Sunday Homily 9-21-08, 25th, Ordinary Time
Readings: Isaiah 55, 6-9; Psalm 145; Philippians 1, 20-27; Matthew 20, 1-16
Isaiah:
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Time: Isaiah himself may have lived ca. 750 B.C. The book was written and put together from what seems to be 3 sources (chapters 1-39; 40-56; 57-66) after the Babylonian Exile ca. 550 B.C.
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Message: Isaiah criticizes strongly the corruption of the ruling class & wealthy and condemns them for their lack of concern for the poor.
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Today's reading: a somewhat mild criticism of the scoundrel & the wicked.
Celebrating the Gift of the Moment
Two stories exemplify the meaning of today's gospel.
Just a while back I was on the DART train again, headed downtown in the middle of the day. As usual, I was in car #1 because I love to watch where we are going. I was on the right side about row 4, on the aisle.
Across from me in the first seat on the aisle was a mother with two little kids, one in a stroller, the other by the window. Behind her was another mother on the aisle likewise with a little kid sitting next to the window. Both mothers were young, both kids next to the windows were girls about 5. The mother & kids in the first seat were white, the mother & daughter in the second seat were black.
As I watched, the girl in the first seat, who was blue eyed, blond pony tailed, and blessed with a terrific little smile, she looked around the left edge of her seat, saw the little black girl, and turned around so she could kneel on her seat and look over the seat top.
The little girls started talking a little bit at a time. They continued to talk, the white girl leaning over the back of her seat, the black girl with little pig tails sitting. The black girl seemed to be doing the majority of the chatting while the white girl would ask a question and smile.
This continued all the way from Forest Lane to the Thanksgiving Square stop where I got off. As I left, they were still into their conversation.
I was so touched. The kids are color blind, I thought. They just enjoyed talking with each other and their mothers let them go at it. For me it was a special gift of the moment.
The second story. Yesterday morning, Saturday, I was walking back home from the Tom Thumb store at Royal & Preston. I crossed Preston and was passing in front of the corner Starbucks. It was early, about 6:30, and hardly anybody was moving around, not even at Starbucks.
In front of Starbucks, however, was one guy in his late fifties or middle sixties, perhaps a little younger than I. He had a baseball hat on & shorts. He was facing me as I approached and I caught his eye for a second. I said, "Morning!"
…… Nothing. When I spoke he looked away with a face of no affect.
Well, this type of thing can get me going. I wanted to go back and turn his table over. At least, say, "Hey, man, I said 'Morning.'" Get in the guy's face type of response.
What I did actually was nothing. Nothing but think about the event and my response. Who am I to judge? Maybe he was just laid off this week, or last year, and last night could not sleep for worrying? Maybe his wife & he had a falling out? Whatever the case, this may be as big a gift of the moment as the two little girls on the DART were. I could easily see how the girls were a gift. Maybe the guy gave me a challenge gift of the moment.
Matthew tells us that all the laborers who worked in the vineyard got paid the same wage by the landowner, whether they had worked 8 hours or 1. I read that I want to say "injustice!" How can this parable make any sense. Three comments.
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First, we may be comparing the dynamic of the kingdom with that of contemporary labor relations. In the kingdom we meet a landowner, God, who is universally generous and treasures each of us with magnanimous acceptance. He does not portion out wages. Justice is not his criterion. He invites everyone into the banquet
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Secondly, we are all the workers of the last hour. In fact, we are really the non-workers. We say to ourselves today, well what about that person who was good all his life, that priest who gave it all up, that nun who spent her whole life working with the destitute in Calcutta? Don't they deserve more? Question: is virtue its own reward?
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Thirdly, we are invited into this banquet today, not just at the end of it all. The Challenge: to accept the the gift of the moment. The gifts are abundant and the feast is daily.
I look at the two encounters I had as gifts of the moment. Granted, the second gift I call a challenge gift, but still special.
What was your gift of the moment this week, yesterday?
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