The seminary that I have attended for the past four years has chosen Saint Meinrad to be it's patron saint. Meinrad of course is an odd name and I am sure that many of you do not know his story. I believe that the story of his life sums up this Gospel reading well and will continue to challenge us along the spiritual path that we strive to live out in our everyday life.
Saint Meinrad was a hermit meaning that he went away into solitude to spend time drawing himself closer to God. As a hermit he lived a simple life that was always focused upon God. Word of this holy man spread throughout the surrounding area. People knew him as a man of God and they realized that he had a lot to offer them spiritually. They knew with great faith that spending time with this holy man would make their faith so much stronger. Eventually a couple of robbers heard of the riches that Meinrad owned. They did not realize that his riches were his connection to God, but thought about worldly treasures of gold instead. They made up their minds that this treasure would be their's and so they made the trip to his home with the desire to kill him and take the treasure that he owned and to keep it for themselves. That day in prayer an angel came to Saint Meinrad and informed him about the intentions of these men. He knew that he would die this day, but accepted it fully and decided that he would welcome them into his home and treat them like Christ. When they arrived and knocked on his door; as Christ is how he welcomed them. He fed them and spoke with them, but in the end their greed seemed to prevail and they put him to death to find the treasure that they were in search of.
Today's Gospel gives us a parable from the Gospel of Saint Matthew which forces us to examine the Kingdom of God and ask ourselves if we do enough work inside of the vineyard to bear enough fruit to be worthy of this kingdom. It seems like we have been given a rough story with a rough conclusion. In reality we need to examine the reality of these scriptures. God has placed us upon this earth as the landowner planted the vineyard, and many prophets have come who have proclaimed the Father, but were put to death just as the servants in this parable were treated. Eventually God sent his own Son to us and He to was put to death which parallels the death of the landowner's son. Despite how we continue to fall into sin and turn away from God we are still able to draw closer to the Kingdom of God. I with great joy rejoice because despite the sin that we have brought into the world we may still be forgiven. We must hold steadfast in our faith!
Saint Meinrad definitely held steadfast when he looked death in the eyes. He had resolved to spend his life being a representative of Christ's love to all people. And he did just this when despite his knowledge he continued to treat his guests as Christ. I am sure that he was filled with fear, but he did not allow this fear to win over him as he continued to bear much fruit for the Kingdom of God.
It will be a sad day when we can say that it is easy to be a Christian. Yes I am sure that most of us will not be put to death over our beliefs, but that still does not get us off the hook of living out the faith that we have committed ourselves to living out. Daily we need to commit ourselves to the Father resolving to turn away from the sins of our past and thus to follow after Him with a new found vigor. As soon as we walk outside the doors of our homes the reality of the size of the vineyard should hit us in the face. Despite the fact that we live in a highly Christian area we should realize that there is still work that needs to be done inside of the world and therefore we cannot fail to live up to our faith.
We need to be challenged to live out our Catholic faith beyond the hour that we put in on Sundays. Maybe some of the great work that needs to be done inside of the vineyard needs to be done within our own homes. As our world has gotten so busy it seems to be to much to conceive that the family can possibly come together to pray even if it is only before a meal. How many times do we allow our own jobs to compromise our own system of beliefs? As important as work may be our faith is so much greater. There truly is a lot of work that needs to be done inside of this vineyard and may we fear not to begin to work hard for the greater glory of the Kingdom of God.
Pulling up to the drive way of this Church today we were surrounded by the graphic symbol of the cross. The juniors and seniors of our parish placed 240 crosses to symbolize the abortions that happen each hour in our country. This small act was their way to bring about the fruit of the vineyard to the world around us. These crosses should serve as a reminder to us of the work that exists outside of our own homes. May we not continue to work as those inside of today's parable who failed to see the many blessings that were given to them and thus put them to death. May we not join with them and send Christ out from our own midst. May we embrace Christ now and forever and allow Him to work His grace within each of us.
We will be unable to do any work inside of the vineyard of the world if we do not allow the God of peace to dwell with each of us. The Sacraments that have been given to us by the Church can aid our souls in this quest. At this Mass we will receive Christ preset in His Body and Blood. The Eucharist is the way that we come together as one body and allow our souls to be nourished by this great gift of love. Even when we fail along this path we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation that we can turn towards with trust. We must remember that in this parable no matter how many times the tenents failed the lamdowner did not lose hope, but continued to reach out to them with his mercy. Through trusting in the sacraments may God guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Saint Meinrad, pray for us. Help us to go into the massive vineyard of the world and fear not as we bear great fruit from among it.
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