A Cycle – 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time 26

Mt. 20:1-16a

Years ago, there was a song which included these words: “if you don’t know where you are going you are going to end up somewhere.”  I think you would admit there is a lot of wisdom in those words.  They could apply to every aspect of our lives including our faith formation.  In the early church, faith formation was done within the home, by retelling the stories of salvation history and by praying the words of the psalms. 

The church refers to that era as the oral tradition. Fathers and Rabi’s retold the stories of God’s covenant with Abraham, Issac and Jacob, the exodus, and the promised Messiah.  Yes, and like us they learned the prayers instituted by Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. They prayed the psalms written by King David. They learned the requirements of making a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. They learned the obligations of keeping holy the Sabbath and the laws given to them by God.

We have not changed how we learn our faith today.  As children our first teachers of our faith are our parents. We learned the tenants of our faith. But early in our childhood, our faith formation involves teachers. It seems to me, that the emphasis of the early church was to foster a belief in the promises of God and to trust in God’s goodness.  While today, it seems our faith formation quickly moves from Jesus loves us to learning how to live that belief within the Catholic Church.  We have learned our lessons well and yet it sems we have not developed a trust in the promises of God. 

It is not that we do not believe because we do believe and are insulted when other faiths tell us how misdirected our focus is.  We are not misdirected but we should be aware of how ill-prepared we are to defend how we practice our faith.  We gather each week, just as the early church did, to be inspired by the Word of God and to give thanks for the great gift of Jesus Christ.  What we do each week is designed to reinforce our belief in how Christ’s death freed us from the penalty of our sinfulness It also empowers us to go out into the world and spread the good news that Gos is kind and merciful, slow the anger and rich in kindness. That is why the last words we hear is “go in peace and glorify God by your lives.”  

Today’s gospel is one of those parables where Jesus demonstrates how much we depend on our faithfulness rather than God’s goodness.  We believe our actions deserve to be rewarded.  How did our faith training miss teaching us what is required of us is to live our lives worthy of the gospel. Believe in the words of Christ who said if you believe you will have eternal life. Somehow, we believe it takes more than a belief in Jesus.  We have spent so much time, leering dogma, theology, and rituals we have failed to appropriate the grace of salvation given to us by God.  Our emphasis our ability to appease God and our effort deserves a reward.  We might not be so far off the track by believing that obedience will be rewarded.

What we fail to grasp is how much we do.  Instead, God is more interested in our hearts, that part of us that suffers, rejoices, and longs for God’s embrace.  That truth is at the heart of the parable in the vineyard and in the parable of the prodigal son.  We see how a last minute obedience will be rewarded in the same manner as a lifetime of obedience. Today’s parable of the workers in the vineyard reinforces God’s mercy is available to everyone. The only requirement is to respond to His invitation to go into the vineyard and work to spread the good news of salvation. All that is required is that we stand before Him and allow His mercy to flow over us and change us. 

The parable of the prodigal son reinforces this message of how God’s mercy depends on us understanding we do not deserve, nor will we ever earn God’s mercy.  God’s mercy is free flowing and constant; we only need to learn how to stand under His glory spout.   

Our response is to surrender to Go’s plan for our salvation. Allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and to change our focus.  Begin to step out of our comfort zone and become evangelist willing to share the love of God with anyone.  Allow the Spirit to change us into heirs, sons, and daughters whose lives will be lived giving glory to God. 

Paul the apostle understood this and that is why he wrote in his letter to the Philippians encouraging them and us to live our faith by another standard. Not the standard that depends on what we do but on the standard of what Christ did. Somewhere we have come to believe in a standard that is based on how well we practice our faith. A standard that looks down on those who are not as faithful as we are. 

Paul encourages us to live our lives in a way worthy of the gospel.  A life worthy of Christ’s sacrifice.  The gospel that Jesus came to proclaim salvation is at hand. The Kingdom of God is here, and we are living in it.  Paul’s words should be pasted onto our bathroom mirrors where daily they will remind us; we are being called to enter the vineyard of God and should produce fruit each day.

 If we live each day that way we will discover the depth of God’s love, God’s mercy, and God’s desire that none should perish.  We will learn that our mission is to love not to judge, to support not condemn, and to trust not doubt.  

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