25th Sunday A: The Labourers in the Vineyard and their Master

Gospel reading: Matthew 20:1-16

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.

24th Week - Sept 14-19

 Sept 14 Monday (The Exaltation of the Holy Cross) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/-Exaltation-of-the-Holy-Cross : John 3:13-17: The Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross is one of twelve “Master feasts” celebrated in the Church to honor Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master.

23rd Week, Thursday, Sept 10

1 Cor 8:1-7, 11-13 / Luke 6:27-38

The Corinthians had asked Paul if it was okay to eat the flesh of animals that had been sacrificed to idols. This was a practical question, because only a portion of the sacrificed animal was offered to the idol. The remaining flesh was sold in meat markets.

24th Sunday A: Forgiveness

Gospel reading: Matthew 18:21-35

Michel DeVerteuil 
General Comments
Today’s passage deals with the crucial issue of forgiveness, surely the most pressing of all our human problems, as individuals, as communities and as a human family. The future of humanity is in the hands of those who can forgive.

23rd Week: Sept 7-12 Reflections

Sept 7 Monday: Lk 6: 6-11: 6 On another Sabbath, when he entered the synagogue and taught, a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And he looked around on them all, and said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm

23 Sunday A: Liturgical Prayers

Greeting

Jesus tells us today:
Where two are three have come together in my name,
there I am among them.
We are here in his name
and so he is among us.
May he always stay with you.
R/ And also with you.

Introduction b

23rd Sunday A: Prayer and Reconciliation

Michel DeVerteuil 
General Comments
This passage is very different from those of the two previous Sundays. They were dramatic stories, marked by deep emotions and with deep implications for the characters involved. This is a little gem of a passage but with little drama, a very practical, common-sense teaching on that most common and most prosaic of community problems – conflict. It is deep wisdom teaching which continues to be valid for our time. Management has become a science today, and Jesus’ teaching stands up well as a model of how to “manage” conflict in any situation.