Commentary
Sunday, September 24, 2017, 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’s 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 the real question was; is it better to die a martyr or live to continue carrying out God’s Will? Neither choice is totally correct! But 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 doing His work. And, no less importantly, the Lord tells us not to do it. The only thing that we have to do is follow Christ and He will lead us straight to heaven.
