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DYING WITH JESUS CHRIST

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SATURDAY, TWENTY FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Eccles 11:9-12:8; Ps 90:3-6,12-14,17; Lk 9:43-45 The Death of the Son of Man Growing up, none of us gave a thought to death. This is understandable, given that youth is a time when life is at its fullest and most ripe. All human senses and faculties are at their best and fully functional in youths. It is rare for a youth to think of death or the end of life, when life is at its fullest. To overcome the temptations of prime, the preacher bids youths to think of God and the requirement of judgment. “Rejoice in your youth, you who are young; let your heart give you joy in your young days. Follow the promptings of your heart and the desires of your eyes. But this you must know: for all these things God will bring you to judgement.” The excess energy of young age should not be wasted on useless amusements and pastimes but directed to disciplining of our passions and acquiring knowledge, which is a rigorous enterprise. The overflowing ener...
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BIRTH AND DEATH BEYOND OUR CONTROL

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FRIDAY, TWENTY FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Eccles 3:1-11; Ps 144:1-4; Lk 9:18-22 Knowing the Christ of God We have a very short time to live on earth. But the shortness of our mortal life is not the original plan of God but a consequence of the original fall of our first parents and our sins. The Scriptures testify that death is a consequence of sin. God made us to be like him; to share his communion in eternity. God's original intention for us was not abrogated but is now a matter of choice. Our temporal life is a time given to us to choose to be with God and work for its realisation with the grace he provides for us in Jesus Christ. Though death is a consequence of our sins, God offers us eternal life in his Son, Jesus Christ. The grace to understand the opportunity our mortal life offers us and use it is not a common grace from God. The difficulty surrounding our coming to wisdom and salvation is not God’s doing, but due to the multiplication of sins and darkness. Both in ...
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VANITY OF VANITIES

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THURSDAY, TWENTY FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Eccles 1:2-11; Ps 90:3-6,12-14,17; Lk 9:7-9 The Vanity of Life outside the Vineyard Many of us are familiar with the frustration of not having the right instrument or equipment for a particular task. Consider, for example, attempting to loosen a nut without the right spanner. One can injure oneself or destroy the bolt and nut in the attempt. The same applies when we live to pursue earthly things and passing amusements and pleasure. These engagements may provide momentary pleasures or amusement, but these do not last because our lives are not made for creatures. The life we have received is a mystery and something beyond our comprehension. But to sound its depth, we must acquire the right key or access code to unlock the door of life and its meaning. As we have noted previously in our reflections, we are the vineyard of God, the inheritance of his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can unlock the meaning of our lives and give us ...
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WE ARE THE SON'S INHERITANCE

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SAINT PIUS OF PIETRELCINA (PADRE PIO), PRIEST Prov 30:5-9; Ps 119:28,72,89,101,104,163; Lk 9:1-6 The Vineyard of the Son of God The vineyard of the God of the hosts is the Son’s inheritance. The Son is one with the Father and knows the Father’s will. Thus, he cultivates the vineyard to the Father’s taste. The vineyard is his inheritance, for all that the Father has belongs to the Son. The Son is the Word, and the Word was with God from the beginning; through him all things were made. Since all things were made through him, all things will be restored to the Father through him. John tells us that the Word enlightens all men who come into the world. Therefore, the Son calls and instructs all who are employed to work in the vineyard. We are the vineyard of the Lord; the work to be done in us must be carried out with the Son’s specification. To be unwilling to work in the vineyard is to attempt to usurp what is not ours, but the Son’s inheritance. To put it simply, our temporal lives...
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FAITHFULNESS IN THE VINEYARD

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TUESDAY, TWENTY FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Prov 21:1-67,10-13; Ps 119:1,27,30,34-35,44; Lk 8:19-21 Our Employment in the Vineyard We are the vineyard of the God of Hosts. God seeks out all who are willing and eager to earn the day’s wage and employs them in the divine vineyard. God employs all who are employable and willing to work in his vineyard. Being part of God's vineyard implies that our primary work is within us, cooperating with God's grace to become members of Jesus Christ, the true vine. God employs us, as cooperators, to do his work within us and to work with us round and about us. Hence, God requires all who enter his service to die to self ritually and intentionally through the sacrament of baptism. Without this sacramental initiation, we cannot gain access to the Lord’s vineyard and take part in the work therein. This is the initial contract God agrees with us. We give ourselves in his vineyard, and God remunerates us with a denarius, the wage for a day’s l...
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OUR NEED FOR HEALING

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SAINT MATTHEW, APOSTLE, EVANGELIST Eph 4:1-7,11-13; Ps 19:2-5; Mt 9:9-13 The Physician for the Weak and the Sick Celebrating the feast of Saint Matthew the Evangelist, a former tax collector, allows us to delve deeper into the meaning of our Lord’s parable of the workers in the vineyard. As we noted in yesterday’s reflection, as the landowner, God goes about in search of willing and ready labourers to employ in his vineyard. To work in the vineyard of the Lord, the Church, means to cooperate with God’s grace in building the Church. Thus, God does the fundamental work within our souls, for we make up the vineyard of the Lord as members of the Church. Being in the marketplace, the world, makes us all weak and sick because of sins. The Lord himself seeks and finds us to bring us into his vineyard. Saint Augustine distinguished between the weak and the sick in his sermon on pastors. “Weak men are those who appear to be zealous in doing good works but are unwilling or unable to endure...
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REWARD BEYOND COMPREHENSION

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SUNDAY, TWENTY FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Isa 55:6-9; Ps 145:2-3,8-9,17-18; Phil 1:20-24,27; Mt 20:1-16 The Reward of Eternal Life God made us in his image and willed from all eternity to bless us with his own life. The divine gift would make us like God. This was the decision of the Triune God from the very beginning, when he said in Genesis 1:26: “Let us make man in our image and likeness.” Making man in divine image means giving him free will, which arises from the rationality of our nature. Our rationality demands that we freely choose to be like God. To be truly free to make the decision, man needs the enlightenment of knowledge of God, which comes from the Word of God. Man’s knowledge of God requires time to engage with the Word. But the Word is God. Man needs to be guided to divine knowledge through creation, which manifests God’s glory and his divine attributes. For this reason, man needs to work in God’s vineyard to discover himself through knowledge of creatures and be...
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