25th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

This parable as seen through the lens of economics is not just, but through lens of salvation we can see the justice that gives rise. Our Lord is merciful and just with us and for this reality we have every reason to be thankful.

We are thankful for the Lord truly invites us to enter into holiness and thus enter into a deeper relationship with Him. He calls us out of our complacency and invites us to become true stewards of the Kingdom of Heaven. From the the Book of Isaiah we discovered a people who had been invited to see the Promised Land and yet they allowed their minds and hearts to wonder far from this reality. For this reason it was stated of them: “Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked his thoughts.”

Rather then allowing ourself to get caught wondering away from this path and entering into the complacency of everyday life we must come to heed the Lord who is near to us and begin to call upon Him with our lips. Despite the hardship which is present within one’s life Saint Paul instructed the Christians at Phillipi: “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.”

Out of our complacency we must go in order that Christ may become magnified in our body. Thus in our Gospel the landowner went out and invited others to be sent forth to magnify Christ by their own body. Thus we must come to embrace our faith now and not hold off for some later hour. We must not only embrace our faith now, but we must also be sent forth into the abundant Harvest of the Lord to spread the good news of the Gospel.

It is easy to become complacent when what we do becomes a routine. Thus with the routine of marriage it easy to become complacent as one forgets about the goods of marriage and how this sacrament leads one to an encounter with God. In the midst of work it is easy to become complacent as one only directs their attention to worldly success rather then pursuing a relationship with God. In the midst of sin we become complacent in the many excuses that we make to pardon our offenses as we remove God from our midst.

Our Gospel is not about the fairness of economics, but is about the truths of our salvation. Our Lord calls us to not be complacent, but to be active in our pursuit of Him. Out of our slumber we must be stirred before it is too late because death has reached our midst and thus there is no longer hope for we have chosen our own path; even if that path removes us from God. May we no longer be the scoundrel who forsakes God’s way and who is filled with wicked thoughts, but rather may we allow Christ to be magnified in our body. Let us thus not be complacent, but chase after God with our whole heart and soul.

22nd Sunday of OT Year A Homily

If we are stuck trying to understand our life through earthly terms we will never come to understand the true value of the cross. For this reason Saint Peter responded: “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” Saint Peter did not yet understand the value of the cross for his vision was limited to this earthly realm.

No matter how hard that we try to avoid the pains of this world they will catch up to us in time. There is a difference to undergo suffering and to embrace the cross. To embrace the cross attaches a relationship of prayer and growth onto suffering. It brings value to this seemingly useless state. For this reason Christ instructed His disciples: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

We live in the midst of a materialistic society which rejects this message of the cross in favor of the message of worldliness. We are taught that there is no value found in suffering. Thus a life which must face suffering without end is seen to be without purpose. We are taught that we are to accumulate around us all that we want and then we will be happy. We are taught that following our passions will bring us happiness and thus people chase after them in order to heal their pain. Despite these claims to happiness our society is found empty for it has lost sight of the value of the cross.

From the sacrificial offering of the cross comes about the true message of happiness. From the cross God takes on our human flesh and comes to offer Himself up for us as the sacrificial victim. The cross was not clean, but bloody and yet what was offered here was a total offering of self which was made out of love. There are many examples of people who have given up their life totally for the wellbeing of others. There are parents who give up sleep for their baby and later go on to sacrifice money for the wellbeing of the child. Even when we think about this hurricane which has taken place we see people who are willing to sacrifice their own life in order to save the life of another. To fathom that these glimpses into sacrificial love exist within our world and they are done as an action of love asking for nothing in return.

The cross is our avenue to enter into sacrificial love. It is easiest for us to reject the cross, but we will discover its true value whenever we come to accept the cross of our Blessed Lord into our life. In our daily life we must train ourselves to offer up our pains and sufferings unto the cross. In our daily life we must find ways to embrace the cross through mortification in order that we may come to better hear the voice of God made manifest within our life.

Let us not reject the cross due to the effects of materialism, but rather may we come to deny ourself, take up the cross, and follow after Christ always.