Let’s say you open your Bible either to read a specific passage or chapter, maybe the Scripture of the day, or just open it to read. After reading, did you ever scratch your head and wonder - humpf - what in the world was this all about? What’s the message? More importantly, what’s in this passage for me? Well, I welcome you because it happens to me more frequently than I like.
Auxiliary Bishop Robert Morneau, a native of Bear Creek, WI, international speaker and author once wrote:
ONE OF THE BEAUTIES OF SACRED SCRIPTURE IS THAT IT
DEALS WITH ALL OF LIFE: JOY AND SORROW, GRACE AND SIN
KINDNESS AND CRUELTY, MERCY AND RESENTMENT. NOTHING
IS LEFT OUT. DIVINE REVELATION OPENS FOR US HOW WE ARE
TO SEE AND RESPOND TO EVERY DIMENSION OF LIFE.
If we think back over our lives, and even you youngsters, storytellers teach us a lot. Stories help us remember and understand better. Prophets of the Old Testament (inspired by God’s Holy Spirit) and Jesus’ stories are wonderful examples. They are allegories, stories and poems, for instance the Psalms, and the book of Daniel. These Scriptural stories and poems are meant to reveal a message abut our God.
Scripture today - Vineyards in Isaiah and Matthew. Mark writes in His Gospel - “He began to teach them many things in parables”. Sounds easy. But some parables are hard to grasp, and some, once they are grasped, are hard to accept. We have two Scriptural challenges in this 21st century:
The parables / stories were told in language and historical context of people in those times, not our times.
We hear little snippets of Scripture that often don’t give us the background of the teaching. Sometimes they are even lifted out of context and are totally misunderstood.
So then, what are we to do here today? Have some “brilliant person” stand at the ambo and make it crystal clear? There are learned and talented people who can do that. Sorry, today is NOT your lucky day but I will do my best.
For sure, these two vineyard stories from the OLD and NEW Testament are clearly about SIN and punishment…in a context that would make sense to the people of the times and to their understanding of our God. We have such an advantage today with Jesus. God, our Father, has told us in so many words…want to know me? Look at Jesus!
SIN - PUNISHMENT - GUILT…tough words. Listen to this brief story from Jesuit, James Martin, in his book “JESUS A Pilgrimage”…
“A young man once told me that he couldn’t bring himself to pray
because he kept imagining God judging him for not only everything
he did, but also for everything he thought.”
Know this, believe this - There is no end to the love mercy and forgiveness of our God. Go home today with Paul’s words to the Philippians:
“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the
peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Or, if it is easier to remember, Padre Pio’s words: