moment that we become members of this body that can gather at the Lord’s table, and it is the grace of baptism that sustains us on the difficult road of following the Lord of life, and goodness, and truth. So now let us recall the fact that we are a baptised people, and ask God to bless us and strengthen us to continue following his Son. 

Karickal's Golden Jubilee of Religious Profession-Homily

As part of Brother Joseph Karickal's Golden Jubilee Celebrations in his home parish in Kerala, the homily was given by T.Kayala. Watch it here:

21 Sunday A - Who do you say I am?

Summary:

1.     Who Do People Say He Is?

2.     Who Do You Say He Is?
3.     What Are We Called to Do?

 

1.     Feedback – Communication

2.     Recognition – Messiah: Title & Sacrifice
3.     Authority –Dependability – Rock

**************

Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration

We have gathered here as the disciples of Jesus, we declare that he is present among us, we are about to share his table. But who is the One we follow? That is the question that is posed in today’s gospel, and we hear Peter’s resounding answer: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Let us spend a moment in prayer and reflection, asking the Father to reveal to us now a deeper awareness of who it is in whose name we have assembled and into whose presence we have come.

20 Sunday A - Canaanite Woman: Faith and Healing

Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration

When we gather each Sunday to celebrate being the People of God, we address Jesus as ‘ our Saviour’. But we often forget that the basic image of ‘saviour’ is that Jesus came to bring healing. We are addressing Jesus as the one we look to for healing, health, and wholeness. This aspect of the ministry of the Christ is brought out in today’s gospel when a woman calls on him as ‘Lord’ and ‘Son of David’ asking him to heal her daughter.

So just like that woman long ago who asked Jesus for healing, during our gathering today we shall keep our need for healing in mind in our prayer.

We all need, in one way or another, healing for our bodies when afflicted with pain, we need healing for our minds when they are distressed or embittered, and we need healing for our spirits which become damaged by sin. To encounter Jesus is to encounter the Father’s gift of wholeness. Let us pray now that we shall share in it through this Eucharist.