SUNDAY
1st October 2017, 26th
Sunday Ordinary Time
• Ezekiel 18:25-28 • Psalm 25 • Philippians
2:1-11 • + Matthew 21:28-32 •
Title: “New Message: Save?”
[__01__] In the parable of this Sunday, two different
numbers – and two different individuals – are with the same To-Do List. The owner of the vineyard – and the father of
the 2 sons – enters 2 new new numbers, sent a message to the 2 sons.
Each responds, picks up differently.
[__02.01__] The first [RESPONDS], engages his father and
says YES, “No Problem” [N.P.] and
c-u-@-vineyard. It’s on his to-do list. However,
he is a no-show.
Jesus cautions us about such an
attitude. For example, I say [YES] to some future task or project. It seems so
easy. But, I can think of instances when this “easy” task was completely
forgotten. I forgot to show up.
(Years ago, I recall
that I had a commitment to visit some friends at a reunion on a particular
Saturday-Sunday, a weekend, in Michigan. On Friday evening, I was noticing that
I had no plane reservations. So, I had failed to follow through. While I made
it there, finally, this was due to some extra effort and use of frequent-flyer
miles to make a last-minute reservation.)
Or, there are instances when something
appears easy or convenient but then has some difficult aspect. I don’t want to
persevere or appear unpopular.
This is also the attitude of the
Pharisees and others.
[__02.02__] Then there is the second son. When the call
comes to his phone, he refuses the invitation, drops the call. He will not add
this vineyard work to his to-do list. We might imagine the call is dropped or
lost. And, he does not call back.
Nevertheless, he re-thinks (repents)
of his decision and shows up at the vineyard.
Something happens – spiritually – and
in the silence – between the dropped call and his appearance at the vineyard.
There is no 2nd call, there
is just silence.
You and I benefit from time, prayer,
in order to DISCERN and know what is the right thing to do.
Just as our human relationships are
strengthened by not only by one I-Do or or one To-Do but by a series of
sacrifices, even by doing what we thought was distasteful, difficult,
demanding, so also our communion and conversation with God.
[__02__] Every day, you and I are challenged to
consider what messages we will keep and what we may avoid and what may have to
go to voice mail.
That is, we are called to discern, to
decided because we could – if we wanted to – hold on to absolutely every
message we receive, get.
It is a mystery why the first son says
YES but then does not go. Apparently, he received the message. He has the
message saved. Maybe he did not write it down?
However, having the message and
hearing the message are not the same.
Acknowledging the message and acting
on the message are not the same.
Now, electronically, we have the
luxury of holding on to nearly every message we have every received. We have
lots of archive space, disk storage, and cloud storage. It seems, then, that we
can keep everything as a [SAVED] message as an item to be done.
This allows us to keep an archive, a
life story consisting of every text, email we have ever received.
Who needs a diary or paper journal or
an attic full of letters when you have all of this on your phone or PC?
And, is not beautiful – at times – to
re-read and reconsider messages of the past, receive the word, the message of
affection or something significant of the past.
It’s part of our the Good News of the
Gospel, our spiritual journey as well. The Blessed Mother gives us an example
as one who retains, receives the infinite value of God’s word in Jesus Christ
and shares this with us. Jesus, however, reminds that discernment means saying
both YES and NO, as he says, “let your Yes mean Yes and your No mean No.“ (Matthew 5:37)
When we receive Holy Communion, we
also receive the infinite value of God’s word in Christ’s body and blood.
We give thanks today for the women of
our Rosary Altar Society for their devotion to the Blessed Mother, their
meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary to know and receive God’s word each
day.
[__03__] All of this storage space – in the cloud or
in our closets – enables us to hang on to many messages and things.
However, do we really need to hang on
to everything? Or, do we need DISTANCE and, occasionally,
DELETION ?
I’d like to make an analogy – just a
little comparison – between this and our spiritual lives and how we can be
troubled by the past or by old messages or by sinfulness, by our own sinfulness
and that of others.
Do we seek forgiveness?
Because forgiveness means God takes
our sins away from us as far as the east is from the west.
However, this happens with our free
and willing cooperation.
No one forces us to confess our sins.
No one can force us to forgive another person.
But, these days, neither does anyone
force us to delete old texts.
(By the way, I can recall a time when
we were routinely forced to delete old e-mails. Now, it seems that we can store
an unlimited number for an unlimited duration / time. )
[__04__] Repentance. Confession. Also a free choice, so
that you and I can have more space, more silence with God, more room for his
message, his mercy. And, we can trust
that he always has something planned for us, something for us to do.
[__fin__]
No comments:
Post a Comment