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Commentary

Sunday, September 20, 2020, Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Another Promise of Love from God

First Reading Commentary: Isaiah 55:6-9

The LORD says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.”

God is constantly reminding us of this fact. He reminds us in what He says to us and He reminds us in His great works. In fact, we should be automatically reminded of this every time that we open our eyes to start a new day.

Everything that there is; what we see, hear, touch, smell and taste; everything past, present and future is a result of God’s creation. Surely, we are not capable of thinking as God thinks. And yet, we try to think of God in a worldly way.

This is because the power of our minds is limited to our physical existence in this life. We cannot understand or fully comprehend that which is out of the realm of our physical senses. All we can do is imagine.

But God created us so that we might praise Him and be with Him in heaven. God is always reaching out to us in an effort to bring us closer to Him.

In today’s prophecy from Isaiah, God gives us two pieces of advice on how we can be with Him and tells us what the result will be when we reach Him. First, God tells us to seek Him while He is near.

This means that we should seek God always because He is always much more than just near us. In the person of the Holy Spirit, God lives within us. The Spirit is in our conscience and is always trying to bestow His gifts on us so that we will choose good over evil and right over wrong. So, when God tells us to seek Him while He is near, He is telling us to pay attention to our conscience.

The second piece of advice is for the scoundrel to forsake his way and for the wicked to forsake his thoughts. This is related to the first piece of advice because once again, God is telling us to pay attention to our conscience but more than that, God is telling us to forsake sin. If we do not listen to the Spirit’s advice, we will make bad choices which will lead us into sin. God is telling us not to make those mistakes.

The result of following God’s advice in today’s prophecy is that God will bring us closer to Him granting us mercy and forgiveness. Why do we need mercy and forgiveness if we pay attention to our conscience and follow the Spirit’s advice? Because, in spite of our very best efforts not to, we will make mistakes and some of those mistakes will be sinful. We all are sinners no matter how hard we try not to be.

You might say that in today’s prophecy, God promises His love. All we have to do is want to be with Him and do our best at listening to the Spirit who is always working within us, and God will bring us to Him no matter how many times we may fall along the way. That is love God’s way.

What’s Better?

Second Reading Commentary: Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a

Which is better; to live in this life doing God’s Will or to leave this life to be with God in heaven? Paul debates this question with himself in today’s letter to the Philippians. But Paul actually answers his own question when he says, “For me life is Christ, and death is gain.”

After his conversion, Paul dedicated his life, everything in it and everything he did, to Christ. Christ became Paul’s life. For Paul, there was no better reason and no better way to live other than for Christ.

But Paul also knew that he was going to suffer a martyr’s death. So, for him, the real question was: Is it better to die a martyr or live to continue carrying out God’s Will? Neither choice is wrong. As long as we live our lives trying our best to do the things that God wants us to do and stay away from the things that He does not want us to do, God will use us to carry out His Will and whatever happens, will be His Will whether we die a martyrs death or not.

And let us not forget our just reward for living our lives according to God's Will. The reward of heaven where life is eternal and full of peace and joy. This is why Paul said that death is gain.

So, in the end, Paul advised the Philippians and in effect, he advises us to conduct ourselves in a way which is worthy of the Gospel of Christ. We do that by loving God with everything that we have and by loving each other as we love ourselves. In other words, we obey the two Greatest Commandments.

The Reward Is the Same for All of Us

Gospel Commentary: Matthew 20:1-16

In the parable of The Workers in the Vineyard, the landowner hired workers at dawn, again at nine o’clock, again at noon, again at three o’clock and again at five o’clock. When it was evening, the owner had his foreman summon the workers and give them their pay beginning with the last and ending with the first. When those who were hired at 5 o’clock received their pay, the workers hired first thought that they would receive more. But they did not, and they grumbled against the owner who told them, “I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage…What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?” Then Jesus said, “Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

In this parable, God is the landowner, the first are the Jews and the last are the Gentiles. It is God’s wish to bestow His grace on all of us and it is His wish that we all be with Him in the Kingdom of heaven. That is the reward which can be compared to the pay that the workers received in this parable. That reward is the same for all of us. Whether we have devoted our entire lives to God or converted late in life, the reward of eternal life is the same.

Jesus is telling us that we are not in a race against each other, we are not in competition against each other and we should not think that our sacrifice is worth more than someone else’s.

But we are also advised to add this to the list: Do not judge your neighbor’s worthiness. When we stand before the Lord for our final judgment, we will be judged for our actions in this life as an individual. We will not be judged for what our neighbor did or did not do. Nor will we receive any blessings for what our neighbor did or did not do. Therefore, judging others is wasted energy. Whether we realize it or not, when we pass judgment, we make a futile attempt to take God’s place. We make a pathetic attempt to do His work. And, no less importantly, the Lord tells us not to do that. The only thing that we must do is follow Christ and He will lead us straight to heaven.

Reading 1          Isaiah 55:6-9

Seek the LORD while he may be found, call him while he is near.
Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked his thoughts; let him turn to the LORD for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.

Responsorial Psalm          Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18

R/ (18a) The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable.
R/ The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works.
R/ The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

The LORD is just in all his ways and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.
R/ The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

Reading 2          Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a

Brothers and sisters: Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.
If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.
And I do not know which I shall choose.
I am caught between the two.
I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better.
Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.

Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Open our hearts, O Lord,
to listen to the words of your Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel          Matthew:20:1-16

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o’clock, the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’
So they went off.
And he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o’clock, the landowner found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’
They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’
He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’
When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’
He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?’
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

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The Descent of the Holy Spirit
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Paragraph 767 "When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that he might continually sanctify the Church."174 Then "the Church was openly displayed to the crowds and the spread of the Gospel among the nations, through preaching, was begun."175 As the "convocation" of all men for salvation, the Church in her very nature is missionary, sent by Christ to all the nations to make disciples of them.176

The Holy Spirit came to Mary and the Apostles as tongues of fire.

God promises His love and it is always there for us. All we have to do is seek it.

Saint of the Day

SS Anddrew Kim Taegon,
Paul Chong Hasang
& Companions

(8/21/1821 – 9/16/1846;
Companions
d. between 1839 – 1867)

What's better? Die a martyr or live life for Christ? Both bring eternal life in heaven.

None of us wants to see someone else collect the same pay as we do for doing less work or working less hours. But that is not God's way of thinking. Think of it this way...you can get on a train at the beginning of its route. Someone else can get on at the last stop before the end of the line. If you both go to the end of the line, you both go to the same place. It does not matter who got on the train first.

Saints of the Week

St Matthew the Apostle
9/21/2020
(c. 1st century)
Patron Saint of: Accountants,
Actors, Bankers, Bookkeepers,
Tax collectors & Taxi Drivers

St Lorenzo Ruiz
& Companions

9/22/2020
(1600 – 9/29 or 30/1637)

St Padre Pio
9/23/2020
(5/25/1887 - 9/23/1968)

St John Henry Newman
9/24/2020
(2/21/1801 - 8/11/1890)

Saints Louis Martin
and Zélie Guerin

9/25/2020
(8/22/1823 – 7/29/1894;
12/23/1831 – 8/28/1877)

Blessed Pope Paul VI
9/26/2020
(9/26/1897 – 8/6/1978)

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