Category: Better World

 

CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP FROM SUNDAYS READINGS

It is commonplace in religious instruction that the first half of the liturgical year focuses on what God has done for us.  During Advent, Christmas, Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, we emphasized Jesus’ Birth, Suffering, Death, and Resurrection, and the Descent of the Holy Spirit.  The second half then focuses us our response to these wonderful demonstrations of God’s love for us.  This scheme is an oversimplification, of course, but it has a kernel of truth.

In particular, the last few weeks of the liturgical year remind us that we are accountable to God for all the gifts he has given us and all he has done for us.  And when the accounting is done, it becomes evident, sadly, that God’s people have not produced as rich a harvest as they ought to have done.

Such is the case with the ancient Israelites, whom Isaiah compared with a vineyard which produced only sour, wild grapes. Jesus used the vineyard image, but introduced tenants who refused to turn over his share of the harvest to the landowner. They will be replaced by people who will obey the terms of the agreement, and others will be welcomed into the kingdom of God. How do we measure up with the harvest of spiritual gifts we should develop and turn over to God?

Lest we lose heart, St. Paul reminds us that we are to “have no anxiety at all.” Indeed, even our requests should be offered to God “with thanksgiving.” We have a fuller revelation of God’s will for us, and a never-ending stream of grace from the sacraments. If we keep our minds on what is true, pure, and excellent, “then the God of peace will be with you.

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CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP FROM SUNDAYS READINGS

One of the freedoms God has given us is the freedom to change our minds.  The two sons in Jesus’ parable exercised that freedom when their father asked them to work in his vineyard one day.  The first son refused, but then changed his mind and went.  The second agreed to work but never showed up.  In the same way, the sinners who responded to the preaching of St. John the Baptist obeyed God when those religious leaders who seemed to be holy refused to actually do so, and so the repentant sinners were the ones who entered the Kingdom of God.

We Christians know we should do the will of God the Father, but we tend to be fickle and not follow through on our intention to obey God’s will.  We need God’s grace to be constant and to help us develop “the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus,” as St. Paul wrote to the Philippians.  As Christ gave up the glory of heaven to die on our behalf, so we have a challenge: “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves.”

If we accept that challenge, and change our minds from serving ourselves first, it will inevitably change the way we use the time, the talent, and the treasure entrusted to us.

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CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP FROM SUNDAYS READINGS

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard is one that startles centuries after Jesus told it.  Those who worked in the vineyard only part of the day, perhaps just one hour, get paid as much as those who labored the whole day long.

The parable, however, is not so much about the workers as it is about the owner of the vineyard.  The owner paid all the workers everything they had agreed upon.  But in his generosity, he paid many of them more than was required.

In the same way, God is more than just; he is merciful.  In his mercy and generosity, he gives all who turn to him eternal life in heaven, both to those who serve him all their lives and those who respond to him a short time before death.

Our response to this merciful and generous God should be one of thankfulness and a commitment to offer him a portion of the time, talent, and treasure he has entrusted to us.

Copyright © 2011 www.TheCatholicSteward.com

 CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP FROM SUNDAYS READINGS

God takes a serious view of sin, but he is eager to forgive sinners.  His attitude is well expressed in the Responsorial Psalm, “The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich is compassion.”

Our response to God’s mercy must be two-fold.  First, in thankfulness for His kindness, we commit a portion of our time to prayer and worship, particularly by participating in the Eucharist, the Church’s central act of worship and thanksgiving.

Secondly, we hear over and over again that to receive God’s forgiveness for our sins, we must forgive those who hurt us.  We pray it in the Lord’s Prayer, and we read the same lesson in the First Reading from Sirach and in the Gospel in Jesus’ Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.  Let us then forgive others, so that we in turn may receive forgiveness from God.

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Paul concludes his discussion of the relation of Jews and Gentiles in the Church in today’s reading from Romans.  In his amazement at God’s action in sending Jesus as both Jewish Messiah and universal savior, he cannot express anything except praise for God’s “riches and wisdom and knowledge,” his inscrutable judgments and unsearchable ways.  God is beyond human comprehension, not because he doesn’t care or is hostile (as some religions have held), but because he is so great and loving and generous that neither our imagination nor our reason can grasp it.

Because everything we have comes as a gift from God, even our existence, Paul reminds us that we can’t give something to God in a fashion that puts God in debt to us.  “For from him and through him and for him are all things.”  So although we are in debt to God, we ought not to view our return to God of a portion of our time, talent, and treasure as a duty to be grudgingly accepted.  Instead we’re invited to make a loving response.

Among the many blessings for which we owe thanks to God is the Church, through which we receive sacramental grace and in which we live our Christian life.  Jesus built the Church on St. Peter and entrusted to him “the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”  In it we can safely journey through the storms of this life until our arrival at heaven.

Copyright © 2011 www.TheCatholicSteward.com