Click here to read the upcoming Sunday Mass readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/092108.shtml“The Lord is just in all his ways and holy in all his works.” These words from the Responsorial Psalm of today’s Mass are our central theme. In our lives we yearn to know the will of God in our lives, but very often we really want our will confirmed by God. We become disappointed when God shows His will and it is very different from our own.
The first reading from Isaiah recalls the return of the Israelites to the Promised Land after the Babylonian captivity. The Jews who suffered for their faith did not have a lot of patience with those who may have capitulated under pressure and did not stay completely faithful to God’s law. Isaiah pleads for mercy here. If they turn to God for mercy God forgives them, which is not what is in the mind of the people. The early Church had a similar episode where some wanted to reject those who gave into persecution. They were called the Donatists, and they rejected backsliders. In response to them, St. Augustine evoked these words from Isaiah to encourage those who did fall away to return and begin again.
St. Paul encourages the Philippians to conduct themselves in a way worthy of the Gospel. Within the context of these readings that would mean we should show mercy to our neighbor just as God showed mercy to us. The saint struggles with two desires: to depart this world and be with Christ, and to stay on earth and serve others. To become mercy for others Paul sees it better to remain on earth for the benefit of his community. Accepting God’s will in this matter is an act of mercy toward others. We also have to recognize when others need us and to be available for them. In this way we show mercy to those in our life.
Finally, the Gospel teaches a hard lesson about the mercy of God. A landowner provides the same pay for everyone, regardless of how many hours they labored in the field. Those who worked all day find this unjust, while those who only worked a few hours found this extremely generous. The point of the Gospel passage is not about economics, but about the salvation that comes to us from God. The grace of salvation is a gift freely given by God; it is not owed to anyone out of justice. Thus, those who complained in the parable had no right to do so, and they are sent away. St. Gregory the Great has us ponder this sober reality:
“For many are called, but few are chosen; many come to the faith, and only a few are brought to the heavenly kingdom. See how many have gathered for today’s celebration; we fill the church! But yet who knows how few may be numbered in the flock of God’s elect. All voices shout ‘Christ!’, but not everyone’s life shouts it. Many follow God with their voices but flee from him by their conduct….In this world they mingle with the faithful through their confession of faith, but in the next they do not merit to be counted in the ranks of the faithful because of their wicked way of life. The sheepfold of our holy church receives goats together with lambs, but as the Gospel bears witness, when the judge shall come he will separate the good from the evil as a shepherd sets the sheep apart from the goats. Those who are subject to the pleasures of their bodies here cannot be counted as sheep there. The judge will separate from the ranks of the humble those who now exalt themselves on the horns of pride. Those who share the heavenly faith in this life but seek the earth with their whole desire cannot obtain the kingdom of heaven.” (Forty Gospel Homilies 19.5)
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