All Soul's Day - John 6:32-40 - "Blessed be the name of the Lord"

We are a people of hope.  God has given us hope through the life, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.  As we believe in Him, who experienced life with us, who suffered cruelly for us, who died for us and who was raised up by the love of God, the Father has shared with us the hope of eternal life.

There is an old story told of a Rabbi and his wife who had two sons, the delight of their lives.  

One day, while the Rabbi was off teaching the people his two sons became suddenly ill and died in their home.  The Rabbi’s wife was sorrowed to tears and unsure how to tell the Rabbi the news that their sons had died.  So she covered their bodies with a sheet and left them on the bed in a side room.

When the Rabbi returned home for the noontime meal he asked where his two sons were.  His wife made some excuse and then proposed a question to him.  “Husband, she said, I am placed in a great difficulty.  Someone has entrusted to me a precious possession to care for while they were away for a very long time.  They have now returned asking for their possessions back.  I have grown very fond of these valuables.  Am I obliged to give them back?  What am I to do?”

The Rabbi was surprised that his wife would ask such a question, knowing she was a good and honest woman. “Of course, you must restore to another that which is theirs”, he said.

The wife then asked her husband to follow her into the side room where she pulled back the sheet covering their dead sons.  The Rabbi cried out, “My sons, my sons!” and began to weep bitterly.

His wife said, “The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.’  You have always taught the people to return, without reluctance, that which is lent to us for our happiness.  We have returned our two sons, who brought joy to our lives, to God, the Father of all mercies.”

On this day dedicated to remembering the souls of our dearly departed, let us be consoled in the hope found in the resurrection.  Our God, who loves us so much, asks that we, His precious children, be returned to Him by those entrusted to love and care for us in this life; giving them joy for their lives.  He has given us the means by which we may return into His embrace through His Son, Jesus Christ.

The Father has entrusted to His Son all whom the Father has given Him.  He does not reject anyone whom His Father has given Him.  He does the Father’s will in raising up all who believe in Him, - into eternal life - in joy and peace of the Father’s heavenly kingdom.

That we grieve the loss of our loved ones is expected because we have grown fond of those precious possessions entrusted to our care by our heavenly Father.  But we live in hope and expectation of being reunited with them in the joys of His heavenly kingdom.  This is the hope and joy we have in Christ Jesus.  ‘May He enlighten our inner most vision that we may know the great hope to which we are called, the wealth of His glorious heritage, freely given to all members of His holy church.’

By His cross and resurrection he has opened the path to new life: where all who believe in Him shall attain salvation. Through His sacrifice we will be joined together in communion with His saints, with all the angels and the heavenly host in our Father’s house forever and ever. ~Amen

Peace,
Deacon Don

29th Sunday Ordinary Time - Matthew 22: 15-21 - "Render Unto Caesar"

Raise your hand if you like to pay taxes!

See, we’re not much different from the Jewish community of Jesus’ time or for that matter most other communities since the grand idea of taxation popped into a ruler’s head.  While we may understand the concept behind the idea of taxes and may even agree that taxes serve the common good, we still chafe at the thought and apply an extra sharp pencil at tax time.

The Jews, and in particular, the Pharisees, did not like paying the tax to Caesar, Tiberius.  The Jews disliked having a foreign ruler whose troops occupied their homeland.  The tax reminded them of their yoke of subjugation and was viewed as an infringement on the Divine Right of God over His chosen people.  

The tax was to be paid by every person from the age of puberty to 65 years and payable in Roman coin, the Denarius, which was valued at about a day’s wages for a laborer.  This second part of the tax requirement was the part the Pharisees mostly objected.  The Denarius, a silver coin minted under official Roman control, bore the image and inscription of Tiberius, whose image they found blasphemous and therefore, unacceptable.
But we have here a second group confronting Jesus together with the Pharisees, the Herodians.  Both trying to trap him into committing an act of treason.  This other group were followers of the puppet king Herod, whom the Romans placed over the people.  

The Romans, when occupying a foreign land, liked to place local rulers in charge, so they had someone on the scene, like Herod, who knew the people; to better keep peace and, most importantly, collect the taxes to due Rome.  The Romans had a neat trick for ensuring they received the proper amount of money due to them.  The local ruler paid the tax upfront to Rome; leaving, in this case Herod, to recoup his payout from the local tax collection.  So, you have the Herodians who liked the tax because they had a vested interest in its collection to keep their king in power.

The Pharisees and Herodians were strange bed-fellows, united together in the common cause of removing Jesus who threatened their way of life.  The Pharisees stood to lose their religious prestige and power over the people and the Herodians saw their tax collecting in jeopardy due to Jesus’ powerful preaching and healing of the people.  A wrong answer by Jesus could cause the people to rebel; ending their way of life.

Together, they plan a trap for Jesus by asking him, “Is it lawful or not to pay the census tax to Caesar?”  This was the equivalent of asking: Have you stopped cheating on your taxes?  Either answer causes Jesus a problem. 

As the story tells us, Jesus knew their evil intention and avoided directly answering their question.  He asked them to show him the tax coin, which only a Herodian would be able to produce, then taking the coin, told them to, “. . . render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and to God that which belongs to God.”

Jesus’ answer is not an endorsement of the tax or the right of rulers to levy taxes, as many people believe.  Jesus does not specify what belongs to Caesar.  But for the last several weeks we have heard in the Gospel message of what belongs to God.
No ruler has legitimate authority unless God allows it.  All that Caesar had comes from God.  Even in the death and destruction wrought his Caesar’s name upon other civilizations came about due to God’s plan, His Divine purpose. 

It is God’s endorsement and approval rulers need to seek.  Their power and authority to rule over God’s people, using God’s gifts come from God, not from themselves.  They need to be reminded that they, as we all, are stewards of God’s creation and His gifts of all resources meant for all people – for all generations – until the end of time.  God’s gifts are not for our own earthly ends.

In Isaiah, the king Cyrus ruled and conquered only as the anointed of God.  Cyrus’ temporal authority, though he knew God not, was given him for God’s purpose, not man’s.  We are His holy people, He is our God.  He alone is the Lord, there is no other. ~Amen

Peace,
Deacon Don

28th Sunday Ordinary Time - Matthew 22: 1-14 - "Put on Christ"

“Come one!  Come all!

A banquet is offered.

A feast is prepared.

All are invited into the palace to partake of the generosity of our host.

Sumptuous foods are prepared.  The choicest wines are available.

Come, eat and be satisfied.  Drink, quench your thirst.

All is ready.  Be welcomed to the table of our host.

He has made all preparation for your enjoyment and comfort.

He has selected the finest from among his bountiful larder.

Come one!  Come all!

Make ready to be received in gladness and joy!

Today we see a God who provides all for His people.  He is a God who loves His people so much as to see to their every need.  In Isaiah, in the 23rd Psalm, in Paul’s letter to the Philippians and in the Gospel of Matthew, we see a God who makes available for us the finest of food and drink; satisfying all our needs.  We see a God who heals our wounds and comforts our sorrows, a God who protects us from evils and gives us hope, a God who invites us into His Kingdom where we will freely partake in all the riches of His love.  
This is a God of compassion; generous and loving, who desires all peoples to be with Him; sharing in all He has.

On Sunday all people of this community are invited to the Mother of Mercy parish picnic.  All are invited to be community with one another, to enjoy the company of one another, the share with one another our life in Christ in this community of invited guests.  While this feast may pale in comparison with the banquet of the Lord, it is still a banquet of His people who are joined together through their professing belief in His Son, Jesus Christ.

He calls us together to love one another as He loves us and to be with one another as He is with us.  As we are united with Christ, we are united with all Others, especially among ourselves as a Christian community.  Our God calls us, not only to be with Him, but to be with one another in communion with Him.  For it is in loving the Other that we find the love of God.

So, dress for a wedding feast. Prepare to enter the palace.  Put on Christ.  Come, clothed in holy attire, into the feast of the Lord.  Partake of the joy and love of God found in His people, the community known as Mother of Mercy.  Put aside all busyness: 

• awake from the deadliness of lethargy, 
• cast aside all fears and doubts, 
• turn away from the things that distract, 
• ignore the false promises of the evil one
• bring an end to the excuses that keep separated from our God - through His holy people.  

Receive with great joy and excitement the Lord’s invitation to share in His bounty!  Be welcomed into the light of His banquet hall (or in this case, the sunshine in the parish parking lot). Come, satisfy your hunger and slake your thirst on the feast of the Lord found in His people.  Taste and see the goodness of the Lord living among His beloved.  

Be among the chosen.  Put on Christ.  Attire yourselves in holy array, clothe yourselves in the Lord’s love, stand in His light and partake of His life.  Accept God’s invitation and welcome into His holy feast - for in refusing, we cast ourselves out into darkness, where there is wailing and grinding of teeth. ~Amen.

Peace,
Deacon Don

27th Sunday Ordinary Time - Matthew 22: 33-43 - "In the Lord's Vineyard"

In both the First Reading from Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew we have the use of a vineyard to express the gifts of God to His people.  In both passages we have:

A landowner who invests time, expenses and loving care to create a bountiful garden.
He prepares the soil; making it fertile for good growth
He selects choice vines to grow luscious fruit
He puts up a hedge and a wall to keep out marauding animals
He constructs a wine press to process the fruit at maturity
He erects a watchtower to guard against outsiders
The landowner creates a beautiful garden that will give life abundantly to his chosen tenants.  But in each vineyard things go astray.

In the garden of Isaiah, the fruit that develops is not the luscious, life-giving fruit the landowner intended.  Those who tend His garden have allowed wild grapes to grow.  Their neglect has allowed other vines to grow; bearing fruit that is useless for making wine, barely fit to eat, and some are deadly to consume.  Through their disregard for and misuse of the landowner’s gifts of the garden, these tenants have not returned to Him the yield he sought and have made his vineyard an unprofitable disgrace.

In the vineyard of Matthew we see the actions of the tenants misappropriating the gifts of the landowner’s garden.  Here they redirect the gifts for their own use; failing to return a profit due Him.  And when He attempts to remind the tenants that all they have come from Him, they abuse and kill his messengers.  Finally, the landowner, in hope that the tenants will come to their senses and realize that He is the giver of all they have, he sends his Son.  But the tenants; believing that, by their own labors, they are the authors of the vineyard and all it contains, plot to kill His Son.  They selfishly desire to seize ownership for themselves.

In both of these readings the tenants have forgotten - from where the gifts of the vineyard came.  Either through neglect or self-indulgence they have ignored the care, the effort and the loving benevolence of the landowner.  Through their indifference of His gifts or in their selfish desire - they fail to keep faith with Him.  

In His creation of the vineyard, in which the tenants have life through his choicest gifts, He asked a return – a share of the good fruit of the garden and faith in Him as benefactor.  But, in each vineyard He did not receive His due.  Instead, He received neglect and contempt for his gifts and abuse and bloodshed as return for His effort.  

In each vineyard He deals severely with the tenants.  In the one, He devastates the lush garden; tearing out the hedge, uprooting the vines, allowing the wild beasts to trample it and let it be overgrown with briars and thorns. He takes away the fertile ground and abundant life He provided.

In the other, He keeps the fruitful garden, but replaces the tenants with new tenants.  He gives His gifts to a people who desire life in His vineyard – a people who will keep faith in Him; – sharing in the gifts of the fruitful life He provides.  

The landowner’s mercy is shown through to His continual invitation to new tenants to live in His vineyard and share in His gifts – gifts that lead to a fruitful, nourishing life.  His offer of tenancy in the bountiful, life-giving vineyard is extended to all who desire a share in His gifts. 

He is the landowner, the creator, the provider, the benefactor - upon whose gifts we rely.  Through His generosity we receive the abundance of new life by keeping faith with Him. ~Amen

Peace,
Deacon Don

25th Sunday Ordinary Time - Matthew 20:1-16a - "One day in the garden of the Lord"

• Is there a god greater than our God?  
• Is there a god with greater love for his people than our God?
• Is there a god who promises salvation for all his beloved children like the promise of our God?
• Has any god who so loved his people to sacrifice his only Son to bring them to eternal life, like our God?

The Apostle Paul reminds us that:

“No eye has seenNor ear heardNor human heart conceived,What God has prepared for those who love Him”

The generosity of our God confounds the wisdom of human generosity.  The love of our God reaches beyond the capacity of human love.  His justice and judgments exceeds our human perception of justice.  Our God loves all His children with a generous heart.  He loves all His children with a complete love that reaches beyond human mercy; beyond human understanding, beyond human desire.

He calls all His scattered flock together; gathering them into the embrace of His loving arms. He sees them all – every bump and wrinkle.  He knows His creation, as only the Creator can know every facet of His handiwork.  He calls each one by name and knows the depths of every heart.

The measure of God’s love and justice for all His children is revealed in Matthew’s Gospel.  God calls all His children into His vineyard to reap the abundant harvest of His love.  

When the Master goes out in the evening; still finding workers, He asks them why they stood idle all day, they replied, “Because no one has hired us.”  

We are challenged to look into the depths of our heart to see beyond the seemingly obvious.  We ask:

• Why are those workers still standing idle while other workers were called into the vineyard at dawn, in the morning, at the midday and in the afternoon?  
• Who are these idle workers and where were they when the others were called?  
• And we need to ask, “Why do the others workers resent the Master’s generosity; believing that they deserve more than what the Master promised?

Are these last, lazy workers, who sleep in – in the morning after a night of revelry and dissipation?  

• Are they workers who shy away from work?  
• Or are these the unwanted, the undesirable – out-casts?
• Are they the old, the crippled, the weak and frail?  
• Are they different, therefore marginalized: shunned, reviled?
• Are they the forgotten, living on the edges of society, - those without voice, without power or influence? 
• Are they the world’s least, society’s outcasts – ignored and forgotten – left idle; to languish by the wayside in despair, without hope?

And why do the others, when the Master is generous to these last, resent His generosity?  Why do they believe they deserve more?

• Are they better workers?
• Did their longer labors place them in advantage over these last?
• Is their attitude born out of a social structure that believes: “The winner takes all” or “The race goes to the swift and strong” or “That he who dies with the most toys, wins!”  
• Do they live in a society of based on inequality - where winners and losers are just a part of the natural order of things?

This is not God’s way.  This is not God’s justice.  In God’s eyes all His children are beautiful and deserving of His love.  The first, middle and last - are all His beloved – each deserving equal measure of His generosity, each inheritors in His promise of salvation and eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.

God judges with love and mercy; calling all who love Him - into His vineyard. His generosity is for all His children, not just for a select few.  

God shares his gift of Eternal Life with His beloved; it is not ‘first come – first served’ in the kingdom of heaven.  It is not the strong and the powerful who will inherit His kingdom – it is for those who are meek and humble: those who love God with a generous heart; loving others as He loves us.  For our Lord says: “Only the righteous shall inherit the kingdom of heaven.”

Whether we’re life-long ‘cradle Catholics’ or newly initiated members of the flock – we each, kings and commoners, the powerful and the weak, rich and poor, the influential and the voiceless receive equal measure: the abundance of God’s love. 
~ Amen

Peace,
Deacon Don Ronning

Exaltation of the Cross - John 3:13-17 - "Cross of Hope"

In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

We begin all things with the sign of the cross: the enduring symbol of Christ crucified.  The reminder of God’s love for the world, 

“. . . that He gave is only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish, but have eternal life.”

This is the symbol of our Christian heritage - the Cross upon which hung Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  In the mystery of God’s love for us He uses the Cross as an everlasting reminder of His love - found in the holy sacrifice of His Son, Jesus - for the forgiveness of our sins and the salvation of the world.  

We make the Sign of the Cross as a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice - an innocent, suffering and dying to forgive the sins of the guilty.

Recently, I read an essay written by a fairly well-known and respected Catholic writer who was expressing great personal doubts about the strength of his faith. In the face of worldly crisis, - persecutions of Christians for their faith, accelerating secularism in our American culture and the rapid marginalization of the teachings of our Church and the questioning of the relevance our belief in the Risen Lord has in our society – he was despaired and disheartened.

It was not his faith or belief in God that he questioned, but an emptiness he felt in his life.  His prayer life – his worship – his faith practices were, as he described – empty.  He no longer felt the enthusiasm – that fire within – that propelled his usual faith practices.  He attended daily mass, sang the hymns and continued to teach religious instruction in the parish program, but feels he was just going through the motions. 

He feared that he was losing direction and despaired of falling away from the Church – a Church he loved – a Church that held great meaning in his life – a Church, central in the lives of his family, for it was at the very heart of his family life – not just for him, but for his wife and their children.  He feared he was losing hope.

• The Cross, this Roman device of shame and degradation, this cruel and painful suffering, this horrid death – God uses to bring joy into our lives; endowing us with faith in the promise of the resurrection.  
• On this Cross, Jesus’ suffering sacrifice for the salvation of God’s beloved children secures for us something greater than we have ever imagined, - nor can we possibly imagine in our present lives.
• In this Cross, where our Christ hung in expiation of our sins, we are freely given God’s grace – Divine Hope.

This is not a hope found in optimism - where we pray for good weather for a parish festival or that if we get to the bakery early enough we hope they will still have those bagels we and everyone else likes best or even hope that our favorite team will make it to the play-offs.  

• In the Cross we have a Hope that gives us a courage, a joy and an anticipation of something greater than we presently know.  
• This is the Hope of Christians, disciples of Jesus – the Son of God who came into the world as one of us.  
• It is the Hope of knowing that Christ lived among us experiencing all we experience – joys and sufferings – all human experience, but sin. 
• It is the Hope we have in Jesus taking our human sinfulness upon his shoulders as he was raised up on the Cross – dying – once, for all - in sacrifice to the Father in His great love of us. 

“What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard,and what has not entered the human heart,what God has prepared for those who love him,” 1 Cor. 2:9

This is God’s gift of the Cross – His grace of Hope.  Our Hope in God’s promise of something beyond the joys and sufferings of this life.  The Hope of what is to be.  The Cross is the Hope of Christians, the Hope of the Resurrection.  The Hope of coming into God’s promise of His heavenly Kingdom and abundant life - forever and ever. ~ Amen

Peace,
Deacon Don

23rd Sunday Ordinary Time - Matthew 18: 15-20 - "Making Saints"

Our faith is a relational faith.  We are in a loving relationship with God through His Son Jesus and His Holy Spirit.  Together we form one body: this community of faithful believers in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  We each are in a relationship with God, the Father and are filled with His love.  It is through God’s Holy Spirit that comes to us, in His eternal love; filling us with his grace, so we may come into an ever closer relationship with Him. 

We are a people filled with God’s love: sons and daughters of the Father whose Spirit fills us with a burning desire to be with Him in that place he has prepared for us.  

In His divine love, God, the Father sent his Son to save us.  Jesus became flesh, like us, sharing with us the sorrows and joys of human existence.  He suffered the pains of persecution and death to bring us the Good News of the Father’s love; leading us into the peace and joy of the Father’s heavenly kingdom.  

Through the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross, the sins of man were expiated.  His sacrifice for our sins was a sacrifice once, and for all time.  His resurrection; opening the gates of heaven, so we may rise up with Him to eternal life in the Father love.

All this wonder was accomplished for us, God’s creation, His children, so we may enjoy the mutual love of the Father in relationship with and through Him with one another.  We are not a people created in isolation: to be alone.  God, when He created Adam, the first human, said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him.” (Gen 2:18).  By His divine hand we are made to be in relationship with Him and with one another.

God created the world for man and placed us in dominion over His work, not to conquer, for he has given us this gift, but as stewards, caretakers of His gift - for all mankind throughout the generations.  By this He has brought us into relationship with all peoples: past and future generations until the end of time.

As God loves us and cares for us, He calls us to love and care for one another.  We are not only stewards of the gift of this world, but also caregivers to one another.  Our relationship with God is made manifest in the loving relationship we live with our sisters and brothers in Christ.  

As we are called to bring the Good News of God’s love and salvation to all the nation’s we are called to continually instruct and counsel all, so they may come to know God’s love and encouraged to live in relationship with Him.  

• We are to admonish our brothers and sisters when they stray from God’s love; causing a harm to their life in God and among the community of faithful.
• As imperfect beings, we may be wounded by others.  In God’s love we are to bear these wrongs with love and patience: never letting anger to cause us to sin, so that we fall into the hands of the evil-one.
• We are called to forgive offenses and ask forgiveness of God and one another when we offend.  In doing so, we return to our right relationship with God and community.

For sin is never personal or private, but as we are created for God and for one another, sin separates us; placing us outside the peaceful harmony of God’s loving relationship in Him and among His children.

In His humanness, Christ came to know our suffering.  His love and compassion for the sorrowful and suffering is our model for sharing God’s love with all our sisters and brothers who suffer.  As we are loved, we show God’s love to one another in the comfort and consolation we receive, as we comfort and console those who suffer.  

God’s sharing of our human condition through Jesus, brings us the knowledge that God is not distant and uncaring, but desires to share with us His eternal being.

In life, all our relationships require work to refresh and renew them.  “Out of sight – out of mind” diminishes and dissipates relationships.  So it is with our relationship with God and one another.  Through prayer, our relationship with God is strengthened and increased.  We also strengthen and increase our relationship with one another, living and dead through prayer.  We pray for the good of others, so they may enjoy the fruits of God’s love in this life and we pray for those who have gone before us, that they may rest in the joy and peace of God’s ultimate love - eternal life with Him

Jesus, in the Gospel of Matthew, shows us that we are our brother and sister’s keeper.  As children of our Loving God, we, the community of believers, are called to stay in right loving relationship with God and with one another.  As disciples of Jesus, it is our duty to help bring all our brothers and sisters to come to know God’s love for us, as we share His love with one another.   

God makes saints through His love found in His children: shared with all who live in His love. ~ Amen 

Peace,
Deacon Don