Martin Jumbam
Mother Church celebrates Sunday, September 28, 2014 as the twenty sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A. In the Entrance Antiphon we pray: “O Lord, you had just cause to judge men as you did: because we sinned against you and disobeyed your will. But now show us your greatness of heart, and treat us with your unbounded kindness. Amen.” This day’s Mass highlights God’s unbounded kindness towards those who might have disobeyed him, but who, realizing their weaknesses, like tax collectors and prostitutes, run back to him for his mercy. In the first reading, the prophet Ezekiel, the watchman of Israel in the Babylonian exile, has the uneasy task of dispelling the feeling of despair among his people in captivity. In the second reading, Saint Paul tells his converts of Philippi that their community will become perfect if they strive for greater unity among their members. In the Gospel, Saint Matthew shows us Jesus who is already in Jerusalem where the confrontation with the Scribes and Pharisees has already begun. This will eventually lead to his arrest and execution. In the course of this Eucharist, let us pray for the grace to recognize our sins and turn away from them so as to love Christ more dearly and to follow him more closely. Amen.
First Reading: Ezekiel 18: 25-28.
Thus says the Lord: You say, "The Lord’s way is not fair!" Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die. But if he turns from the wickedness he has committed, he does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the sins that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
Church historians tell us that the prophet Ezekiel performed his prophetic ministry during the Babylonian exile from the year 592 BC to about the year 570 BC. The name Ezekiel in Hebrew means “God strengthens” or “May God strengthen”. Ezekiel was taken to Babylon alongside other prominent people of Jerusalem when that city was attacked, captured and ransacked by King Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC, as we read in the 2 Kings 24: 10-17. It was therefore from Babylon that Ezekiel preached the message received from God for the exiles and also for those who remained in the land of Israel after the deportation.
What was the overall message Ezekiel had for his people? Like the other prophets, Ezekiel received from God the mission to urge his people to remain faithful to the Covenant God made with them. Unlike the other prophets, however, Ezekiel, first and foremost, presents a message of God in constant action. God’s hand enables the prophet to see God’s glory everywhere and in every creature. He shows that God acts in the whole world in every human activity. Ezekiel combined the office of a priest and a prophet. The result was a healthy balance between the external rituals of temple worship and a more personal and more spiritual religion of the heart.
In the passage the Church has selected for our meditation this day, the prophet teaches the possibility of pardon through repentance for one’s accumulated evils. He appeals to personal responsibility, telling the exiles that they will not be punished for the sins committed by someone else. He stresses the possibility of personal conversion, which constitutes one of the prophet’s basic messages. God restores his people, even while they are in exile. He will not abandon us either when we turn to him in true conversion. Let us pray with the Psalmist: “Lord, make me know your ways; teach me your paths and make me walk in your truth. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Second Reading: Philippians 2: 1-11.
Brothers and sisters: If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others. Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
As we heard last Sunday, Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is one of the letters usually referred to as the “Captivity Epistles”; the others being the Letters to the Colossians, to the Ephesians and to Philemon. This is because Paul is said to have written them when he was in prison.
We also heard that Philippi was quite an important commercial and historical city in Saint Paul’s time. It was in Macedonia and anyone traveling from Asia Minor to Greece would have stopped there. In the 4th century BC, Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, had built a fortified camp, which was called after him. It was later conquered by the Romans and in Paul’s days, the Romans were still there.
It is also important to mention that the church of Philippi was the first Paul founded when he went to Europe during his second missionary journey around the year 50 or 51 AD. What is the overall message of Paul’s letter to the Philippians? In it, Saint Paul gives his readers news of the progress of the Gospel. From his prison, he encourages his converts to put his teachings into practice and to foster the growth of Christian virtues. The letter generally deals with important points of doctrine – the eternal destiny of man; the Christian’s attitude to earthly realities; the profound mystery of Christ and the example of his life on earth.
The passage selected for our meditation is one of the finest passages from Saint Paul’s letters. Christ is glorified in lofty terms, he whom God greatly exalted and he on whom he bestowed the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Paul urges his converts of Philippi to strive for greater union among their members. Their union must be one faith, hope and love, with a common purpose and attitude. In this way, they will follow more closely the standard Christ left for them; they are becoming one in Christ when they live together as one family.
Let us pray for the courage to live together as one family, loving and forgiving one another. “God, our Father, help us to live as one family, loving and protecting one another as Christ loves and protects his Church, so that joy and peace may reign in our midst. We make this supplication through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Gospel: Matthew 21: 28-32.
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not, ' but afterwards changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, ‘but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him."
V/ The Gospel of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
Jesus is now in Jerusalem, where his preaching of the Kingdom takes on a different tone. He is now in direct confrontation with the Scribes and the Pharisees and his message to the Holy City is direct. He tells its inhabitants to turn their backs on their old ways or else the Kingdom of Heaven will pass them by. The old ways are finished and belonging to God’s people from now onwards will be by faith in Jesus.
So the basic message to the Jews, and to all of us listening to this broadcast, is to turn completely around from our old ways that don’t quite tie in with our Christian faith. Jesus illustrates this turn around when he challenges the Chief Priests and Scribes with the parable of a father who asks his two sons to work in his vineyard. One says no, but on second thought, he goes to do what his father has just asked him to do. The other says yes, but does nothing after that. When Jesus asks them which of the two does his father’s will, the answer is obvious – the one who said No at first and later changed his mind.
This parable is about the chief priests and elders, on the one hand, and tax collectors and prostitutes, on the other hand. The chief priests and elders said Yes to God’s laws at first but rejected the call of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ to holiness. They symbolize the son who said Yes but did not go to the vineyard. These religious officials were very rigorous in their observance of the Law, but when the moment of truth arrived, that of recognizing the testimony of John the Baptist and of Christ himself, these leaders failed to yield to the divine spirit.
On the other hand, a great number of tax collectors and prostitutes initially said No to God’s laws, but when John the Baptist called on them to repent and turn away from their old ways, they obeyed. They are represented by the son who said No at first, but later thought the better of it and went to the vineyard. For this reason, Jesus promised that the sinners would enter the kingdom of heaven before the religious leaders.
If we desire to enter the kingdom of heaven, we need to look at those parts of our lives where we need to make a turn around. For this, personal time with God is vital to our spiritual growth. We may need to turn away from an empty or shallow prayer life to a full and sincere one. We must turn away from selfishness and embrace charity by giving to the poor and the needy.
Let us pray this day for the courage to turn around from our old ways and embrace the new. Even if we have been like the tax collector and the prostitutes, who said No at first, let us also be like them who, in the end, said Yes and turned to the Lord, and received their reward. Jesus rejoices in the one who, despite raising objections at first, does turn around and do his will. He rejoices because, as someone has so beautifully put it, discipline is the fruit of love. Let us pray to be counted among those who are disciplined enough to follow the Lord this day and always. Amen.
Recent Comments