Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16
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hen Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God through parables he used metaphors drawn from the common life of the people so that they would understand. These metaphors often included elements of Jesus' observations con- cerning the social conditions of his time. In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus teaches about the Kingdom of God while using the example of day-laborers who were depen- dent upon a daily wage to survive. The day-laborers featured in this gospel passage are surprised by the seeming ridiculous generosity of their employer, espe- cially those who have labored the longest. The setting of this parable is a vineyard. "Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: The Gospel of Mat- thew" observes that "the image of a vineyard tended by a landowner is a traditional motif from the Old Tes- tament that depicts the Lord cultivating and caring for his people." Thus, when Jesus gave this teaching, he used an Old Testament metaphor that would be recog- nized by his hearers. In their hearing of this metaphor they would recognize that Jesus' new teaching was connected with that of God's Old Testament revelation. In the parable, Jesus tells us that the "landowner" or vineyard-owner "went out at dawn to hire laborers." The footnotes on this passage in "Ignatius Catholic Study Bible - New Testament" explain that for the Is- raelites of Jesus' time, "the day was divided into four nighttime watches and several daytime hours. The early laborers began around 6 a.m." In verse 2, the early laborers agreed with the land- owner for "the usual daily wage." The footnotes on the passage in "The Navarre Bible: St. Matthew" explain that the laborers agreed to receive a "denarius," which was "a silver coin bearing an image of Caesar Augus- tus." "Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: The Gospel of Matthew" goes on to state that the denarius was "the going rate in Palestine for a single day of manual labor." As the parable continues, we learn that other labor- ers are hired throughout the day by the landowner. The translation of the parable found in "Ignatius Cath- olic Study Bible - New Testa- ment" depicts the landowner telling them, "You go into the vineyard too and whatever is right I will give you" for a wage. The most perplexing part of the parable is in verses 6-7. Here, the landowner chal- lenges day-laborers remain- ing idle at the end of the day. He asks them why they are not working and they respond that it is because no one has offered them a job. Refusing to accept their excuse, the landowner hires them and orders them to work in his vineyard. At the end of the parable, Jesus explains that all the laborers received from the landowner a denarius for their work. This caused those who had worked the longest to "grumble" in re- sponse to the landowner's seeming injustice towards them. In verses 13-16, the landowner explains that he is not "cheating" them and that he is free to be gener- ous with his own money. Jesus concludes by stating, thus, the last will be first and the first will be last." In "Sacra Pagina" biblical commentary on The Gospel of Matthew the commentators observe that "the par- able offers a rich doctrine of God: the relation between divine justice and mercy, God's generosity toward the last' and the sureness of reward and punishment in the Last Judgment. It helps to ground the Church's ministry to the marginal in society, especially those who are spiritually on the edge." May our reflection on Matthew 20:1-6 help us to grow in appreciation for our generous God who offers us the gift of serving him in the vineyard of his Church. Reading: Philippians 1:20 -24, 27 rothers and sisters: Christ will be glorified in my body, whether by life or by death." (Phil 1:20) I love the new option for the dismissal of the faithful at the end of Mass: "Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your lives." Isn't that what we are supposed to be doing each day, glorifying God by the way that we live? Unfortunately, so many folks today are caught up in glorifying themselves. We glorify ourselves when we strive to draw attention to ourselves by who we are, how we look or what we possess. When we glorify ourselves, we are saying that we are better than others. There is no room for God. The focus is totally on me. The committed Christian, on the other hand, needs to be ardent in his desire to put God first and above all else in his life. "To glorify" is to give honor and praise to something or someone. When we "glorify God," we shower our praise and gratitude upon him alone. That's how it's supposed to be! We don't have to glorify God by elaborate rituals or extraordinary actions. God is glorified by the simple gestures of love, mercy and compassion. These are the acts that cause the Almighty to smile down upon us. By practicing the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, we honor God. As Mother Teresa reminded us, it's in per- forming the ordinary gestures of love and kindness in an extraordinary manner that we truly exalt God. It's a question of choosing God above ourselves. This practice is so contrary to the way of the world today. St. Irenaeus is credited with saying that "The glory of God is the human being fully alive." That is a demanding challenge for each of us. St. Paul in today's epistle reading (Phil. 1: 20-24, 27) makes a very interesting statement. He writes: "For to me, life is Christ, and death is gain. If I go on living - that means fruitful labor for me." Paul knew that both in life and death, we give glory to God. It reminds one of the Old Testament phrase, Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faith- ful ones." The passing of each faithful Christian brings glo- ry to God. It symbolizes a "job well done." We believe that God desires to have his faith- ful with him for all eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven. St. Paul would have pre- ferred death because he knew and believed that it was the culmination of faith and ful- fillment of divine love. Union with his Beloved in death was the goal of Paul's labors and suffering. However, if he had to remain alive, it was merely a challenge to continue to strive to glorify God in the flesh. He writes, "Yet that I remain in the flesh is - for your benefit." Well did Paul recognize that his apostolic labors benefitted his fellow Christians. He was both spiri- tual father and teacher to them. He felt an inner struggle between life and death: "I am caught between the two." It is apparent that St. Paul had achieved that mystical union on earth that is privi- lege to a few. The Apostle did not fear death, but rather anticipated it as faith's fulfillment. We are put on this earth for a short time. Our great- est and most noble task here is to know, love and serve God, as we were taught from our earliest years. Ev- erything else is relational. After we celebrate the Holy Mass today, let us be determined to "go forth and glo- rify the Lord" by our lives.
Appreciate the gift of serving Glorifying God by our lives
SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 THE CATHOLIC FREE PRESS
COMMENTARY 5
SUNDAY'S GOOD NEWS Father Michael N. Lavallee REFLECTING ON SCRIPTURE Father Conrad S. Pecevich
THE SACRAMENTS
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FUNDAMENTALS OF CATHOLICISM I
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sacrament is a visible, efficacious sign of divine grace. Like the other sacraments, the sacrament of penance requires certain exterior or outward actions. It is not just an interior act of the mind or the will, since it is also an action of the Church and the Church is a visible society instituted by Christ to bring all men to eternal life. As we know from our study of the catechism, the sacra- ment of penance requires three acts of the sinner: contri- tion, confession and satisfaction. In addition, the penitent must receive the absolution of the priest. In this and the following essays I will go into each of these aspects of the sacrament. Let us now consider briefly what is meant by contrition." If you have offended someone and then want to be reconciled with him or her, the best and easiest way is to repudiate your own past behavior and to tell the person offended that you are sorry for what you have done. True sorrow and the expression of it to the other person usu- ally produce a quick restoration of former friendship and love. Our relationship to God is something similar to our dealings with other human persons. By "sin" we mean an insult, an offense against Almighty God. As children of Adam, we are all sinners even after our reception of bap- tism. This means that we still need God's forgiveness. The first step that we must take in order to be forgiven by God is to be sorry for our sins. In order to be forgiven by God we must have true contrition for our sins. And what does the Church mean by contrition? Contrition is defined as sincere sorrow for having offended God, and hatred for the sins we have committed, with a firm purpose of sin- ning no more. Thus a true act of contrition is composed of three acts of the will which form a unity: sorrow, ha- tred of sin and the intention of avoiding sin in the future. True sorrow, or contrition, resides in the will. One does not need to feel contrition in order to have it, but since the human person is a unity of spirit and matter, very often sorrow will overflow into the emotions and sensual part of our human nature. Sorrow can be accompanied by deep feelings and sometimes will be manifested by the shedding of tears. St. Ignatius of Loyola, after his conver- sion, often shed abundant tears for his past life of sin. In his Spiritual Exercises he urges those making a retreat, when they meditate on the evil of sin and their own past sins, to beg God for tears for their past misdeeds. Sensory feelings are not essential to true sorrow, but they do help and are often present. As is evident from Holy Scrip- ture, without contrition there can be no justi- fication. Just to cite one example we read in Isaiah 55:7: "Let the wicked forsake their way, and the sinners their thoughts; let them turn to the Lord to find mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving." Thus, contrition has always been an indispensable condition for the forgive- ness of sins. And with the institution of the sacrament of penance, true contrition must also include the intention of going to confession and doing the penance assigned by the priest. Since there are various kinds of sorrow, one might ask: When is sorrow for sin true contrition?" Theologians re- ply by assigning four qualities to true contrition: it must be interior, supernatural, supreme and universal. Let us briefly consider each of these characteristics. Sorrow is interior when it comes from the heart and not just from the lips. As Jesus says in the Gospel, it is not enough to say "Lord, Lord" in order to be saved; one must also follow God's will and keep the commandments. Sorrow is supernatural when, with the help of God's grace, it springs from motives of faith and not merely from purely natural motives. "Motives of faith" are truths
Sorrow for sin
that God has revealed, such as: mortal sin will be pun- ished in hell; sin is an offense against the infinite good- ness of God and caused Christ to die. Sorrow is supreme when we hate sin above every other evil, and are willing to endure any suffering rather than offend God in the future by sin. The closer one is to God the more one realizes the evil of sin. Thus we are often astonished to read in the life of a particular saint that he considered himself the greatest sinner. Sorrow is universal when we are sorry for every mortal sin which we have ever committed. When mortal sins are forgiven, sanctifying grace enters the soul; if one mortal sin remains, it is impossible for sanctifying grace to take possession of the soul. Therefore, all our mortal sins must be forgiven or none of them is forgiven. When we go to confession, in addition to being sorry for all our mortal sins, we should also try to be sorry for all our venial sins. NEXT WEEK: PERFECT CONTRITION: "It is important to stress that the motive of perfect contrition is the perfect love of God, that is, supernatural charity which consists in love for God for his own sake above all."
BY FATHER KENNETH BAKER, SJ
CATHOLIC QUIZI
Copyright by CatholicQuiz.com 2020 - Reproduce for educational use
CatholicQuiz of the Week 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time September 20, 2020
1. According to Isaiah, with what will the people be renewed according to the benefits promised to David?
a. a great temple b. an everlasting covenant c. a united kingdom
2. According to the psalmist, "The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow _____ and of great kindness."
a. to judgment b. to punish c. to anger
3. According to the psalmist, "The LORD is _____ to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth."
a. near b. shepherd c. merciful
4. According to the Letter to the Philippians, why did Paul express a longing to depart this life?
a. he was discouraged with the peoples' lack of faith b. he was depressed and tired of being persecuted c. he wanted to be with Christ
5. According to Matthew's Gospel, in the parable about the landowner and his laborers, all the workers received the same pay.
a. True b. False
6. According to Matthew, how many times during the day did the landowner seek to hire workers for his vineyard?
a. three b. four times c. five times
7. The parable about the landowner who hires laborers for his vineyard is about the virtue of justice.
a. True b. False
Answers and References
1 b. an everlasting covenant (Isaiah 55:3) 2 c. to anger (Psalm 145:8) 3 a. near (Psalm 145:18) 4 c. he wanted to be with Christ (Philippians 1:23) 5 a. True (Matthew 20:1-16) 6 c. five times (Matthew 20:1-16) 7 a. False (Matthew 20:15)
By 'sin' we mean an insult , an offense against Almighty God. As children of Adam, we are all sinners even after our reception of baptism.
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