Category: homilies

There is an urgency and clarity about the Gospel for today that is most often lacking in modern Christians, certainly including the clergy. In this Gospel the message is urgent, provocative and clear: there is a day of judgment coming for every one of us and we simply must be ready. The message is a sobering one for a modern world that is often dismissive of judgement, and certainly of Hell. Yet Jesus says clearly that the Kingdom of God can be taken from us for our refusal to accept its fruits in our life.

Parables and images used by Jesus to teach on judgement and the reality of Hell, are often quite vivid, even shocking in their harsh imagery. The are certainly not stories for the easily offended. And they are also difficult to take for those who have tried to refashion Jesus into a rather pleasant sort of fellow whose job is only to affirm, rather than the uncompromising prophet and Lord that He is.

No one spoke of Hell more than Jesus – How to perfectly reconcile these sorts of teachings presented so bluntly with the God who loves us so, points to the deeper mysteries of justice and mercy, and their interaction with human freedom. But this point must be clear: No one loves us more that Jesus and yet no one spoke of Hell and its certainty more than Jesus; no one warned us of judgment and its inescapable consequences more than Jesus. Hence, out of love for us Jesus speaks of death, judgement, heaven and hell. As one who loves us, he wants none of us to be lost. So he warns, he speaks the truth in love.

Historically this parable had meaning for the ancient Jews that has already come to pass. God had established and cared for his vine, Israel. He gave every blessing, having led them out of slavery and establishing them in the Promised Land. Yet searching for the fruits of righteousness he found little. Then, sending many prophets to warn and call forth those fruits, the prophets were persecuted, rejected, even murdered. Finally, God, sent his Son, but he too was murdered. There comes forth a sentence: He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times….Therefore, I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. By 70 AD Jerusalem was destroyed, the Temple, never to be rebuilt.

The Jewish people are not singled out in the Scriptures, for we all, like them, are a vineyard, and their story, if we are not careful can be our own story. We like the ancients, have a decision to make. Either we will accept the offer of the Kingdom and thereby yield to the Lord’s work and bring forth a harvest,  or we must face the judgment that we have chosen to reject the offer of the Kingdom. God will not force us to accept his kingship or kingdom. We have a choice to make, and that choice is at the heart of the judgment we will face.

Let’s take a closer look at the Gospel and apply it to the vineyard of our lives.

I. THE SOWING – The text says, There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.  Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.

Note the care and providence of the Landowner (God) who has given each of us life and every kind of grace. The image of vineyard indicates that we have the capacity to bear fruit, and this signifies the many gifts and talents and abilities that we have been given by God.

The hedge calls to mind the protection of his grace and mercy. Though the world can be a tempting place, he has put a hedge of protection around us which is sufficient for us to remain secure from serious sin, if we accept its power.

But note too a hedge speaks of limits. And thus, God’s protective graces, though sufficient, mean we must live within limits, within the hedge that keeps the wild animals of temptation from devouring the fruits of our vine.

The tower is symbolic the Church, which stands guard like a watchman in a tower warning of dangers for we who live within the hedge. And, the tower which is the Church is also standing forth as a sign of contradiction to the hostile world outside which seeks to devour the fruit of the vineyard.

That the landowner leases the the vineyard is a reminder that we are not our own, we have been purchased and at a price. God and God alone created all these things we call our own. We are but stewards, even of our very lives. We belong to God and must render an account and show forth fruits as we shall next see.

But this point must be emphasized: The care that God has given us, his grace, his mercy, his very own self. As the text from Isaiah says, What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done? God loves us and does not want us to be lost. He gives us every grace and mercy we need to make it. The Lord says, As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ez 33:11). This must be emphasized before we too quickly grumble about the subsequent judgment that comes. God offers every possible grace to save us. It is up to us to accept or reject the help.

II.  THE SEEKING – the text says, When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.

There come moments in our lives when God looks for fruits. Notice, he is the owner and the fruits are rightfully his. He has done everything to bring forth the fruit and now deserves to see the produce of his grace in the vineyard of our life, which is His own.

And what fruits does the Lord seek? The values and fruits of the Kingdom: faith, justice, love, mercy, peace, forgiveness, chaste lives, love of the poor, generosity, faithfulness, love of one’s family and friends, even love of one’s enemy, kindness, truth, sincerity, courage to speak the truth and witness to the faith, and an evangelical spirit.

Note too the text says he sends servants to obtain the produce. Here also is God’s mercy. Historically God’s “servants” were the prophets. And God sent the prophets not only to bring forth the harvest of justice, but also to remind, clarify, apply God’s Word and warn sinners. God patiently sent many generations of prophets to help Israel.

It is the same for us. God sends us many prophets to remind us, clarify, apply and warn. Perhaps they are priests or religious, parents, catechists, teachers, and role models. But they are part of God’s plan to warn us to bear fruit and to help call forth and obtain some of those very fruits for God. Each in their own way says like St. Paul did in today’s second reading: Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me (Phil 4:8-9).

Yes, God seeks fruits, rightfully so, and he sends his servants, the prophets, to help call them forth in us.

III. THE SINNING – The text says, But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned.  Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way.  Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

Thus, despite all God has done, despite sending his servants the prophets, they are all rejected with increasing vehemence. Hearts grow harder. The Landowner, God, even goes so far to demonstrate his love, and will to save, by sending his own Son. But they drag him outside the vineyard and kill him. Yes, Jesus died outside the city gates, murdered for seeking the fruit of faith from the tenants of the vineyard.

And what of us? There are too many who reject God’s prophets. They do so with growing vehemence and abusive treatment. Many today despise the Church, despise the Scriptures, despise fathers, mothers, friends and Christians in general who seek to clarify and apply God’s Word, and warn of the need to be ready. It is quite possible that, for any of us, repeated resistance can cause a hardening of the heart to set in. In the end, there are some, many according to Jesus, who effectively kill the life of God in them and utterly reject the Kingdom of God and its values. They do not want to live lives that show forth forgiveness, mercy, love of enemies, chastity, justice, love of the poor, generosity, kindness, witness to the Lord and the truth.

We ought to be very sober of their are many, many today who are like this. Some have merely drifted away and are indifferent. (Some we must say, have been hurt or  are struggling to believe, but at least they remain open). Yet still others are passionate in their hatred for the Church, Scripture and anything to do with God, and they explicitly reject many, if not most of the kingdom values listed above. We must be urgent to continue in our attempt to reach them as we shall see.

IV. THE SENTENCE – The text says, What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?” They answered him, “He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times.” Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.“

Here then is the sentence – If you Don’t want the Kingdom, you don’t have to have it. At one level, it would seem to us that everyone wants the Kingdom, i.e. everyone who has any faith in God at all, wants to go to heaven. But what is heaven? It is the fullness of the Kingdom of God. It is not just a place of our making, it that place where the will of God, where the Kingdom values are in full flower. But as we have seen, there are many who do not want to live chastely, do not want to forgive, do not want to be generous and love the poor, do not want God or any one else at the center, do not want to worship God.

Self excluded – having rejected the Kingdom values, and having rejected the prophets who warned them, many simply exclude themselves from the Kingdom. God will not force the Kingdom on anyone. If you don’t want it, even after God’s grace and mercy, his pleading through the prophets, you don’t have to have it. It will be taken from you, and given to those who do want it and appreciate its help.

The existence of Hell is rooted essentially in God’s respect for our freedom. For we have been called to love. But love must be free, not compelled. Hence, Hell has to be. It is the “alternative arrangements” that others make in their rejection of the Kingdom of God. At some point God calls the question, and at death our decision is forever fixed.

Yes, Hell, and the judgment that proceeds it, is clearly taught here and in many other places by Jesus (e.g. Matt 23:33; Lk 16:23; Mk 43:47; Matt 5:29; Matt 10:28; Matt 18:9; Matt 5:22; Matt 11:23; Matt 7:23; Matt 25:41; Mk 9:48; Luke 13:23; Rev 22:15; and many, many more). And it is taught by a Lord who loves us and wants to save us, but who is also sober to our stubborn and stiff-necked ways.

What is a healthy response to this teaching? To work earnestly for the salvation of souls, beginning with our own. Nothing has so destroyed evangelization and missionary activity, as the modern notion that everyone goes to heaven. Nothing has so destroyed any zeal for the moral life or hunger for the Sacraments, prayer and Scripture. And nothing is so contrary to Scripture as the dismissal of Hell and the notion of all going to heaven.

But rather than panic or despair, we ought to get to work and be more urgent to win souls for Christ. Who is it that the Lord wants you to work with to drawn them back to him. Pray and ask him, “Who Lord?” The Lord does not want any to be lost. But, as of old, he still sends his prophets (this means you) to draw back whoever will listen. Will you work for the Lord? Will you work for souls?  For there is a day of judgment looming, and we must be made ready by the Lord for it. Will you be urgent about it, for your self and others?

Photo Credit: Jean-Yves Roure

This video features the words of an old spiritual: Sinner please don’t let this harvest pass, and die and lose your soul at last. I made this video more than a year ago and in it there is a picture of Fr. John Corapi preaching. Since I made it long before “the recent troubles” please do not attribute any meaning from me by the inclusion of the photo, it is simply indicative of the “age” of the video.

In understanding this Gospel, we cannot overlook the audience Jesus was addressing. The text begins: Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people. In effect, Jesus was addressing the religious leaders of his day and the religiously observant. And he calls at least three things to their attention, three common sins of the pious, if you will: Lost Connections, Leaping to Conclusions and Lip Service.

Let’s look at each of these in turn, remembering that though they are not exclusive to the religiously observant, they are considered in the context of the religiously observant. Let’s also learn how they are particularly problematic when it comes to our mandate to hand on the faith through evangelizing our family and others.

I. Lost Connections – The text says, A man had two sons. Now the text will go on to describe these two sons as very different and also very similar. The man of course is God and we are all his children. And though very different, we all have the same Father and we all have sin. A man had two sons, which is another way of saying the sons had one Father. Yes we all have a connection we cannot deny, whatever our differences. We will look more at the differences between the two sons as we go on, but for now, consider merely this fact, A man (God) had two sons.

Why emphasize this? Because it is too easy for us to seek to severe the link we have with one another, to effect a kind of divorce from people we fear or do not like. For example, on the way to Mass, we may drive past tough parts of town and see drug dealers, scary gangs of young men near liquor stores, prostitutes and other outwardly troubled and rebellious people. And it is too easy to be cynical and say, “Some people’s children!” or “Look at that, how awful.” Or we may simply ignore them. Yet in all this we fail to recall:  here are my brothers, here are my sisters. So easily we can dismiss them, write them off, strive to effect some sort of divorce. But God may has a question for us, “Where is your brother?” (Gen 4:9)

Yes, there are many whom we try to disown, if we are not careful. Perhaps they are of a different political party, a different economic class, a different race, or just someone we don’t like. We divide, but God unites. A man had two sons, yes they are different, but he is Father to them both, he loves them both. He speak to them both, and calls them his sons.

In terms of evangelization, it will be noted that Jesus has sent us to all the nations. No longer are Israel and the Gentiles to be separated, the one considered chosen people, the other not. And hence the Church is catholic, is universal, seeking unite all. For a man had two sons, but the two sons have one Father. In seeking to evangelize, has it ever occurred to you that the least likely member of your family could be the one God most wants you to reach? Be careful of lost connections, for on account of it souls can be lost.

II. Leaping to Conclusions – A second “sin of the pious” is to leap to the conclusion that someone is irredeemably lost, to write off someone. Many of the Scribes and Pharisees, the religiously observant of their day, had done just this with a large segment of the population. Rather than to go out and work among them to preach the Word and teach observance of the Law, many of them simply called the crowds “sinners” and dismissed them as lost. In fact they were shocked that “welcomed sinners and ate with them” (e.g. Lk 15:2). Jesus says, to them, in effect: “Not so fast. Don’t leap to conclusions and write anyone off. Sick people need a doctor and I have come to be their divine physician and to heal many of them.”

Thus Jesus, in today’s parable, speaks of a sinner who repents: [The Father] 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 point is that we just don’t know, and we should be very careful not merely to write people off, even those who seem locked in very serious and sinful patterns, or seem even to be hostile to God. The example of St. Paul should certainly give us hope, as also that of St. Augustine. In fact St. Augustine wrote well on the fact that we just don’t know how things will turn out, and that we should pray for everyone, and write no one off:

For what man can judge rightly concerning another? Our whole daily life is filled with rash judgments. He of who we had despaired is converted suddenly and becomes very good. He from who we had expected a great deal fails and becomes very bad. Neither our fear nor our hope is certain. What any man is today , that man scarcely know. Still in some way he does know. What he will be tomorrow however, he does not know. (Sermo 46, 25)

Scripture also says, The oppressed often rise to a throne, and some that none would consider, wear a crown. The exalted often fall into utter disgrace; ….Call no man happy before his death, for by how he ends, a man is known. (Sirach 11:28-29)

I know a man (who is now deceased) but he told me his story, of how he was raised in the Church, got all his Sacraments, went to Church regularly, and was a God-fearing man. But in his early 40s he descended into alcoholism, began to be unfaithful to his wife, stopped going to Church and was dismissive of God. Were you or I to have seen him at that time, we might have easily concluded it looked bad. But somewhere in his early 60s, he knows not how, (except that someone was praying for him), he pulled out of his rebellion and re-entered the vineyard. He sought help for his drinking and reconciled with his wife and children. Daily mass, weekly confession, daily rosary, and Stations of the Cross, yes, when he returned, he really returned. But he said to me he had done a lot of sinning, and now it was time to do a lot of praying, making up for lost time, as he put it. He died a penitent in the bosom of the Church.

You just never know. Don’t write anyone off. Nothing stabs evangelization in the heart more that the presumption by many of us that someone is an unlikely candidate for conversion. Keep praying and keep working. Jesus tells us of a son who told his father to buzz off, but later repented and went into the vineyard. Pray, hope and work, you just never know. Don’t give up.

And don’t think any one is completed yet and a permanent member of the vineyard. Indeed, pray, hope and work even for your own salvation, and that of others, who seem well within in the vineyard. For here too, You and I  know many stories of former parishioners, even leaders who later drifted. St Paul spoke of how even regarding his own salvation he had a kind of sober vigilance: But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified (1 Cor 9:27)

III. Lip Service – The text says, The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir, ‘ but did not go.

So, consider the second son. He is personally respectful to his Father. When told to go into the vineyard he respectfully tells his Father he will do so. He would not dream of cursing his Father, or addressing him in any strident way. In terms of all God’s children, you might say he was religiously observant, outwardly respectful, a decent sort of person.

But in the end he does not get around to going to the vineyard. Whatever his reasons, his obedience to his Father was only cursory. He is emblematic of a great danger of the religiously observant, the danger of giving God lip service. Yes, we will praise the Lord, sing a hymn, shout Hallelujah and say Amen, all on Sunday. But on Monday will we obey and go to the vineyard of obedience, of forgiving those who have wronged us, of being generous to the poor, of being chaste, of being compassionate, of loving our spouse and children, of speaking the truth in love, of evangelizing and being God’s prophets? Will we go to the vineyard? Or is it all just lip service we pay to God.

And the greatest sadness of all is that it is our very religious observance (a good and commanded thing to be sure) that often blinds us to our wider disobedience. For it is too easy and too common that religiously observant person will reduce the faith merely to rituals and, once the rituals are observed, check off the “God-box.” In effect saying or thinking, “OK, I’ve gone to Mass, paid my tithes, said a few Amens and praised the Lord by singing. Now I’m done,” the God-box is checked. Yes with our lips we have praised God on Sunday. But do we go to the vineyard on Monday?

And lip service Christians are a terrible witness and a real blow to evangelization, because people can spot them a mile away. How on earth can we ever hope to win souls for Christ if they just see us going through the motions, and checking off the God-box, but living lives that are unreformed, and un-transformed? Our greatest witness has got to be a life that is being changed by Jesus Christ, a life that manifests biblical principles of love, justice, and charity; a  biblical understanding of sexuality, biblical priorities of forgiveness, mercy and generosity, a renewed mind and heart.

Now none of us do this perfectly, but pray God his transformative power is at work in us and that people can notice it in us. Nothing is more destructive to evangelization, than lip service Christians, who give the outward appearance of obedience and religiosity, but everyone knows they are really phoney. And nothing is more helpful to evangelizing our children, family members and friends than Christians who show lives that are being transformed and made joyful, serene and holier.

And all this leads to the title of this message, “God can use anything, but he shouldn’t have to.” In other words, it is true, none of us are perfect disciples and, despite this, God can work through us anyway. But, frankly God shouldn’t have to do this.

So in today’s Gospel Jesus points out three powerful obstacles to his grace flowing through us to others: lost connections, leaping to conclusions, and lip service.  All of these things lessen our effectiveness as disciples, prophets and evangelizers sent out to make disciples of all the nations. Yes, God can use anything, but he shouldn’t have to.

Drawing above: Two sons, by Davis

This song is an old African American Spiritual and it says, Oh fix me! Fix me Jesus, fix me.  Yes, God can use anything, but he shouldn’t have to, and so, as the song says, Fix me Jesus, fix me.

When we read a gospel like the one for today’s Mass we are tempted to side with the laborers who were hired first and who worked the longest. When we find out that they got paid the same as the men who only worked an hour the thought occurs to us that this is unfair somehow. And Jesus deals in his own way about the objections of unfairness issue, indicating simply that it is not for us to say how he will “spend” his grace. It’s his and the rest of it is none of our business.

I would further add the caution that we ought to be very careful before we ask God to be “fair.” Really what we want to ask from God is that he be merciful. For, if he were fair we’d all be in hell right now. The fact is we have no innate capacity to stand before God in pure justice, we simply cannot measure up to that. It is only grace and mercy that will win the day for us. So be very careful before trying to play the fairness card on God. In fact when we see Him being merciful to some one else, we ought to rejoice, for is also means we might stand a chance.

But another aspect of this Gospel that is important to learn from are the various dispositions of discipleship that are taught as the parable unfolds. Lets look at them each in turn.

I. The AVAILABILITY of discipleship – the text says, A landowner went at dawn to hire laborers to work in his field….He went later and found others standing idle….Why do you stand idle here all day?

Now it is clear that what we have described here are “day workers.” These were men, much like the Latino men of our day, who stood in public places hoping to be hired for the day. It was a tough life for, if you worked, you ate, if you didn’t you’d have little or nothing to eat. They were (are) called day laborers because they were hired only on a day to day basis, as needed. This is a terrible form of poverty for its vicissitude and men like these were (are) the poorest of the poor.

But note how their poverty, their hunger, makes them available. Each morning they show up and are ready, are available to be hired. Their poverty also motivates them to seek out the land owner and indicate that they are ready and willing to work. The well fed, and otherwise employed, do not show up, are not available. There’s something about poverty that makes these men available. Because their glass is empty, it is able to be filled.

But these men are us. We are the poor who depend on God for everything. Sometimes we don’t want to admit that, but we are. And every now and then it is made plain to us how poor, vulnerable and needy we really are. And this tends to make us seek God. In our emptiness, poverty and powerlessness, suddenly, there is room for God. Suddenly our glass, too often filled with the world, is now empty enough for God to find room. And in our pain we stand ready for God to usher us into the vineyard of his kingdom. An old gospel song says, Lord, I’m available to you, my storage is empty and I am available to you. It is our troubles that make us get up and go out with the poor to seek the Lord and be available to him. When things are going too well, Lord knows where we are to be found! Another gospel song says, Lord don’t move my mountain but give me the strength to climb it. Don’t take away my stumbling block but lead me all around. Cause Lord when my get a little too easy you know I tend to stray from thee.

Yes, we might wish for a trouble free life, but then, where would we be? Would we seek the Lord, would we make ourselves available to God, would we ever call on him at all?

II. The CALL of Discipleship – The text says, The Land OWNER said, “Go into my vineyard”….HE sent them into HIS vineyard.

So notice that it is the land owner who calls the shots. Too many, who call themselves the Lord’s disciples, rush into his vineyard with great ideas and biggie-wow projects that they have never really asked God about. But this passage teaches us that entrance into the vineyard requires the owners permission. If we expect to see fruits (wages for the work) at the end of the day, we have to be on the list of approved workers.

Fruitful discipleship is based on a call from the Lord. Scripture says, Unless the Lord builds the House, they that labor to build it labor in vain (Ps 127:1). Too many people run off and get married, take new jobs, accept promotions, start projects, etc., without ever asking God.

But true discipleship requires the Lord’s call first: “Go into my vineyard.” Got a bright idea? Ask God first. Discern his call with the Church, and a good spiritual director, guide, or pastor.

III. The TIMING of Discipleship. The text says, The vineyard owner came at Dawn, 9:00 am, Noon, 3:00 pm, 5:00pm

We may puzzle as to why God call some early, others late; none of our business. But he does call at different times. And even those he calls early, he does not always call us to do everything now. There is a timing to discipleship.

Moses thought he was ready at age 40, and in his haste, he murdered a man. God said, “Not now!” and made him wait until he was 80.

Sometimes we’ve got something we want to do but the Lord says, “Not yet.” And we think, “But Lord! This is a great project and many will benefit!” But the Lord says, “Not yet.” And we say, “But Lord I’m ready to do it now!” And the Lord says, “Not yet.”

Sometimes we think we’re ready, but we’re not. An old gospel song says, God is preparing me. He’s Preparing me for something I cannot handle right now. He’s making me ready, just because he cares. He’s providing me with what I’ll need to carry out the next matter in my life. God is preparing me. Just because he cares for me. He’s: maturing me. arranging me, realigning my attitude. He’s training me, teaching me, tuning me, purging me, pruning me, He’s preparing me.

IV. The PERSEVERANCE of Discipleship – The text says, When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to foreman…summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.

Notice the wage is paid in the evening and in the order determined by the land owner (who is God). The lesson is simple, we’ve got to stay in the vineyard. Some start things, but do not finish them. But if you’re not there at six, no pay.

Scripture says that we must persevere. Jesus says, But he who perseveres to the end will be saved (Mat 24:13). We also read To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life (Rom 2:7). And again, You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (Heb 10:36).

Yes, we must work till evening comes. Saying we had faith when we were young and that we got all our sacraments when we were young will not suffice. We have to work till evening. An old spiritual says, Some go to Church for to sing and shout. Before six months they’s all turned out. How about you?

V. The GIFT of discipleship – The text says, Those hired first grumbled…we bore the heat of the day and burdens thereof.

Notice how the early workers think of their entrance into the vineyard and its labors as a “burden.” Of course the vineyard is really the Kingdom of God. And, it reamains true that many “cradle Catholics,” of a lukewarm nature, consider the faith to be a burden and think, somehow, that “sinners have all the fun.” Never mind that this is a completely perverted thinking, it is held anyway, consciously and unconsciously, by many.

But consider the laborers hired last. Were they having a picnic? Not exactly. Most were resigning themselves to the fact that they and their family will have little or nothing to eat tonight. Similarly, most sinners do not live the life of Reilly. Repeated and life-long sin brings many griefs: disease, dissipation of wealth, regrets, loss of family, addiction and so forth. Sinners do no have all the fun, no matter what they tell you.

Further, being a Christian is not a burden. If accepted, we receive a whole new life from Christ, a life of: freedom, purity, simplicity, victory over sin, joy, serenity, vision and destiny.

How do you view the Christian life? Is it a gift, a treasure beyond compare no matter its difficulties? Or is it a burden, a bearing of the labor in the heat of the day? Scripture says, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God. It goes on to describe our “works” not as burdens but as something God enables us to do: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:8-10)

So here are five dispositions of discipleship which the Lord teaches in this parable: Availability, Call, Timing, Perseverance, and Gift.

Note well what the Lord teaches, for too often, we want to decide what it means to be a disciple. Beware, for the worst kind of disciple is the kind that gets out ahead of the Lord and self-defines his or her role. Jesus is Lord, let him lead.

This Song says, “I’m available to you…” And it reminds us that the owner of the vineyard still seeks souls to enter his vineyard and he wants to use your voice to say to someone: “You too, go into my vineyard!”

Today’s Gospel draws us into a remarkably sensitive area of the faith, that of forgiving others who may have harmed us. There are many who been authentically hurt, and others who that offering forgiveness will make them vulnerable to further harm. Forgiveness is something we experience as a very personal call, and it may, in some cases, be the most challenging thing we have ever been asked to do.

I have titled this Homily carefully, for if we read the parable closely, we must come to understand that mercy and forgiveness are not something we do out of our own flesh. Rather, mercy and forgiveness are a capacities we must find within us as the result of a stunning realization of the mercy we ourselves have been shown. As the remarkable reality f God’s incredible mercy for us, dawns upon us, our hearts are moved and suddenly we don’t hate anyone, and forgiveness is something which flows from our broken, humbled hearts. This is a gift which the Lord offers us. Let’s look at this Gospel in four movements.

I. THE PRESENTATION OF THE PROBLEM – The text says, Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.

In effect Peter’s question seems to presuppose that there needs to be a limit to forgiveness, that it is unrealistic to expect human beings to forgive without limit. And many would likely agree with Peter, and might not be even as generous in setting the number at seven times. But Jesus answers by speaking in Jewish way that means essentially, “Peter, we cannot set limits on mercy or forgiveness. Just forgive without limit.”

This of course raises many questions and people like to use extreme examples to illustrate that they think such a principle absurd or impractical. “Do you mean to say a wife should always welcome back her physically abusive husband if he says, “I’m sorry?!” Should a business welcome a stealing employee back and put him in charge of the cash register, just because he said, “I’m sorry?” “Should I have to let my alcoholic uncle stay and disturb my children just because he says he’s sorry and swears he won’t do it again?” Etc.

At some level these questions presuppose that forgiveness is to be fully equated with pretending something never happened, or that forgiveness obliges me to exhibit no change in the relationship, letting “bygones be bygones.” But, in fact we are not always able to live in peace, and have relaxed boundaries with people who have shown themselves to be untrustworthy in a consistent or fundamental way. Forgiveness does not usually oblige us to put ourselves or others at unreasonable risk, or, frankly, to merely set the sinner up for another fall.

But even though we may have to erect necessary and proper boundaries with those who have sinned against us, we are still summoned to forgive them. But what does forgiveness mean in situations like this?

In effect, forgiveness is letting go of the need to change the past. To forgive may not always mean we can simply return to the status quo ante, but it does mean that we are able to let go of resentments, bitterness, desires for revenge, hatefulness, and the need to lash out for what a person did or did not do. Forgiveness means we are able to set down the bowling balls of hatred and anger we so often carry about. It means we can even learn to love those who have harmed us, and have understanding for the struggles that may have contributed to their harmful behavior. Forgiveness can even mean that we are happy for the welfare of those who have hurt us and pray for their continued well being. Ultimately, forgiveness is freeing for us, and a crushing weight is removed when we receive this gift from God.

But how are we to receive this gift? The Lord gives an important insight for us to grasp in the verses ahead.

II. THE POVERTY THAT IS PROFOUND – The text says, That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’

The Lord’s parable begins by describing a man (this means you) who owes a huge amount. The Greek text says he owed ten thousand talents (μυρίων ταλάντων). Scripture scholars love to debate exactly how much this would be in modern currency. But for our purposes, it is a Jewish way of saying this guy owed many millions of dollars and he’s not just going to work a little overtime or take a part time job to pay it off. This is a debt that is completely beyond his capacity to pay. This man is toast, he has a profound poverty in that he is completely incapable or ever hoping to make a dent in what he owes.

But understand, this man is you and me. This is our state before God. We have a debt of sin so high and heavy that we can never hope to be rid of it on our own. I don’t care how many spiritual pushups we do, how many novenas, chaplets and rosaries, masses, fastings, pilgrimages, and gifts to the poor. We can’t even make a noticeable dent in the debt we owe.

People like to make light of sin today, and say stupid things like, “I am basically a good person” or “At least I’m not as bad as that prostitute over there.” OK, so you’ve got $500 and she’s only got $50. Big deal, the debt is three trillion. None of us can even come close. Without Christ paying the difference, we’re toast, finished, off to jail, off to hell. For we have all committed the infinite offense of saying “no” to a God who is infinitely holy. You and I just don’t have the resources to turn back the debt.

If it seems I belabor this point, fine. But we really have to get this through our thick skulls. We are in real trouble without Christ. And the more we can grasp our profound poverty and that hell is our destination without Jesus, then the more we can appreciate the gift of what he has done for us. So let this sink in: We are in big trouble, our situation is grave. And old song says, In times like these, you need a savior.

III. THE PITY THAT IS PERSONAL – The text says, Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.

Look at that! Don’t miss this! The WHOLE DEBT is paid. Complete and dramatic mercy! And notice how personal the mercy is. The text uses intensifiers: the master of THAT SERVANT let HIM go and forgave HIM the loan. This man is you. God has done this for you. You.

Now if we miss this point, nothing else makes sense. We have got to let it get through to us what God has done for us. And if we do, it will equip us to show mercy.

One day it will finally dawn on us that the Son of God died for us, died for me. And when it does, our stone hearts will break and love will pour in. And, with broken humbled hearts, we will find it hard to hate anyone. And in our gratitude we will gladly forgive those who have hurt us, even those who still hate us. With a new heart that the Lord can give us, we will forgive gladly, joyfully, and consistently out of gratitude and humility at what God has done for us.

But we have to get this. We have to know our poverty and inability to save ourselves. And then we have to know and experience that Jesus paid it all, that he saved us wholly and freely. And if this will break through for us, we will forgive and love others.

If we do not get this, and refuse to let the Holy Spirit to minister this gift to us, some pretty awful things will happen that are detailed in the final section of this gospel.

IV. THE PITILESSNESS THAT IS PERILOUS – The text tells a very tragic story: When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized one of his fellow servants and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

Apparently this wicked servant never got in touch with his true poverty and refused to experience the gift that he himself had received. And in refusing this, his heart remained unbroken, it remained hard, it was stone. Having experienced no mercy (though mercy HAD been extended) he was willfully ill-equipped to show mercy to others. And being callously unaware of the unbelievable gift he had been given, he remains unchanged.  In so doing and being, he was unfit for the Kingdom of God, which can only be entered by gladly receiving mercy.

And yet, many Christians are like this. They go about quite unaware and unappreciative of either their need for mercy, or that incredible mercy has been extended them. Unaware, they are ungrateful, and ungrateful, their hearts are unbroken, and no light or love has really been able to enter there. Hurt by others they therefore hurt back, or hold grudges, or grow arrogant and unkind. They lack compassion or understanding for others and consider themselves superior to others, whom they see as worse sinners than themselves. Forgiveness is considered by them to be either a sign of weakness, or something that only foolish people do. As for them, “they don’t get angry, they get even.”

And it all begins with a person who has never known just how grave their condition and awful their poverty really is. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked (Rev 3:17). And refusing to see their poverty they do not appreciate their gift, and so the terrible cycle ensues.

Scripture warns in many places of our need to experience and show mercy:

1. Matt 6:14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins
2. Matt 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
3. Matt 7:2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
4. Luke 6:37 Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
5. Matt 18:35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.
6. James 2:13 For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. But mercy triumphs over judgment!
7. Sirach 27:30 The vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance, for He remembers their sin in detail. Forgive your neighbor’s injustice, then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. Can anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the Lord? Can anyone refuse mercy to another like himself and then seek pardon for his own sins? Remember your last days, set enmity aside. Remember death and cease from sin. Think of the Commandments, hate not your neighbor, remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.

I don’t know about you, but I am going to need mercy on the day of judgement. And the Lord actually teaches in texts like these that we can have influence over the standard of judgment he will use. Do you want to find mercy? Then receive it now from him, and show it to others. Otherwise you will be judged with strict justice. And I promise you, you don’t want that. For if strict justice is the measure, we will surely go to Hell. We just owe too much to think we can make it without mercy.

OK, a tough gospel, but a freeing one too. It is sure that some of us find it hard to forgive. And some have been very deeply hurt. But in the end, forgiveness is a gift we have to receive from God. It is a work of God in us. And we should, and must ask for it. Even if we feel very hurt, seek the gift, it will bless you and prepare you to receive more mercy. But hear carefully the warnings. For if we cling to our anger, and refuse the freeing gift of forgiveness, we become unfit for the kingdom of heaven. No matter how deep our hurts we cannot ultimately justify our anger and refusal to forgive. God has just been too good to us. And if that will dawn on us, our hearts will break with joy and be filled with love. And forgiveness will surely come with a new heart.

Photo Credit: From the Josephite Collection

This songs says, Your grace and mercy brought me through, I’m living this moment because of you. I want to thank you, and praise you too, your grace and mercy brought me through.

We live in times when there is a widespread notion that to correct sinners is to “judge” them. Never mind that it is sin we judge, not the sinner.  Never mind that in accusing us of “judging” the worldly minded are themselves doing the very “judging” they condemn. Never mind any of that, the point of charge that we are judging is to seek to compel our silence through shame. And despite the fact that Scripture consistently directs us to correct the sinner, many Catholics have bought into the notion that correcting the sinner is “judging” them. In this, the devil who orchestrates the “correcting is judging” campaign rejoices, for if he can keep us from correcting one another, sin can and does flourish.

Today’s Gospel is an important reminder and instruction on why and how we should correct the sinner and be open to correction ourselves. Let’s look at in four steps.

I. PRESCRIPTION – The text says, Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins (against you), go and tell him” – I place “against you” in parentheses since many ancient manuscripts do not contain this phrase, others do. While some may want to limit this gospel to commanding correction only when someone sins “against you,” none of the other texts we will review contain this restriction and so the phrase seems superfluous. For the purpose of this reflection, I will favor those manuscripts that do not include the phrase “against you.”

Now therefore observe the brief but clear advice that when we see someone in sin, we ought to talk with them about it. Many prefer, probably due to sloth, to say, “It’s none of my business what other people do.” But Jesus clearly teaches otherwise.

In teaching this way, Jesus is obviously speaking to the general situation. Some distinctions are helpful and admissible in specific situations. For example, one is generally more obliged to correct people in serious matters than in less serious ones. One is more obliged to correct those who are younger and less obliged to correct those who are older than they are. One is more obligated to correct subordinates, and less obligated to correct superiors. Parents are strongly obligated to correct their own children, children are seldom obligated to correct parents, and so on. But the general rule remains, other things being equal, there is an obligation to engage in Christian correction. Jesus says, “If your brother sins, talk to him about it.”

There are many other scriptures that also advise and even oblige us to correct the sinner. Some of the texts also speak to way we should correct:

1. James 5:19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
2. Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any sin, you who are spiritual should recall him in a spirit of gentleness. Look to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ
3. Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom
4. 1 Thess 5:14 And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
5. Lev 19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him.
6. Ez 3:17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.

Hence, we have an obligation in charity to correct some one who has gone over into sin. In correcting we ought to be gentle, but clear. Further, we ought to correct with humility and not fall into the temptation of “all superior” and such. Our goal is limit sin’s effects and apply necessary medicine to the problem of sin.

We will see more “correction texts” in a moment. But for now, let the first point be repeated: If your brother sins, talk with him about it.

II. PURPOSE – If he listens to you, you have won over your brother – Here let us just briefly note that the point of this correction is to win a brother or sister back to the Lord. The point is not to win an argument or show superiority. The point is to contend with Satan, by God’s grace” and win the person, who is in Satan’s grasp, back for God.

III. PROCESS – The Lord next sets forth a process for fraternal correction. It would seem that the process here is for more serious matters, generally, and that all these steps might not be necessary to the end for lesser matters. But speaking to the general situation where a brother or sister is in state of more serious and unrepented sin, the following process is set forth:

A. Go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. – This first stage is often omitted in our fallen, gossip prone, human condition. If one is in sin, it is too frequently the case that we will talk to everyone except the actual sinner. This is usually not helpful, and, in fact, merely multiplies sin. The sinner goes uncorrected and sin multiplies through gossip. Satan gets a high return on investment, often netting dozens of sinners for the price of one.

Jesus is clear, to to sinner himself, FIRST. There may be situations where we need to seek advice from someone we trust about how best to approach the sinner. Sometimes we may need to check a few facts, but in the end, such lateral discussions ought to be few and only with trusted individuals. The Lord is clear, step one is to go first to the sinner himself.

B. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. – This sort of option may seem rarer today, in large cosmopolitan settings, but such things do occur in the right settings. Often these sorts of team efforts are called “interventions” and they are often done in the cases where an addict is resisting any treatment. Sometimes too they are used when a certain family member is engaging in hurtful practices such as severe anger, or the refusal to forgive, or causing division within a family. These interventions are usually conducted by several family members that the person trusts and they often receive training of some sort. Depending on the gravity of the matter, such interventions are both necessary and counseled by the Lord as part of a method to end destructive and sinful behaviors.

C. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. – Here too, note the presupposition that the Church is experienced in a personal way and that the individual is somehow connected to a body of believers in their life who matter to them in some way. The presumption is that these are people they know, (pastors, parish leaders et al). This is not always the case in modern parishes which can be large and impersonal and where many can attend and belong only on the fringes. Rather than simply dismissing this step of Jesus as unrealistic in most cases today, we ought to see it as setting forth an ideal of what parishes ought to be. I hope to work with this vision later this week in a post.

Nevertheless, for those who have some relationship to the Church, this step needs to be considered in sins which are serious. As a pastor, I have sometimes been asked to speak to a family member in serious sin. Presuming other measures ave been taken, I often do speak to them to warn about such things as fornication, shacking up, abortion, drug use, anger issues, utter disrespect for parents and so forth.

But to be honest, unless the individual has more than a passing membership in the parish, such talks are limited in effectiveness. Further, “Church” here should net be seen merely as clergy. Sometimes there are others in the church who ought to be engaged, leaders of organizations to which the person belongs, older men and women speaking to younger men and women, and so forth. I have often engaged a team to speak, especially to younger people.

D. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector – and here we come to a matter of some controversy: that of excommunication. Treating some one as tax collector or Gentile is a Jewish way of saying, have nothing more to do with such a one, let them be expelled from the community.

Some today object to excommunication ever being used and often suggest, with some superiority, that “Jesus would never do such a thing.” Yet Jesus himself is teaching us here to do this very thing. As we shall again remark, excommunication is not engaged upon someone simply to be rid of them, but as a medicine to bring forth repentance from them. As we can see too, excommunication is at the end of a process and is not something that that Church rushes to do. But it IS taught here and elsewhere in scripture. Consider some of the following examples:

1. 2 Thess 3:6 We instruct you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to shun any brother who walks in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us.
2. 2 Thess 3:14 If any one refuses to obey what we say in this letter, note that man, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not look on him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
3. 1 Cor 5:1 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father’s wife.And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body I am present in spirit, and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing. When you are assembled, and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
4. 1 Cor 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Come to your right mind, and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
5. 1 Cor 5:11 But rather I wrote to you not to associate with any one who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber — not even to eat with such a one. Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?

So a fairly strong and clear biblical mandate exists from both Jesus and St. Paul that excommunication may at times have to be used. It would seem, from the texts that we have surveyed that the purpose of excommunication is two-fold: to protect the community from the influence of serious sinners, and to be a medicine to urge the wayward Christian unto saving repentance.

And if any doubt the seriousness of excommunication or thinks nothing of the Church’s solemn declaration of it note that Jesus indicates that he will in fact recognize the Church’s authoritative declaration. For he says: Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Thus, let no one make light of the Church’s solemn declaration in such matters.

In our times there is increasing demand for the bishops to use this measure more often, especially for those who openly support and help fund abortion. It seems clear from the Scriptures we have surveyed that such a measure can and, at times, should be used at the end of a process like Jesus describes. If one directly procures abortion, either by having one, performing one, or paying directly for one, or directly assisting someone to have one, they are automatically (self) excommunicated.

What of “Catholic” politicians and jurists who advance abortions availability and vote funding for it?

Most bishops (not all) have made a prudential decision not to make use of this measure for “Catholic” politicians who support abortion. Most of them say they have concerns that the matter would be perceived as a partisan political act rather than a moral shepherding of these wayward souls. And since it would be misread and falsely portrayed by the media, they consider it unwise in these circumstances to excommunicate.

Bare minimum – It is not my role as a priest to critique bishops whether they choose to excommunicate or not. There are prudential judgments bishops have to make. But at bare minimum, I would surely hope that every Catholic (politician or not) who even comes close to procuring abortion or advancing its availability, has been privately instructed and warned by his pastor and bishop (in prominent cases), that, if he does not change, and dies unrepentant, he will almost certainly go to Hell.

It is simply too serious to leave a sinner of this magnitude uninstructed, unrebuked, or in any way unclear as to how serious this matter is. They should be instructed, yes warned vividly, to repent at once and to refrain from Holy Communion, until confession can be celebrated following true repentance.

IV. POWER – It is clear that Jesus expects us to correct the sinner and to thereby experience the power of this loving action. In stages we are undertake this act of charity because we love, not because we hate. In effect, the Lord is asking us to love others enough and to care enough about their eternal well-being to undertake the risk, and the hard work of drawing them to soul-saving repentance. And, even in cases where sin has not yet become mortal, we still have obligations, especially toward the young, to correct in such a way as to help stave off serious sin.

The work is “risky” because we often have to suffer being rebuffed by those who do not “appreciate” our loving correction. The work is hard, because it is so much easier to sit at home and say, “None of my business” when even close relatives remain in serious sin by skipping Mass, living in illicit sexual unions, being unforgiving, divisive and doing self destructive and other destructive things.

Can we really say we love others if we are unwilling to take the risk to correct them? And what would this world be like today if Christians would really agree to undertake this important and loving work which is numbered among the spiritual works of mercy?

Satan surely rejoices at our fearful silence and our self congratulatory euphemisms like,  “It’s none of my business”, “I’m a non-judgmental person”, etc. Consider the moral ruin of these times as ponder how different it would be if we were more devoted to this act of mercy.

Jesus simply concludes as to the power of Collective and Compassionate Christian Correction: Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. Yes, what would happen if we all agreed to work harder on this critical function of a Christian?

Photo Credit: From Willowtree Gifts

This song says, It’s a Highway to Heaven, None can walk up there but the pure in heart, Walkin’ up the King’s Highway….If you’re not walking, start while I’m talking.

In today’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the Cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Lets consider the Gospel in three stages.

I. The Pattern that is Announced – The text says, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.

Note here that the Lord does not only announce the cross, he also announces the resurrection. In effect he announces the pattern of the Christian life which we have come to call the “Paschal Mystery.”

The expression, “Paschal Mystery” refers to the suffering, death, resurrection and glorification of Jesus as a whole. The word “Paschal” is related to the Hebrew for Passover. Just as the shed blood of a lamb saved the people from the angel of death and signaled their deliverance, so does Jesus’ death, his Blood, save us from death and deliver us from slavery to sin.

So he is announcing a pattern: the Cross leads somewhere, accomplishes something. It is not an end in itself, it is for a purpose, it is part of a pattern.

St. Paul articulates the pattern of the Paschal Mystery this way: We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body (2 Cor 4:10). It is like an upward spiral where the cross brings blessings we enjoy. But we often circle back to the crosses God permits, and there come even greater blessings and higher capacities. Cross, growth, cross, growth, and so the pattern continues, till we reach the end, dying with Christ so as to live with him.

This is the pattern of our life. We are dying to our old self, dying to this world, dying to our sins, but rising to new life, rising to the Kingdom of God, becoming victorious over sin. The cross brings life, it is prelude to growth. We die in order to live more richly. And old spiritual says of this repeated pattern that “every round goes higher, higher.”

Do you see the pattern Jesus announces? The Lord does not announce the cross to burden us, neither does the Church. No, the cross is part of a pattern that, if accepted with faith, brings blessing, new life, and greater strength.

II. The Prevention that is Attempted – The text says, Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Notice the exact wording of Peter’s words: “No such thing shall ever happen to you.” And we ought to ask, “What such thing?” For in precluding that Jesus suffer and die, he also implicitly blocks the rising and glorification of Jesus. For Christ cannot rise, unless he dies.

Peter of course is not thinking all this through, he is not connecting the dots. But neither do we as we seek to avoid crosses for ourselves or to improperly hinder others from accepting the cross. For the cross brings glory and growth and we run the danger of depriving others of these if we rush to eliminate all the crosses, demands and difficulties of life. Perhaps we do this by enabling behaviors, perhaps we do it by spoiling children.

We also hinder our own growth by refusing to accept the crosses of self-discipline, hard work, obedience, resisting temptation, accepting suffering, consequences and limits. In rejecting the cross we also reject its fruits.

All this explains Jesus severe reaction to Peter. He goes so far as to call Peter “Satan” for it pertains to Satan to pretend to befriend us in protesting our crosses, but it is really our blessings he wants to thwart. Peter may not know what he is doing, but Satan does, and seeks to become an obstacle to Jesus’ work.

Jesus’ severe reaction is rooted in protecting our blessings.

III.  The Prescription that is Awarding – Jesus goes on to teach further on the need for and wisdom of the Cross. The text says, Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all according to his conduct.”

The heart of Jesus’ teaching here is the deep paradox that in order to find our life, we must lose it. More specifically, in order to gain heaven we must die to this world. And that dying is a process more than just an event at the end of our physical life here. Though we cling to life in this world, it is really not life at all. It is a mere spark compared to the fire of love that God offers. It is a mere note compared to the great symphony God directs.

Jesus instructs us to be willing to exchange this tiny and dying life for that which is true life. Whatever tiny blessing comes from clinging to this life and world the Lord says it is no profit at all. If you choose life in this world rather than the true life God offers, you’re nothing but a big loser.

Of course what the world’s cheap trinkets offer is immediate gratification and evasion of the Cross. We may feel relief for a moment, but our growth is stunted and the cheap little trinkets slip through our fingers. We gain the world (cheap little trinket that it is) but lose our souls. Total loss. To quote a modern expression: “FAIL!”

Jesus final world reminds us that the choice is ours, however. For the day will come when he will ratify our choice. Either we accept true life and win, or we choose the passing, dying life this world has and we lose. The choice is ours.

This songs speaks of life as a kind of spiral climb between cross and glory. The text says, “Every round goes higher, higher, soldiers of the cross.”

The Gospel today sets forth the biblical basis for the Office of Peter, the Office of the Papacy, for Peter’s successors are the Popes. The word “Pope” is simply an English version (via Anglo-Saxon and Germanic tongues) of the word “papa.” The Pope is affectionately called “Papa” in Italian and Spanish as an affectionate indication that he is the father of the family, the Church.

That Peter receives an office, and not simply a charismatic designation we will discuss later. As to certain objections regarding the office of the Papacy, we will also deal later. But for now lets look at the basic establishment of the Office of Peter in three steps.

I. The Inquiry that Illustrates – The text says, Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?“

It should be noted that, in asking these questions, Jesus is not merely curious about what people think of him. He seems, rather, to be using these questions as a vehicle by which to teach the apostles, and us, about how the truth is adequately revealed and guaranteed.

Jesus’ first two questions reveal the inadequacy of two common methods:

1. The Poll – Jesus asks who the crowds say he is. In modern times we love to take polls, and many moderns put a lot of weight in what polls say. More than just politics, many people, Catholics among them, like to point out that X% of Catholics think this, or that, about moral teachings, or doctrines and disciplines. It is as if the fact that more than 50% of Catholics think something, it must be true, and that the Church should change her teaching based on this.

But, as this gospel makes clear, taking a poll doesn’t necessarily yield the truth. In fact ALL the assertions of the crowd were wrong, no matter what percentage thought them. Jesus is not John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets redivivus. So, running the Church by poll taking or democracy seems not to be the model that works.

2. The Panel – Jesus, having taught this implicitly, now turns to a panel of experts, a “blue ribbon committee,” if you will. He asks the twelve, “Who do you (apostles) say that I am?” Here we simply get silence. Perhaps they were looking around like nervous students in a classroom not wanting to answer, lest they look like a fool. The politics on the panel leads not to truth, but to a kind of self-serving, politically correct silence.

That Peter finally speaks up is true. But, as Jesus will say, he does not do this because he is a member of the panel, but for another reason altogether.

Hence the blue ribbon panel, the committee of experts, is not adequate in setting forth the religious truth of who Jesus is.

And through this line of questioning, Jesus instructs through inquiry. Polls and panels are not adequate in yielding the firm truth as to his identity. All we have are opinions, or politically correct silence. Having set forth this inadequacy, the Gospel now presses forth to describe the plan of God in adequately setting forth the truths of faith.

II. The Individual that is Inspired – – The text says, Simon Peter said in reply,”You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.

We are taught here not merely that Peter spoke, but also how he came to know the truth. Jesus is very clear to teach us that Peter spoke rightly, not merely because he was the smartest, (he probably wasn’t), or because some one else told him, (Jesus is clear that flesh and blood did not reveal this to him), and not merely because because he guessed, and just happen to get the right answer. Jesus teaches that Peter came to know the truth and speak it because God the Father revealed it to him. God the Father inspires Peter. There is a kind of anointing at work here.

So here is God’s methodology when it comes to adequately revealing and guaranteeing the truths of the faith: he anoints Peter.

It’s not polls, or panels that God uses, it’s Peter.

And while truths may emerge in the wider Church, reflecting what is revealed, it is only with Peter and his successors that such views can be definitively set forth, and their truth adequately guaranteed. Thus, the other apostles are not merely bypassed by God, but He anoints Peter to unite them and give solemn declaration to what they have seen and heard.

The Catechism says of Peter and his successors, the popes:

When Christ instituted the Twelve, he constituted [them] in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter, chosen from among them….The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the “rock” of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head. This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church’s very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.

The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor, is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful. For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.”

The college or body of bishops has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff, Peter’s successor, as its head. As such, this college has supreme and full authority over the universal Church; but this power cannot be exercised without the agreement of the Roman Pontiff. The college of bishops exercises power over the universal Church in a solemn manner in an ecumenical council. But there never is an ecumenical council which is not confirmed or at least recognized as such by Peter’s successor. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #s 880-884 selected)

All these truths point back to this moment when we see how God himself chooses to operate.

And note too, the dimension of faith we are called to have. We are to assent to the Pope’s teaching and leadership not merely because we think he is smarter, or because it might happen that he had power, riches other worldly means that might impress us or compel us to assent. Rather, no, we assent to the Pope because, by faith, we believe he is inspired by God. It is not flesh and blood in which we put our trust, it is God himself, whom we believe has acted on our behalf by anointing someone to affirm the truth, and adequately guarantee that truth to be revealed by God.

And this then leads to the final stage wherein Jesus sets forth a lasting office for Peter.

III. The Installation that is Initiated – The text says, And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Jesus does not merely praise Simon for a moment of charismatic insight. He goes further, and declares that he will build his very Church upon Simon, and thus he calls him, Peter (Rock). And here too, he does not merely mean this is a personal gift or recognition that will die with Peter. In giving him the keys, he is establishing an office, not merely indicating a personal promotion for Peter. This will be God’s way of strengthening and uniting the Church. In Luke’s Gospel Jesus says more of this:

Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, all that he might sift you all like wheat, but I have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy faith may not fail; and when thou hast turned again, strengthen thy brethren. (Luke 22:31)

Hence, it is clear once again that God’s plan for the Church is to strengthen one man, Peter and his successors, that in turn the whole Church may be strengthened and united.Thus the Lord Jesus establishes not only Peter, but also his office. This is God’s vision and plan for his Church.

It is true many have objected to this teaching. There is no time here to do a full apologetical  reply to every objection. But frankly most of the objections amount to a kind of wishful thinking by some, who want this text to mean something other than what it plainly means.  Nothing could be clearer that the fact that Jesus is establishing Peter and an office which will serve as a foundation for the unity and strength of his Church.

Some object that within verses Peter will be called “satan” and will later deny Christ. But Jesus knew all this, and still said and did what he does here.

Others object that Jesus is head and foundation, that he is the Rock. True enough, but apparently Jesus never got the objectors’ memo, for it is he himself who calls Peter rock, and establishes him with the authority to bind and loose. It is also true that both Jesus and Peter can be head and rock, in terms of primary and secondary causality (more on that HERE).  And yet again, that Peter and his successors are head and rock by making visible and being the means through which Christ exercises his headship and foundational aspect.

Finally, to return to the title of this post, “If no one is Pope, EVERYONE is pope!” For the fact is, without a visible head, there is no principle on earth for unity in the Church. The Protestant experiment tried to replace the Pope with scripture and gave it sole authority. But Protestants cannot agree on what Scripture says, and have no earthly way to resolve their conflicts. While they say that authority resides in Scripture alone, the fact is, in claiming the anointing of the Holy Spirit and thus the ability to properly interpret Scripture, they really place the locus of authority within themselves, and become the very pope they denounce. Having denied that there is a Pope they become one themselves. If no one is pope, everyone is pope.

I have read that some objectors think Catholics arrogant in asserting that we have a Pope whom we trust to be anointed by God to teach us without error on faith and morals. But what is more arrogant, to claim there is a Pope other than me, or to in fact act like one myself?

In the end, the Protestant experiment is a failed one. Many estimates place the number of Protestant denominations as high as 30,000. I personally think this is slightly exaggerated, but not much. They all claim the Scriptures as their source of truth but differ on many, very essential matters, such as the necessity of baptism, once saved always saved, sexual morality, authority etc. When they cannot resolve things they simply subdivide. There is an old joke, told even among protestants that goes:

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!” He said, “Nobody loves me.” I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?” He said, “A Christian.” I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?” He said, “Protestant.” I said, “Me, too! What franchise?” He said, “Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?” He said, “Northern Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.” I said, “Me, too!” Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.” I said, “Die, heretic!” And I pushed him over.

A strange little joke, and not entirely fair since most Protestants of different denominations I know get along fine personally. But the truth is, the denominations disagree over many very essential things. The Protestant experiment is a failure that leads only to endless divisions. The Church needs a visible head. The Bible alone does not suffice, for there are endless disagreements on how to interpret it. Some one must exist to who all look and agree that he will resolve the differences after listening.

Jesus has installed an individual in this role to manifest his office of rock and head and that individual is Peter and his successors.

Here’s a light-hearted video I put together commemorating the Pope’s many visits to unite and strengthen us.