Showing posts with label CYCLE-A-2023. Show all posts

THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

The Last Sunday of the Year-A

Dear Friends,

This famous Gospel text is not as simple and straight forward as it seems on the surface.

I do not know of anyone who has turned away more needy, homeless and addicted women and their children than my sister who is a nun. If we take a literal interpretation of the text, she is in bad shape.

In reality, she is a 24/7 servant of the poor as a leader of a rehab center for addicted poor women. Her resources are always played out to the limit. Because the program is so good, she has many more applicants than the space and the program allow. The quality of the treatment often results in the recovering women staying as long as two years. The recovery rate is more than 90%. This is phenomenal.

Today’s profound Gospel lesson is trivialized by those who go into a guilt trip when they pass by a beggar at the corner or gas station.

Here is an example to contextualize the superficiality of reducing today’s text to the individual on the corner. When I go to a hospital or nursing home or a prison to visit an individual, I am often called upon by many others for prayer and counsel. However, no matter how many I minister to, there are innumerable others right in front of me that I do not get to.

After many years of pastoral experience, I understand Jesus’ powerful and challenging words in this way. We need to start with the responsibilities of our own life situation. We need to make reasonable and responsible and loving decisions on who has priority on our time, talent and treasure. We need to pray and ponder the Gospel invitation to open our heart to the demands of love. With faithfulness to our commitment to walk with Jesus, our eyes will be opened to ever broader horizons where we can meet the special presence of Jesus in “the other” in our life with love.

Real love will draw us away from the cheap grace of feeling good about handout that costs us very little and is a minimal inconvenience. The authentic call of Jesus always will be assaulting our convenience and comfort and time. It will always start at home. This is the true meaning of the often distorted phrase, “charity starts at home.” At the same time, we are never finished with love. Love will always be beckoning us to new and demanding horizons.

My good friend St. Teresa of Avila has something good to say on this topic. In the seventh Mansion of her Interior Castle which is the highest point of connection and surrender to God, this is her message. If you are in the depths of prayer and the urgent needs of a sister come into your consciousness, forget the prayer and help her. Teresa says in the end of the mystical journey it is, “Good works, my sisters, good works.”

The main message of today’s Gospel is not to put limits on the demands of love. We always need to be ready to expand our horizons and use our intelligence to see that true love always opens us up not only to mercy and compassion but to the often more costly demands of justice and peace.

This famous Gospel text, so fitting for today’s feast of Chris the King, tells us that we will be judged by one thing: love. We are given a clear picture of the love that is concrete, present and active. This love is realized in deeds that display compassionate service. These deeds draw us to Christ present in the persons of our brothers and sisters.

There is another hidden truth in today’s Gospel reading. It does not tell us we will be judged as Christians or non-Christians. Likewise, being a church member on non-member is not the issue at hand. Jesus tells us today that we will be judged on how we have responded to the needs of the people in our life, especially the poor and marginalized.

Matthew 25:14-30

Dear Friends, Today’s Gospel puts the focus on the end of time for both the Church Year and, more importantly, it highlights fact that our world, personal and communal, will come to an end sooner than later. The gift of life expressed in our time, talent and treasure needs to cherished. It also needs to be developed and used responsibly as we face the relentless clock that moves us to the conclusion of our earthly journey. This trustworthy action is our way into the Mystery. There is nothing in life more important for us.

The simple and clear truth of the Gospel passages of the last two weeks is the daily challenge of our mortality. This means we have only the present moment to live! The past and the future are beyond our control. This is an overwhelming truth that we can grasp only in a minimal fashion. The saints are the ones who really get what it means to be mortal. Yet, each year the Church offers us a reminder at the end of the liturgical year that this life will come to an end. The more we are aware of it, the more we are able to direct our lives to our final destiny.

The message for us in today’s Gospel is clear: to realize that God is calling us to use our time, talent and treasure in harmony with the coming kingdom of God. Our call is to create and support life in all of its various manifestations. This is seamless garment of life, from the womb to the tomb. We are invited to enter into and embrace the Gospel message of Jesus by always discovering new horizons of inclusion and acceptance and celebration. Our fundamental human task is to let reality open up the hidden presence of our loving God in all the wide-ranging expressions of humanity.

The image of God is a central driving force in the story of the three servants in today’s parable. For the first two, even though they differ quite a bit in personal talents, God was seen as a generous and loving benefactor. They see God calling them to life in every way possible. The invitation to responsible living was rooted in God’s merciful love.

For the third servant, fear was the consequence of an image of God as a harsh and demanding judge. This image relegated his world to a minimum of generosity and a maximum of evasion of any mistake. Love was just not a factor.

We have to move beyond the “dos and don’ts” of religion. The third servant operated out of a narrow and negligeable investment of time, talent and treasure. He sees a “go to mass on Sunday” as a nominal effort to satisfy a harsh and demanding judge who holds out the threat of eternal punishment. He puts God on the fringe of life, a necessary but onerous obligation.

We need an image of God where love and mercy liberate and enrich us. We are empowered to advance in confidence with the gifts of our time, talent and treasure. God is calling us to share in the creation of his kingdom by walking with Jesus.

Matthew 25:1-13

Dear Friends, We are in the final three weeks of this Church year. This particular liturgical time has a special message for us about time. It may be better stated that the Church invites us to ponder the mystery of time.

In today ‘s Gospel about the ten virgins, both wise and foolish, and in next week’s parable about the men gifted with a sum of money to challenge their responsibility, we are asked to consider the consequences of time coming to an end. Then, after the final Sunday of Christ the King, we begin a new year. In the first three Sundays of Advent, we are asked to consider time beginning. Both of these approaches to time offer us a challenge to investigate our life in light of the Gospel.

The story of the ten virgins and next week’s Gospel about the talents call us to responsibility for our life. The message is simple and clear. Stay awake and be responsible.

The basic implication of the parable of the ten virgins is to be prepared. The preparation is expressed in a life faithful to God’s word. The wise virgins and their extra oil represent a life committed to the Lord in the righteousness of obedience, service and love. The unwise virgins represent a life that says “Yes, Lord!” but has no action backing the words.

There is one immediate consequence for us. What we do with our time is consequential. We will be called to answer for it. There is definitely a limit to this time. “Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord open the door for us.” But He said in reply “Amen I say to you, I do not know you!” Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Mt 25:13)

Time has limits for us. All of this year’s selections from the Gospel of Matthew have laid out a clear path and plan of how we can be responsible in the footsteps of Jesus.

In the flow of the Church’s teachings in the Sunday liturgies, there is a deep connection between the end of one year to the beginning of the next. After the feast of Christ the King, the Gospel of Mark awaits. The first three Sundays of the coming Advent take up the mystery of time with a different approach. They lay out a plan of time centered on the coming of Jesus. The message is: Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

We are invited into a new reality, a new time. Jesus lets us know time is pregnant with new possibilities. It is not slipping away but coming wrapped in the love of a gracious and saving God. Time is a bequest filled with hope and an invitation into new life. Time holds the legacy for which our heart has been yearning. Time is not a threat but a gift.

In this end-time of closing this year and the upcoming journey with the Gospel of Mark, we are confronted with a paradox. Time is going away and coming anew! Of course, this is an arrangement to help us understand that each day of our lives holds this mystery of time that is coming and going. Each day is a gift filled with the opportunity of new life and new love. Each day is one day closer to our death that opens to our true destiny, to be one with God in eternal life!

In the funeral Mass of the Resurrection, we have even deeper insight into this paradox of time. The Preface of the Mass proclaims, “In Him, who rose from the dead, our hope of the resurrection dawned. The sadness gives way to the bright promise of immortality. Lord, for your faithful people life is changed, not ended.”

In this paradox of time ending and beginning, we are called to face up to death as a dominant aspect of our reality. Yet, in Jesus, our Risen Savior, we share in the victory over death.

This message of the mystery of time calls us to live today to its fullness, to live today filled with joy and hope. We are called to be attentive and responsible, to be loving and confident. When we walk with Jesus, we are ready for the reality of today whether it be the devastations of climate change, Covid 19 or whatever tomorrow brings.It is true wisdom, not a morose and gloomy anxiety, that helps us realize that today brings us one day closer to our death. This simply means that today is all the more beautiful and gifted. So, we can truly say. “This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it.” (Ps. 118:24)

Matthew 23:1-12

Dear Friends, In my second or third year as a young priest, at the end of the Second Vatican Council, I began to tell people to drop the Father and just call me Tracy. Very shortly one of the wise leaders of the parish pulled me aside to tell me a simple truth: It was not about me!

She said the community needs to respect and honor the role of the priest. It was very important to them. Therefore, I would be wise to stop the nonsense about, “Call me Tracy.”

All organizations need to use titles no matter how hierarchical or democratic. The question is, do these titles lend themselves to service of the grater good or the personal enhancement of the individual. This is the issue of today’s gospel.

While Jesus is addressing the faults of the Jewish leaders, He is even more forcefully speaking to the disciples about leadership in the Christian community. It must be service first and foremost. “The greatest among you must be a servant.” (Mt. 23:11)

That is easier said than done. There is a drive in the ordinary human experience that calls us to seek privilege, prestige and recognition. We are all inclined to be special. Every gathering of human beings has to deal with organization and leadership that lives with the tension between power and service. Obviously, in the faith community, this conflict plays itself out between the clergy and the laity and, even more so, in the role of the hierarchy in the Church. All of this festers in the curse of clericalism that plagues the Church.

Those who are the recipients of titles have the responsibility to go beyond the title. They need to offer the integrity of service free of privilege and prestige. This is first and foremost the task of the clergy. However, there is no group in the Church that is not challenged by this tension between power and service.

The Festival committee wants to passionately help the parish but it is very easy to lose track and reduce the whole effort to how much income the group makes on their project in comparison to other groups. The Liturgy Committee deals with the same tension. While all are there in the name of Jesus, it is not unheard of that some of the greatest conflicts in a parish take place in how to arrange the worship of the Lord! The ushers and the Eucharistic ministers also tend to raise the ego above the service sometimes. Actually, there is no parish group that is free of this insidious temptation. Likewise, the parish and the school share a ministry, but at times, it hard to find the spirit of the Gospel in these troubled relations. I always remember an old Baptist minister that told me as a young priest, “The devil comes into the church through the choir!” Over my many year as pastor, I have come to realize that the choir has no monopoly as the welcoming committee for the devil.

Jesus gave us a lesson about the Christian community in chapter eighteen of Matthew’s Gospel. Asked who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God, Jesus says we must become like little children. Then there is a series of teachings about the Christian community. Jesus lays out a clear plan for all, especially the leaders. Humility is the foundation. We must especially pay attention to the weaker members and the ones that stray away. All this is done in the context of a deep and loving forgiveness.

Today’s Gospel passage stresses Jesus’ appeal for personal integrity. We need to maintain the connection of our core gospel values and our actions. The clear implication about the scribes and Pharisees is the frightening challenge of the slippery slope of hypocrisy in public ministry. The words and the gestures were correct, however, the basic thrust of their action was about building up their prestige and privilege, their personal and economic gain. This cancer of hypocrisy is never far away in any public ministry in the Church. This why we all need deep personal prayer to set us free from this gross self-deception.

The public rubric and the public dress of church ministers readily lends itself as an obstacle to gospel simplicity. Too often, the role of clerics and ministers slides into one of pretentious do-gooders, or attention-grabbers where piety is worn as a costume. It is no easy task to be a humble servant in the midst of the pull to self-centered roles and rubrics in most church’s public ministry. It is obvious that we have work to do to realize Who is the only Teacher and the only Father. (Mt 23: 9) It is a long journey for all of us to realize “it is not about us”. Jesus tells us that that the real journey of the gospel is away from personal power and prestige and towards service: “The greatest among you must be your servant.” (Mt 23:11)

Matthew 22:34-40

Dear Friends, The leaders once again are trying to entrap Jesus. Today’s Gospel selection is the third of four conflict stories in chapter twenty two of Matthew. Each time Jesus turns the challenge around to give a deeper insight into his Gospel message. In fact, today’s lesson is about as close as we are going to get to a summary of the meaning of the Gospel.

In His instruction about the twofold commandment of love of God and love of neighbor Jesus said, “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Mt 22:40)

The unreserved and all-consuming love of God means that we are called to share and participate in God’s love for our neighbor. There is a basic and intrinsic bond between loving God and loving neighbor. This divine love is unconditional and without limit. We have many expressions of this love in Mathew’s Gospel but especially in the Sermon on the Mount. A very powerful example of this personal invitation to share God’s love for all is in the incredibly challenging section in Matthew 5: 21-48. There are a series of six “You have heard” statements about the law, adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation and love of enemies. Each example offers a radical alternative of selfless love. The demands of this section of Matthew seem utterly impossible to our common sense approach to reality: “Whoever is angry with his brother (or sister) will be liable to judgment.” (Mt 5:21); “Everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery.” (Mt 5:28); “When someone strikes you on the right cheek turn the other one to him as well.” (Mt 5:39); “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Mt 5:44)

These teachings from the Sermon on the Mount shine out in the life of Jesus. These, and the rest of the Gospel message, are summarized in the two commandments of love of God and love of neighbor. The task of participating in God’s love is the work of a lifetime on the journey with Jesus. The summons of the Gospel is a gradual opening up to the awesome reality portrayed by Matthew where we read, “Lord, when did we see you… and the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen I say to you whatever you did for one of these least brothers (or sisters) of mine, you did it for me.” (Mt 25: 39-40.)

Love is the key to the law. In the end, when there is confusion about which way to interpret and follow the law, love is the answer. Jesus’ love commandment enlivens the entire law. In the discernment for direction, love will always open the most meaningful path forward. This is perfectly compatible with Matthew presenting Jesus as fulfilling the Law not replacing the Law. When it is wrapped in love, there is no inconsistency.

Our good friend St. Teresa of Avila states in the seventh mansion, the highest state of mystical union, the deepest state of love in our human condition: “Good works, my sisters, good works, good works!” In other words, at the highest and most purified expression of love in the transformed human heart, love of God and love of neighbor are totally one: service to our brothers and sisters.

This is our goal. The journey is long and arduous but it is possible when we take the next step, no matter how small, on the journey of love in the footsteps of Jesus!!

Matthew 22:15-21

Dear Friends Today’s Gospel has Jesus undergoing four conflicts with different groups. Each separate group tries to entrap Jesus in way that endangers his life. He turns each disagreement into a teaching opportunity.

Today’s message is not about the separation of church and state. It is a clear mandate to put God at the center in all things. By saying, “then repay to Caesar what belong to Ceasar and to God what belongs to God.” (Mt 22:21) Jesus sets a clear standard for all to follow. All are to obey the civil power within the context of paying to God what belongs to God.

The priority of God puts the image of the coin into this context. The image on the coin is countered by the continuous and pervasive teaching of Jesus that every human being is in the image of God. “Whatever you did for one of the least brothers (or sisters) of mine, you did for me.” (Mt. 25:40)

The Gospel invites us to participate in each and every group whether it is social, economic, political, civil or even family by respecting the image of God in our brothers and sisters. This leads us to always being in search for the common good.

This is no easy task. All groups are a mixture of the good and the bad and a whole lot in between. It takes true wisdom to discern the most responsible level of participation. Whether it is as simple as a block club or active participation in a labor union, whether it is the direction of an economic corporation or a PTA group: they all suffer the consequences of the weeds and the wheat, generosity and selfishness, private agendas and self-sacrificing service.

All of our involvement in political or civic activity needs to be driven by the image of God in our brothers and sisters. This leads us to the very tricky task of discerning the presence of God on our quest for the common good. This complex search for the truth allows persons of good will to choose very different paths. That is why we have Republicans and Democrats. Truly understanding Jesus’ message will always lead us to go deeper into what seems an either /or situation. Most times, there are several sides to be discerned in the state of affairs. In the end, today’s Gospel calls us to be involved in the very problematic reality of our social, economic and political life. Giving to God what is God’s does not mean staying aloof. It demands our being engaged in the work for justice and peace and the integrity of creation at some level in our quest for the common good. This takes a lot of wisdom.

I remember being very active in a community organization as a young priest. Our goals were very clear. We were seeking justice for a poor, neglected community that was suffering all kinds of social ills. It was all to the good in the beginning. But because there were flawed and weak human beings on all sides of the issues, I slowly realized the thrust of our actions was moving steadily away from the gospel values. Hatred, anger and gross self interest usurped much of the program. No matter how righteous our goal, the means often were in conflict with Jesus’ teachings and values.

The same potential is in every group whether it be a PTA or a large bank, the President or the most local politician, the bishops or the parish council. We always stand in need of deep and discerning prayer if our life commitments are to give “to God what belongs to God.” (Mt 22:21)

St. Matthew 22:1-14

Dear Friends, Today’s gospel from Matthew has many layers of meaning and challenges. There are two points I want to consider. We have received an invitation to the wedding feast and that has consequences for us.

In the Bible, the theme of the invitation or call is repeated often. Abraham is the first, then Moses, David and the prophets. In the New Testament it is Peter and the Apostles and finally, Paul. We join that very prestigious group in our own lives. We are invited to the wedding feast; we are called to follow Jesus. With the call there are responsibilities.

Jesus’ invitation, like his life, is an unending, unmeasurable and relentless act o f love. The feast that Jesus hosts is open to all at all times. Our task is simple yet profound. We need to recognize that accepting the invitation demands the wedding garment of living according to the gospel values.

The banquet is beyond anything one could imagine. It awaits our arrival. Our seat is reserved for eternity. The story of the wedding garment helps us to understand this reality. When God calls, and He does so often, we need to take action. We have to accept the message of Jesus. We want to make our yes express itself in a new way of living. The wedding garment means our lifestyle is trying to express the gospel message. The demands of Jesus’ wisdom are not met by a token effort or just following the crowd. It demands a change of heart, a conversion.

The wedding garment tells us it is not enough to just show up. We need a commitment that goes deeper. The fact is that God is never finished with us. God always wants more. The Christian life asks us to constantly choose Jesus who, indeed, is the wedding feast. The Christian life is never satisfied with just following the routine.

We need to work at reconciliation to keep on forgiving not just seven times but seventy times seven times. We need to hear the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth not with a casual effort but with true sacrifice and generosity. We need to be open to all, not just our parish or our group, but to the stranger and the ones that are different.

Indeed, the wedding garment is a way of life that understands that God is never finished with us. There is always more that God wants. Jesus really meant it when He said if we want to save our life we have to lose it. If we are to be the leader, we need to be the servant of all! He has loads more of these upside down and inside out changes of reality that never let us forget to put on the wedding garment if we want to get into the wedding feast. All of this is the case because God’s love has no limits. God wants us to share in the fullness of the feast of that love. As always, we do this by walking in the footsteps of Jesus.

Matthew 21:33-43

Dear Friends, Our journey with the Gospel of Matthew is drawing to a conclusion. In the next few Sundays, we will have selections that highlight two things: Jesus’ conflict with the Jewish leaders and His call to make a decision on His message.

Down through Church history these final chapters of Matthew have been distorted to produce an anti-semiticism that has been a gross distortion of the gospel. This misrepresentation of Jesus’ message has led to activities that have been abhorrently inhuman and unjust in the relations between Jews and Christians.

The basic message of the parable of the murderous tenants of the vineyard asks us to address the need to make a decision. Will we be stewards of the gifts that God has given us? Are we living the gospel message in our family? Are we making a contribution to our community to make it more life giving to all? Are we responding to the call to act justly and be instruments of peace? Are we being responsible and not squandering the blessings of our environment?

Jesus demands a decision. Do we accept His call and the gift of unconditional love? Are we able to recognize that all of life is a gift to be cherished and developed? The call of stewardship, in particular, asks us recognize the dominion of God and our reality as finite creatures who are gifted and loved.

Matthew 21:28-32

Dear Friends, The events of today’s text from Matthew take place just after Jesus’s glorious entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. The next item leading to further conflict is the cleansing the temple. The impact of these events set the scene for even deeper conflict with the religious leaders. With today’s parable of the two sons, Jesus is not subtle in escalating the tension.

The contrary actions of the two sons highlighted in today’s parable point out the contradiction of the leaders’ program and the all-inclusive mercy of the God revealed by Jesus. Jesus’s point about the tax-collectors and prostitutes entering the kingdom before the chief priests and elders was intended as a challenge to those who thought themselves to be God’s chosen and, therefore, the favored sons and daughters. Later on, this was going to be a test for the Christian Jews to accept Gentiles into the early church. It also questions our acceptance of the ever-expanding invitation of the gospel for the outcasts of our day in whatever manner they invade our complacency.

The parable is a vessel of self-awareness. It does not take much insight to see that we share the ambiguity of commitment that Jesus discloses in the two sons. The perennial fickleness of the human heart is never far from us. We play the role of both sons at different times in our lives. The struggle for us is to constantly search for the singleness of purpose. We need to make our yes to God more faithful and more determined in our daily lives.

A true spiritual life helps us come to grips with the problem of personal ambiguity. Prayer opens the eyes of heart to the experience of the Hound of Heaven, God’s grace in relentless in pursuit of us. God’s love continually seeks to make our yes ever more generous and more consistent. Faithful and committed personal prayer lets us see our situation. God’s wondrous and merciful love is always present to us no matter the distractions, attachments or fancies of our fractured heart. We need to simply accept our poverty which enables us to respond to the unending call to new life. This is our yes to Jesus. It is especially fitting that we use our weekly presence at the Eucharist as a time of renewing our yes to God for the entire week. Our weekly encounter with the Eucharistic Christ is always preparing us for the special and, so often, surprising moments of grace that await us during the week.

As we get to know ourselves, we become more familiar with our tendency to self-deception. Our strongest inclinations are to work out a comfortable compromise where our yes is a minimum for God and a maximum for us. By faithfulness to prayer, we learn the geography of the human heart. We learn to identify the great chasm between the good intention in the mind and the lived reality.

God is patient with us but just like the disciples, there comes a time we when have to walk with Jesus to Jerusalem. It is in faithfulness to prayer that we die to ambiguity. We are left with only one longing in our heart, a free and generous yes to Jesus.

Matthew 20:1-16

Dear Friends, Each Sunday the Gospel message invites us into a new world, a world where the values of Jesus call and challenge us to change. In this world, we are told that the last shall be first, the leader is to be the servant of all. The response to violence is not revenge but to turn the other cheek. These are just a few of the world- shattering views Jesus has for us.

The parables are a particular method Jesus uses to crumble our clear and confident grasp on the common sense mentality of how we think that things really are.

Our immediate response to today’s parable is a clear and forceful, “No way!” How can the “dawn to dusk” workers not complain about the inequality of the “one hour crew” for getting equal pay?

Of course, as in all the parables, Jesus is setting us up for change. He is inviting us into a new world of God’s generosity. When it comes to justice and mercy we use the teaspoon to work at the right measurement. Jesus is teaching us that God’s mercy and justice are more truly portrayed like a torrential downpour where there is neither instrument of measurement nor limits on the outpouring of love.

A few years back I had a singular encounter with the reality of Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard.

I was asked to visit a young man who was paralyzed from the shoulders down. He was the innocent victim of a drive-by shooting. Naturally, I felt quite apprehensive for I had little in my arsenal of pastoral advice that made any sense in this situation.

Immediately, the young man put me at ease. He shared the story of how some of the other, more veteran victims of a similar condition had ministered to him to cast away despair and call him to embrace life. He shared how grateful he was to be alive, to be able to see his daughter, even to enjoy the Lakers championship! His cousin was killed in the same time of his tragedy and he shared his sorrow for the family.

If ever there was a “dawn to dusk” worker in the circumstances of life, I was in the presence of it in the paralyzed young man. There was no pity party for the injustice of life though the whole rehabilitation hospital

was filled with victims of life’s arbitrariness.

Our encounter with Jesus’ parable invites us to appreciate the giftedness of life that places most of us in the “one hour crew” even though we imagine we have been in the vineyard of life for many long hours. Jesus wants to provoke us to count our blessings with new eyes and an open heart. The merger of God’s justice and mercy is always in our midst. Our task is to grow in an awareness of God’s overwhelming goodness and not be blinded by the passing burdens of our daily life.

Mt 18:21-35
The Forgiving Community

There is a clear message in this final section (Mt 18:21-35): Forgiveness is the life-blood of the loving community. To get this point across, Jesus uses a parable. Parables tend to make us glide over the surface and miss the depth of their main message. This is especially true with this parable of the unforgiving servant.

In reading and experiencing this parable, we need to pay attention to the great exaggerations that are used to make a simple and clear point. The first hyperboles are about the debt of the unforgiving servant. In the context of Jesus’ time, it was the equivalent of billions upon billions of dollars. Yet, the servant pleaded for time as if he could accomplish the impossible task of retribution. The generosity of the king in his merciful forgiveness is like-wise pressing the limits of the imagination. Then, receiving the incredible mercy, the unforgiving servant almost immediately attacks the fellow servant whose debt is quite manageable. The second servant has an almost verbatim plea for mercy but it is rejected. He is cast into prison with no way to pay the debt and no way to freedom.

None of this makes any sense if the issue is paying back the debt. Of course, It is not. The issue is forgiveness received and forgiveness to be shared. The king does not condemn the unforgiving servant because he had robbed his money. The king’s main grievance is the failure to share forgiveness. The king’s question is directed to all of us: “Should you not have mercy on your fellow servant as I had on you” (Mt 18:34)?

The appeal is clear. We have been forgiven. In the divine economy, our forgiveness has consequences. We must share it with all our brothers and sisters. If the forgiveness is truly our gift, it will flow to others. Otherwise, we cancel it if we stay locked into the rigid and self-centered condition of the unforgiving servant.

Forgiveness is at the heart of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed and lived. At the very beginning, he said, “Repent, the kingdom is at hand” (Mt 4:17)! Those who accept the invitation into the kingdom need to understand its demands. God’s intervention is unleashing an overwhelming explosion of divine mercy and forgiveness. This calls all to both absorb and share the lifegiving current of the new reality that Jesus is setting free. This great blessing of mercy is a healing power that must be shared. Forgiveness is to be extended to all in the gracious and abundant manner God has displayed. What God wants is “mercy, not sacrifice” (Mt 9:12; 12:7).

The point is so blatantly clear. We say it in the Our Father. We express it in the Golden Rule (Mt 7:12). The Sermon on the Mount is saturated with its implications. We need to forgive! If we do not, we block the flow of divine mercy. We cannot earn God’s forgiveness but the simple painful truth is, we can lose it by not sharing it.

The main message the parable is a summons into a sea of divine mercy. The consequences of this gracious gift is our responsibility to our sisters and brothers. Our ambiguity draws us into the struggle to let go of the hurts. The presence of both the weeds and the wheat within our heart pulls us away from the obvious and overwhelming demand to forgive others. Even with all the clarity and power of the revealed word, we know how difficult it is to forgive.

In fact, forgiving is one of the most problematic of any human tasks. The immensity of the hurt, the unfaithfulness, the injustice or the neglect consume our soul. For most of us, the journey from the hurt and pain to the “I forgive” is a long and treacherous road. Today’s message of divine mercy, so clear and overwhelmingly righteous, is very slow to penetrate the hurting heart.

I like to describe it like this. When it comes to mercy and forgiveness, we tend to use a teaspoon to measure our distribution of mercy to those who have offended us. On God’s part, mercy and forgiveness is like a torrential downpour that washes clean all in its path. The contrast is frightening, but so very real.

There are some things that we can do to help ourselves in this dilemma. We should have patience with ourselves and admit we need to let go of the hurt. We should pray for the person and ourselves. We should accept our weakness in God’s sight and seek to lean on God’s unrelenting love and mercy. We also should face up to another common self-deception. We label individuals as unworthy of our forgiveness.

Thomas Merton talks about the absurdity of trying to determine who is worthy of our forgiveness. He asks just who among our “unworthys” are persons Christ did not die for. We know well that Christ died for all, plain and simple. We need to share in that universal love in our life. It surely will be a struggle to forgive. But it is utter foolishness for us to have a list of those who are not worthy of our forgiveness. Our obvious choice should be to use God’s list. God has made it clear that everyone is on the divine inventory.

Mt 18, 15-20

The second section of Matthew’s teaching on the church in chapter 18 (Mt 18:15-20) raises some truly challenging issues about the church as community. It is much more complicated than just having an accurate parish list.

Forgiveness and acceptance of the sinner is the coin of the realm for any authentic Christian community. On the other hand, there must be a righteousness that goes beyond that of the Scribes and Pharisees (Mt 5:20). The kingdom, which is the heart of Jesus’ teachings, entails ethical demands for those who are committed to live and proclaim it. Balancing these three items of inclusiveness, forgiveness and true righteousness is a never-ending challenge for any Christian community faithful to the teachings of Jesus.

This portion of Mt. 18 (Mt 18:15-20), calls us to a community life which demands meaningful and costly interaction. God values the sharing and personal commitment among one another. The give and take of living in community is clearly part of the divine plan for salvation. When the interaction takes place between flawed and sinful people, there will assuredly be conflict, even between brothers and sisters striving to live the values of the kingdom. God uses our brokenness to set us free from a narrow, ego-driven world. Jesus’ message is first directed to sinners. Saints hopefully come into the picture later in the journey.

The gospel-mandated community must have standards. These norms need to guide the lifestyle of the individuals. People are not free to set their own rules. Likewise, no community can avoid facing up to damaging personal hostilities between individuals. Habitual violation of community values has to be confronted. There must be a structure of reconciliation to address these situations.

A Christian community cannot simply disregard its standards by giving free sway to any level of behavior. This denial of values has consequences. Fraternal correction is the great test for the Christian community: to maintain gospel values among a people who are flawed and sinful yet called to holiness. Jesus assures his presence in this struggle to preserve the humility and service that will maintain the loving community in spite of the sinful members. Prayer will draw the members into the presence of Jesus. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in their midst” (Mt 18:20). This presence will be a formidable force for the necessary confrontation. It will also bring needed consolation and celebration.

Love must be the overall driving force of fraternal correction. All finger pointing must start with the finger pointed at oneself. The other must be approached with a sense of one’s own vulnerability. Love does not seek to antagonize the disruptive member, but love agonizes with that person. It calls forth. It does not put down. The goal is that all are involved in a deeper experience of Gods mercy.

When the conflict happens, Jesus asks us to approach it with humility and radical forgiveness. Recall the advice from the Sermon on the Mount (Mt.5-7). These special chapters contain multiple teachings about forgiveness and reconciliation. One really relevant one is fraternal correction: “Remove the wooden beam from your eye first, then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.” (Mt 7:5).

Secondly, Jesus advises us to bring the conflict or hurt out into the open, into the light of day. Going to the one who offends in loving and open dialogue helps us to see another point of view.

Jesus’ teaching will keep us from the vocation of being the victim. The victim seeks to divide not to heal. When we are the victim, we escalate the problem by telling others how we have been hurt. In this way we further disrupt the community. What we are really doing is seeking power to control the other, ultimately making the healing of the community less likely.

The heart of Mt 18:15-20 offers a program of discipline to address conflict, whether it is between individuals or involves significant and continuous violations of community values. This search for harmony is not possible without the spirit of love. There are four steps in Jesus’ structured approach to fraternal correction. The goal of this intervention is to prevent all from personal shame, to seek personal growth for all, and to highlight the need for prayerful forgiveness that builds up the community rather than tears it down in division and hostility. It hopes to build bridges over the walls of isolation and separation.

Here are the steps:

A person-to-person approach seeks a healing dialogue recognizing that there most often are many sides to any issue.
If there is a failure to heal the breach at the initial level, two or three witnesses are asked to join the dialogue.
When this is not sufficient, the issue must be brought to the larger community.
Finally, when the community sees a continuing violation of the core values, the individual is asked to leave until there is a change. The departure is never considered permanent and always is done in a loving and forgiving manner.

Matthew 16: 21-27

Dear Friends, From time to time, when I am frustrated working with people, especially in the Church, I say Jesus made only one mistake. He chose to let people to do His work. Of course, this is basically no different than what Peter told Jesus in today’s Gospel.

In the beginning of the Gospel of John we have a world shattering proclamation, “The Word became flesh.” (Jn 1:14) This is God’s plan. This is how Jesus accepted the call to save the world. Becoming flesh was not an isolated event. It is in accepting the totality of His humanity that God chose to save the world. This meant He accepted all of us as we are as part of His reality. For Jesus this meant an encounter with evil that would lead to his Passion and Death.

So, when Jesus named Peter as the rock upon which He would build His Church, He accepted Peter, and all of us, His followers, as we are: broken and in need of being fixed. This is why it is so difficult for us to understand the Church. It is a home for sinners in need of healing, a home for the broken and lost in need of wholeness and new direction.

In today’s story, Jesus tells Peter, and all of us, His chosen way of salvation. He was going to restore the world by entering into the pain and suffering of our broken humanity to heal it from within. The suffering and death of Jesus are the ultimate consequences of “the Word became flesh.” (Jn 1:14)

Peter could not handle Jesus’ words about the cross and rejection, denial and death. Most likely, he had great difficulty in the potential loss of personal power and prestige along with the unthinkable invitation to take up his cross. Peter was shocked by Jesus’ new direction, a way Peter surely had not anticipated nor desired. Jesus was replacing the popular expectation of military might and privileged prosperity and power. Now Peter was confronted with the cross and loss of his comfort and convenience. So, he did what we all are constantly tempted to do. Like Peter, we make Jesus over in our image rather than accepting God at his Word which is Jesus in the flesh. Only in Jesus do we have a real expression of God’s plan of salvation.

Today’s announcement of the Jerusalem journey to rejection, suffering and death is the first of three such proclamations in the next few chapters of Matthew’s Gospel. In each episode the disciples totally miss the point.

We continue the difficult task of accepting Jesus on His terms and not our terms. The Church is always in the struggle of searching for the integrity of the gospel message. We are never far from the temptation to tell Jesus how to do it our way just as Peter did. We continue to live with false expectations of having this perfect community and a problem-free personal life to carry on the ministry of the Gospel. We find it hard to accept that Jesus has fully embraced us in our brokenness and confusion. He has chosen to use the vessels of clay that we are to proclaim and celebrate the gospel message.

We cannot stand the sex scandal, the clericalism, the anti-women expressions of the Vatican officials, the distorted wealth and you name it. The Church can be truly agonizing with so much clarity in it documents and such mediocrity in its reality. Yet, these very same failings are always mixed with the incredible faithfulness of so many families working against all odds, good priests trying their best, women religious continuing to be quiet and hidden heroes of the Gospel, the silent and loving suffering of so many hidden lives. The weeds and wheat will be with us to the end.

Jesus wants us to be open to the mystery of the Incarnation. We need to accept each other in our brokenness just as Jesus did when He became flesh. Paul expresses the wonder of this event in his great hymn in the letter to the Philippians:

Though He was in the form of God,
Jesus did not deem equality with God
something to be grasped at.
Rather, He emptied Himself
And took the form of a slave being born in the likeness of men
He was known to be of human estate,
And it was thus that He humbled Himself,
Obediently accepting even death,
Death on a cross! (PHI 2:6-8)

Matthew 16:13-20

Dear Friends, Peter had quite a journey from the time Jesus asked him to leave his boat and nets and follow Him. He saw it all: the blind seeing, the lame walking, the devils cast out, the loaves and the fish and, of course, his short, ill-fated attempt to walk on the water and a lot more. Now Jesus asks the question, “Who do you say I am?” (Mt 16:15)

Peter was ready or at least he thought so. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Mt 16:16)

Peter got it right. Jesus says, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my heavenly Father.” (Mt 16:17)

But once again, Peter was that profoundly human expression of the weeds and the wheat, a mixture of generosity and hard-headedness. In the following paragraph that is next Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus puts Peter down with the powerful phrase, “Get behind me Satan!” (Mt. 16:23)

Peter thought he had arrived but Jesus had to give him the tough love to let him know they were only half way there. Peter had to change. He had to get to know Jesus as the one on the road to Jerusalem, a suffering and rejected Messiah. Peter had to die to his dreams of power, prestige and privilege.

We all have to face the same struggle when we confront the most important question in our lives. Who do we say Jesus is?

Like Peter, we want God to be there for our needs, for our programs, for our dreams. Indeed, God is with us in our struggles but God wants more. Like Peter, we have to mature enough to accept Jesus as the one on the road to Jerusalem revealing a Savior who suffers and dies. Like Peter, we have considerable trouble with this when it comes to us personally taking up our cross and following Jesus.

Jesus invites us to follow Him. We need to pray to do this. We pray for many things but there is no greater gift than to learn that God loves us. As this awareness of God’s personal love grows in our heart, we gradually begin to accept Jesus and His plan rather than imposing our agenda. It is only in the context of this loving relationship with Jesus that we can truly answer the most important question in our life. Who is Jesus for us?

Unlike Peter, we cannot walk and talk with Jesus in the flesh. We can, however, read the and pray the Gospels. We can let the stories enter into our mind and heart. This will lead us to prayer: a conversation with someone we know loves us. Sometimes we can just sit in silence in the presence of this loving God.

This praying of Scripture is a rich tradition in our Catholic faith that is being renewed in our day. It is called, lectio divina. It has four simple steps. First we read the Scripture passage. We ponder and reflect upon it to see how it applies to our lives and how it calls us to change. Then we pray. This is the conversation that is with someone we knows loves us and wants to let us know what that personal love means for us. Then we may be moved to just rest in silence in the presence of this loving God.

This prayer will be very helpful in our response to the most important question we will face in life. Who do we say Jesus is? The right answer is the work of a prayerful lifetime.

In this encounter, Jesus gave Peter a task that we must share. We must identify Jesus. We must believe in him. We must lead others to share our faith and commitment to Jesus. We must do this most especially by the way we live walking in the footsteps of Jesus.

Matthew 15:21-28

Dear Friends, It is very hard for us to grasp how deeply the Jews at the time of Jesus cherished their role as the Chosen People of God to the exclusion of all others. It penetrated and permeated their reality with a clear vision and an acutely guarded set of protocols that defined all social interaction with the Gentiles. The Jews cherished their God-given position of privilege and uniqueness among all people.

The early Christian Church struggled for two generations to break loose of this bondage of exclusiveness. Down through history, the Church, and all societies, have continued to manufacture a various expressions of this elitism.

Today’s story from St. Matthew’s Gospel is as relevant as the latest headline on the evening news.

Over the centuries, Christian voices have produced some incredible fantasies to explain away Jesus’ harsh language addressed to the Canaanite woman. It still stands for what it is: a statement of the blind prejudice of His times. I especially like those who claimed it was protocol not prejudice.

History is filled with protocols that came from laws that simply hid the prejudice of the time behind a legal façade. In Ireland in 1710, a law said all government and military leaders must receive the sacraments of the Church of England. This was the first of a set of Penal Laws that led to the oppression and poverty of the Irish for over two centuries. In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court declared separate but equal was acceptable under the law. This led to the segregation system that attempted to dehumanize the African Americans for decades with “white only” and “the back of the bus” set of protocols that were considered legal and righteous. With the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 women finally changed another protocol and won the right to vote. This was a great step in the struggle that continues to this day for equality for women.

When this embattled mother confronted Jesus, she was showing the way for the oppressed of all human history. Her action and her words are a simple declaration of her dignity no matter what the protocols and prejudice of the day has to say to the contrary. In one of the most moving gestures in all of the Gospels, she kneels before Jesus in total vulnerability and begs for help. Her wit turned around Jesus’ words of remoteness. Yet, in the end, it was her faith that moved Jesus to expand his mission as he embraced her pain and healed the poor child.

Jesus saw and heard this declaration of human rights and began a journey toward inclusiveness that continues for us today. God’s grace and God’s love are for all. It makes no difference how deeply and expansively the cultural, legal and theological norms are used to prop up the walls of separation and isolation.

In her simple and brilliant response to Jesus, the Canaanite woman was speaking for all of us. We are the children of God. After three confrontations, Jesus saw the light and celebrated her truth expressed in her faith. Her daughter was healed. All of us continue the healing every time we go beyond the accepted protocols and legalized prejudice and embrace the humanity of the “outsider.” It makes no difference if the excluded is the illegal, the Muslim, the gay and lesbian or maybe just a mother-in-law or father-in-law.

In our day, and all through Christian history, we have used labels in the name of righteousness to hide hatred and all manner of discrimination and dehumanizing activity. Anti-Semitism has been proclaimed and practiced throughout history in the name of the Christian religion. In American history, we have constantly created a hostility toward immigrants in the name of true Christian faith. Today, racism and all manner of hostility toward immigrant hide behind an honorable label of Christian nationalism.

Today’s Gospel message invites us to move beyond the simplicity of labels to the reality of God’s presence in every human being.

The human heart has a seemingly unlimited capacity to divide us in “us” and “them”. Today’s Gospel message is an invitation to move away from the common sense interpretation of reality to the wonder of the gospel message Jesus models for us today. Through the power of love for the outsider we hold the potential to transform our broken world into the wonder of God’s kingdom.

Matthew 14:22-33

Today’s Gospel story of Jesus walking on the water is filled with symbolism and echoes of the divine in the Old Testament. The disciples found themselves alone in a storm-tossed boat. Suddenly, Jesus was present to assure them, teaching them, and us, that there is no conflict, no struggle, no difficulty or no fear so great that God’s providential care cannot resolve.

Most immediately, the story of the boat in the storm is the manifestation of the Church’s struggles in the first days of her existence and down through history. Likewise, the episode with Peter sinking in the water is an expression of the basic human experience of being totally vulnerable.

Peter is bold and adventurous in his cry out to Jesus, “If it is you Lord, command me to come to you on the water.” (Mt 14:28) Peter begins his walk but reality grabs hold of his weak faith. As Peter faces his moment of truth and begins to sink, he cries out, “Lord, save me!” (Mt:30) This is an expression of the naked and unfiltered truth of our humanity. In the end, we are totally dependent on God.

Jesus says, “Do not be afraid!” (Mt:27). This phrase is one of the most common in all of Scripture. It is uttered over three hundred times in the Bible. Each time it reveals the presence of a saving and compassionate God. To call it a statement of comfort is very short of the mark. It reveals a God profoundly engaged in the human struggle with the power of healing and deliverance. This episode, like so many in the bible, reveals a God who is always personally present to us in our struggles. In today’s episode, as an example, Peter ends up back in the boat rather than at the bottom of the sea.

Peter’s failed venture had some very beneficial consequences. He learned that the acute exposure to his own weakness brought to light the saving power of the Lord. This is the path of faith. For Peter and for us, Our experience of faith is always connected to the call of Jesus and not our wishful thinking. The true encounter with God will always contrast service and sacrifice rather than selfishness and indulgence.

We all have our, “Lord, save me!” moments. They tend to be fewer but more intense as the years pass by. In the end, there is a slowly growing clarity that we are truly in the storm and we are about to sink.

The reality of the need for Jesus grows in our heart. It might be health crisis as we experienced in the pandemic, a child on drugs, the loss of a loved one, the consequences of an economy out of our control, the emerging hostility of climate change or simply the relentless process of ageing. Today we are immersed in the trauma of the war in Ukraine, the racial upheaval of a floundering political process and the on-going stress of an upcoming election year. These elements of stress all put extraordinary strains on our personal, family and communal life. Whatever the situation, these events are all down payments on the ultimate human experience, our mortality. The depth of the cry, “Lord, save me!”, becomes more intense and more dominating. At the same time, the need for Jesus’ hand reaching out gets clearer and stronger and incredibly more important. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.

I want to return to my favorite Carmelite saint, St. Teresa of Avila, to make a clear conclusion from today’s reflections. Teresa says the story of her life is the story of God’s mercy. By this she means that when she had arrived at the deepest and clearest moment of her life, her “Lord, save me!” moment, she learned what it meant to be a creature. She embraced the fact of her reality as creature because for her it meant she was cradled in the loving hands of a gracious Creator revealed in her great friend and Savior, Jesus Christ. The ultimate reality is that God is good not that we are good. In the end, God’s limitless mercy is her victory.

It is a journey for us to know that our life also is, in its final expression, the story of God’s mercy. That, indeed, is a beautiful truth as Peter found out in today’s Gospel passage.

Mt 17:1-9

Dear Friends, Today’s Gospel passage skips the opening phrase, “Six days later…” (Mt 17:1) These words are an important connection to the critical section of chapter sixteen where Jesus asks, who do you say that I am. Peter proudly says, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Mt 16:16) Then, all of a sudden, everything explodes into a tumultuous conflict. Jesus tells them he will be rejected, suffer and die. Peter says it is not necessary. Jesus says, “Get behind me Satan. You are an obstacle to me. Our are thinking in not as God does, but as human beings do.” (Mt 16:23)

The drama of Jesus’ invitation to the road to Jerusalem now becomes the challenging vision for the rest of the Gospel. Peter and the other disciples were now confronted with the task of bringing together the concepts of a suffering God and a Messiah fails their expectations. This shattered their dreams and ambitions of privilege and power, prestige and prosperity. Nevertheless, Jesus was insistent, “Take up your cross and follow me.” (Mt 16:24)

All of this conflict and confusion was about the identity of Christ, the identity of the failing Messiah, the suffering Servant, the Crucified Christ.

This is where the phrase “Six days later…” Mt 17:1) comes in. The Transfiguration is all about the identity of Christ. It connects the journey to Jerusalem and the consequent suffering and death to the glory hidden in the humanity of Christ. “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.” (Mt 17:5”)

Now the Gospel of Matthew is once again inviting Peter and us to take Jesus in all of his truth, not just a diluted version to fit our limited standards.

In rebuking Peter, Jesus challenged all of us to lose our life prone to indulgence, to take up the cross and to follow him. (Mt 16:24-25) The event of the Transfiguration is our invitation into the mystery of the Suffering Messiah. Like Peter, we are called to try to balance the seemingly contrary truths of Jesus as Messiah and Jesus the Crucified Savior.

The Father’s words tell us it is as God’s Beloved Son that he will suffer and die. Our task is to embrace Jesus on his terms and “Listen to him.” (Mt 17:5”)

Peter had a long journey ahead of him. Only slowly did he learn to “Listen to him.” (Mt 17:5) Eventually, he did indeed learn to let both the life and teaching of Jesus and especially the Pascal Mystery of Christ be his model. Jesus became a map and a guide. No doubt, his recalling the experience of the Transfiguration helped Peter to face the darkness of life. That is what today’s celebration of the Transfiguration is summoning us to do. As we face the seemingly endless challenges of good and evil: whether the war in Ukraine or the unending gun violence, the turbulence of our pollical scene or the explosive consequences of climate change, the even greater problem than immigration which is the massive poverty and injustice that causes people to seek a better life, or the simple but relentless demands of family life. All these, and so much more, make it so urgent for us to “Listen to him.” (Mt17:5) He is the Beloved Son.

As often as we encounter the Gospel story, it still holds the seeds of light and wisdom, of hope and tenderness. It reminds us how close God is to us and how thin the curtain between the divine and human truly is. We are always on the edge of our human frailty and mortality. Equally, we are on the threshold of eternal life and happiness. Whether it is the brokenness of our relationships, the consequences of sin, or the corruption of our world, we need to search the depths of our hearts and “Listen to Him!” (Mt 17:5) He will reveal anew that the last word is not sickness, injustice, prejudice, and the foibles of nature’s awesome power or even death. The last word revealed in the Crucified and Risen Christ is victory of life over death and the final triumph of love. Our personal journey to Jerusalem encompasses all of our life. It is an invitation to enter into the mystery of Christ. This mystery unites us with the suffering and glorious Messiah. It leads to the jubilation of Easter.

Matthew 13:44-52

Dear Friends, Today is the third Sunday of parables in chapter thirteen in the Gospel of St. Matthew. Many scholars of the Bible say today’s parable of the treasure is the most important of all the parables.

It begins with the statement, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” (Mt. 13:44). In the three Synoptic Gospels this phrase, “the kingdom of heaven” or “kingdom of God” in Mark and Luke, is at the center of Jesus’ teaching and ministry. It is God’s plan in Jesus to overcome evil with love. It is a process of liberation from all the consequences of sin. It is the restoration of the total harmony and goodness of Paradise. Jesus’ miracles all manifest God’s saving presence bringing wholeness and freedom. The ultimate expression of the inflowing of divine power is in the conquest of death in the Resurrection.

The kingdom is God’s gift. We do not earn it but we need to be open to its call. The kingdom allows us to enter and participate in the very life of God. The kingdom is walking with Jesus letting the values of the gospel message fill our heart and life.

The kingdom is not something we do. It is God calling us to participate in God’s saving action in human history. The threefold action of today’s parable is finding-selling-buying. It is basic method of how we share in the life of God. It is the process of our personal transformation. This means moving from the deceiving world of our self-absorption to the truthful world where God is the center of reality. This affects everything that we experience in a new way. The threefold action of finding-selling-buying unveils our experience of God in our daily life. The treasure before us is the Good News of Jesus. It is the wonder of being able to love and be loved. This invites us into an entirely new world of service and compassion, reconciliation and healing, mercy and justice.

In chapter thirteen of Matthew the phrase “kingdom of heaven” appears nine times. So, the question for us is, how does the simple little story of the found treasure connect us to this great saving and liberating action of God revealed in Jesus? The parable of the treasure, more clearly than most other parables, tells us how we experience God and what we need to do to respond to this glorious call.

The finding is the very common human encounter with someone or something. The encounter touches the deepest hunger in the human heart. It might be an event as profound as falling in love, having a child or losing a loved one. Or it may be a bit more mundane like deciding to go to college or becoming more active in the parish or community. Endless expressions of this finding fill our human journey. They all, simple or profound, are the action of God’s grace. God is never finished in his calling and coming into our life.

To get hold of the gift, we need to sell. We need to make space in our heart. We need to die to our comfort and control. Our responsibility is to accept the fact that our little world needs a real change. We need to expand our horizons. In the end, selling costs no less than everything because I makes space for God and space for us to operate according to God’s will.

When we accept the challenge, we become free and empowered to enter into a new world, a new reality where God takes a more prominent place of honor that leads us to action for the kingdom. This is the buying.

The finding-buying-selling process is an essential part of any authentic spiritual life, our search for God. The most critical part is this. All creatures either help us to seek God or they are an obstacle. Our joy is to bring all these relationships to people, things ideas and whatever else occurs in our life into proper order. All either help us or hinder us in our quest for God. When we have our finding-selling-buying in order, we are on the road to the kingdom.

The threefold process never ends. It is all leading to a personal and social transformation called the kingdom of heaven in the Gospel of St. Mathew.

The parable of the treasure with its simplicity exposes how we experience God in the normal course of our daily life. It is an unending call that comes from a gracious God to tap the deepest hunger in our restless hearts. The ultimate and most complete expression of the treasure is Jesus.

St. Matthew 13:24-30

Dear Friends, I had my introduction into this parable of the weeds and the wheat when I was a sophomore in high school. It was the time of the McCarthy hearings on TV. The politics of the day were about the infiltration of Communists into our government and society. I was very interested in this topic.

At first, it was very confusing because there were two items that were very clear in my world. Communists were as bad as you could get and Catholics were good. As the TV drama evolved, I slowly experienced an assault on my Catholic prejudice. Even though Senator McCarthy was against the Communists and a Catholic, he was being labelled as the bad guy. I painfully began to realize he was indeed the bad guy, the really bad guy. His broad and indiscriminate strokes of accusation left a long path of innocent victims. Justice got lost in the heat of the quest for political advantage. Eventually, he was censored by the Senate. This was one of only three such condemnations in the history of our country.

This was the beginning of a lifetime journey where the clear black and white of my world had to give way to an acceptance of the grey of a complex world, a world where the weeds and wheat were growing side by side.

Today’s parable of the weeds and the wheat, like all the parables, speaks to us of the coming of God’s kingdom, Jesus’ main message. As we enter into the parable, we begin to learn how we experience the presence and action of God in our daily life. It is clear that God is in charge of the harvest. We tend to take over the job. Most of us have at least a Master’s degree in determining the good guys from the bad guys. Jesus would rather that we let the Father take on that task. That is why a turned cheek is much more in tune with Jesus’ message than a clenched fist.

Among other things, this parable is calling us to an ever-expanding vision of including and accepting others. God is calling us to share God’s patience and mercy. Our heart is a field with plenty of weeds that incline us to divide and separate and isolate. The parable of the weeds and the wheat opens up the mystery of the justice and mercy of God.

If I just take the topics of race, sexual orientation and respect for women in my own personal experience, I can see an abundance of blindness, ignorance, open hostility and profound prejudice ebbing and flowing to a very painful evolution of change. The coming of the Kingdom has slowly challenged me to grow in tolerance, trust and patience. Self-knowledge only comes with this openness to God’s call to be compassionate and patient. Self-knowledge will always reveal a heart blossoming with a full harvest of both the weeds and the wheat. The struggle will continue to the end.

The guidance of today’s parable will lead us to separate evil from the evildoer, sin from the sinner. We are all better off nurturing the wheat by living the gospel. Too much energy goes into the weeds as we sit in judgement of our brothers and sisters. We are all better off if our main task if following the meek and humble Christ. God is quite capable of discerning how to deal with the weeds within us personally and within our sisters and brothers.

St. Teresa of Avila had a very gifted and graced understanding of herself. Even though she eventually would become recognized as the first woman Doctor of the Church and a famous Carmelite saint, she clearly saw her weeds. She knew her life was a gift from God. She said often, the story of her life was ultimately the story of God’s mercy. She truly had tolerance for others, trust in God and patience with herself. She understood, as we need to understand today, that God’s kingdom is coming and with it comes the love and mercy and justice we see revealed in Jesus. In the meanwhile, God wants us to be the faithful labors of the harvest.

Mt 13:1-23

Dear Friends Today we begin the first of three Sundays exploring parables from chapter thirteen of St. Matthew. A parable is simply a story taken from the ordinary events of daily life that leads to a deep insight into reality. Even though the parables are prone to different interpretations, they all lead to an insight into the main message of Jesus, the kingdom of God. They unveil the saving presence of God in our ordinary human experience.

Today's parable is about the Sower of the seeds. A few facts about the agricultural practice at the time of Jesus are very helpful in coming to terms with the message of the parable.

First of all, the casting of the seed so indiscriminately does not seem like a bright idea. However, it makes a little more sense when one realizes the Jewish custom was to plow after the sowing. Most of the world does the opposite.

Secondly, a return between seven and ten percent was considered a very good yield on the seed sown.

For Jesus, the primary message of the kingdom relates to the human heart. It is in the heart where one finds the struggle between sin and grace, love and hatred, inclusion and exclusion and, in today’s example, between the weeds and the wheat.

Consequently, we can enter into the world of Jesus' parable and draw some interpretations. The first item is that Jesus' message is for all people no matter what their circumstances. The universal call is at the heart of Jesus' message. Everyone is welcome at the table. The seeds are cast on al kinds of soil.

Of course, "all people" has always had the difficulty of Christians inevitably having a group of "those people" or outsiders who were not to be included. Many decades ago, it was the Protestants and divorced. Recently, the gays and the Muslims were at the top of the charts for "those people."

Today, we are filling the void made by progress in societal understanding and acceptance of yesterday’s rejects with new rejects, transgenders. The fractured human heart will make sure we will never run short of groups to isolate and discard.

A second point to consider was the return of thirty, sixty, and one hundred fold. These numbers are outrageous. Even more outrageous is God's love. The heart is the home of that good soil that opens up to incredible new possibilities even in this dark valley of tears.

The parable of the Sower reveals a mystery in life, a possibility of an explosion of love that is hidden in the ordinary flow of events. Reality is impregnated with a graciousness and giftedness beyond our dreams when we embrace the call of Jesus. The upshot of the yes to Jesus leads to a new life of freedom and reconciliation that guides us in seeking to create a new world of justice, healing and peace. Acceptance of Jesus' call is the transition to a innovative world of acceptance and service, the beginning of God's reign here and now. In Jesus' lottery, the winning combination is 30, 60, and 100. The prize is in victory of love over hate, peace over violence, harmony over division and a human heart with a deep sense of wholeness and integrity.

Today’s parable of the Sower celebrates the universality of the gospel. There are no outsiders in Jesus’ agenda. It is a program of indiscriminate love and tolerance.