September 24, 2017

25th Sun., Ordinary Time

September 24, 2017:  Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

  • 'Phone' tie bar: "Call the Lord while he's near" (1st reading); "The Lord is near to all who call upon him." (psalm)
  • Tie with grapes:  Landowner hired laborers for his vineyard (gospel)
  • 'Clocks' suspenders:  Landowner hired laborers at dawn, 9am, noon, 3pm, and 5pm.
  • Green shirt:  Ordinary Time season
Listen

For 1st reading

For Psalm 145
For 2nd reading
For the gospel
    From Ed Bolduc's blog
    For future Sundays
    In today's gospel, the Landowner's ‘injustice’ provokes the listeners' heightened understanding; Jesus is speaking of God's Kingdom, not just wages.  In the Kingdom there are no idle hands; all are called to do their part, and the recompense shall be from divine justice:  the salvation Jesus Christ has acquired through his death and resurrection.  This salvation is given, not deserved:  "The last shall be first, and the first last."

     Read
    • Is 55:6-9  Seek the Lord; call him.  Turn to the Lord; he's generous in forgiving. Lord:  My thoughts and ways are far above yours.
      Christ will be magnified in my body
      (Phil 1:20)
    • Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18  "The Lord is near to all who call upon him."  I praise you forever.  The Lord is great, good, compassionate, just, holy, and near.
    • Phil 1:20c-24, 27a  Christ will be magnified in my body.  I long to depart this life and be with Christ, but I need to stay alive for your benefit.  Conduct yourselves worthy of the gospel.
    • Mt 20:1-16a  “Kingdom is like landowner who hired laborers at dawn, 9am, noon, 3pm, and 5pm, then paid them the same.  Are you envious because I'm generous?  The last will be first and the first last.”

    Reflect
      Gleichnis von den Arbeitern im Weinberg/ Willemsz de Wet
    • Creighton:  In the parable, God is the landowner. The Jews (to whom the Good News was announced first), then everyone else, were all invited; God wants them all saved.  Grace flows free.  Thank God all are invited, even those I dislike. May we see with God’s compassionate eyes.
    • One Bread, One Body:  "Not fair?"  People think, "The Lord's way is not fair!"  God seems to treat the weak, sinful, marginalized, and forgotten better than his faithful ones, seeming to leave the faithful in the wasteland.  Thank God his ways are not our ways!  He's merciful, gracious, slow to anger, of great kindness.  God is just, but his generosity trumps fairness.  We can rejoice in his mercy and generosity or grumble that he's is not "fair."  May we seek the Lord and his mercy, be overflowing in love and mercy, and rejoice when he extends mercy to others.
      Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard/ Rembrandt
    • Passionist:  "God's kindness": To many, justice means, "you owe me." God is just, but he doesn't owe anyone. We're those workers who arrived at the last hour; we owe our lives to him. Children live because of others' care. God is good “so that you may be your heavenly Father's children, who causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good.” “Birds don't sow, reap, or gather into barns, but your Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more?”
    • DailyScripture.net:  God is generous in opening his kingdom to all who will enter.  We labor for the Lord and our neighbor.  "Work heartily, as serving the Lord, knowing you'll be rewarded."  Do I work and live with cheerfulness and diligence for God?  How do I give to those in need?
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