Fr. Rick Spicer

Hmm, I didn’t think it was polite to talk so critically of people behind their backs but that is what we find Jesus doing in today’s gospel. Speaking to the crowds and his disciples, Jesus once again chastises the Pharisees for their religious puffery.

Jesus had little patience for those who put on religious airs but didn’t follow through with a life of faith, that is, they didn’t practice what they preached. The Pharisees made a show of going around displaying their religiosity. They wore little boxes on their foreheads, called phylacteries, along with prayer shawls lined with large tassels. These were the outward signs of prayerful men but were they indeed living prayerful lives?

Contained within these little boxes were miniature scrolls inscribed with a passage from Deuteronomy 6, which tells us to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, our whole soul, and our whole mind. This passage should sound familiar to you. We heard it proclaimed in last Sunday’s gospel. That was the reply Jesus gave to the Pharisees when asked to name the greatest commandment. Immediately following this line in Deuteronomy is the command for Jewish men to bind these words to their wrists and to wear them as a pendant on their foreheads.

Likewise in Deuteronomy 22, God commands them to wear fringes on the borders of their garments to remind them of God’s commandments. In Jesus’ opinion, in spite of these visual reminders, the Pharisees did a poor job of following these commandments. His persistent conflict with the Pharisees was not over their skills in interpreting the sacred scriptures but their failure to “walk the talk.”

Religion of obedience to external precepts, which sums up the mindset of the Pharisees, can lead to what TS Eliot calls “the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason.”

The Pharisees went around putting on airs of being “holier than thou.” Acting holy, however, isn’t the same as being holy. Jesus cautions his listeners, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

We cannot hear Jesus’ indictment against the Pharisees without squirming somewhat in our pews. We could hear this gospel only as a warning addressed to those in church authority but as with any story in scripture, Jesus’ words are addressed to us as well. For some of us, his words may be as jarring as an alarm clock, calling our attention to something we have been avoiding. Whether we have an official title or not, each of us has the responsibility to live out the good news of Jesus Christ, teaching others about God by our words and actions. We should be asking ourselves, “Do our deeds measure up to our words?”

In the past, you may have heard the question, “If you were accused of being a follower of Christ, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” For example, if visitors walked into your home, what evidence would there be to show that yours is a Catholic home? Will they know you are Catholic by the presence of a crucifix or a picture of the Blessed Mother on the wall? That was a common practice in the past but not so much nowadays. Would they know you are a Catholic by your willingness to reach out and defend the right of the unborn child or the inmate on death row to live or of a homeless person to be treated with dignity? Would your neighbors know that you are a Christian because of your love and compassion for them?

The recent stabbing of two girls at Snohomish High School reminded me of another victim of violence on school campuses. Does the name Cassie Bernall ring a bell? Like any teenager, she struggled with the issues of growing up, of finding love and acceptance. Rebelling against her parents, she was almost lost to drugs and witchcraft. But time, love, and attention bridged the gap between her and her family.

She asked herself many questions and came to understand that God loved her even in her darkest moments. Instead of trying to look out for herself, Cassie decided to see what she could offer others in her own unassuming way. In the library of Columbine High School, in April of 1999, a classmate put a gun to her head and asked her if she believed in God. To be honest, I don’t know what I would have said had I been in her shoes at age 17, but she said Yes. Her yes came from a place deep within her heart, mind, and soul, a place so deep that she could say yes even though saying so endangered her life.

In her book about her daughter’s life, entitled, She Said Yes, Misty Bernall quotes the Indian mystic, Sadhu Singh: “It is easy to die for Christ. It is hard to live for him. Dying takes an hour or two but to live for Christ means to die daily. Only during the few years of this life are we given the privilege of serving others and Christ. We shall have heaven forever, but only a short time of service here, and therefore we must not waste the opportunity.”

So far as Jesus was concerned, the Pharisees, always busy with their pomp, missed the opportunity too often to really live life. Had they heeded the wisdom of Micah, one of the earliest literary prophets who lived at the same time as Isaiah did, they would have had little trouble putting into practice what they were preaching. 2800 years ago, that prophet penned a line that has served as a motto for many people ever since: “You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Like Cassie, are we willing to walk humbly with our God?

This gospel passage often prompts reflections about civic duty for Jesus’ basic advice seems to be, “Pay the tax.” Notice, however, that he then adds, “Repay to God what belongs to God.” With those words, he focuses on our obligations to God. In effect, he is saying, “If you are so concerned about paying taxes, you should be more concerned about your obligations to God as your creator and Lord.” The Liturgy of the Eucharist, our prayer of thanksgiving, is our opportunity to repay God for the many ways we have been blessed.

The liturgy of the Eucharist dates back to the Last Supper. That night, according to Matthew, While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Luke adds that Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me,” and this the Church has done ever since. At first there was no formal ritual but in due time, one emerged so that there would be consistency in the celebration of the Mass. Granted, differences still exist from parish to parish, from country to country, even from one priest to another, but the flow of the Eucharistic Prayer remains the same. A priest takes bread and wine, representing the gifts you have repaid to God, invokes the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon these gifts and transforms them into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The prayers we have been using emerged after Vatican II when the bishops mandated that the Mass be celebrated in the language of the community so that the congregation could fully participate.

At the start of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the celebrant offers up bread and wine and says words rooted in an ancient Jewish prayer known as the Berekah. His words have changed somewhat but yours remains the same, “Blessed be God forever.”

After washing his hands, the celebrant invites you to stand for the preface. All of them, along with the prayer said beforehand, have been rewritten. In the Sanctus, we will proclaim “Lord God of hosts,” instead of, as we now do, “God of power and might.”

Before Vatican II, there was only one Eucharistic Prayer, known as the Roman Canon, which is often used on solemn occasions such as Christmas and Easter. The Council fathers added three more: the second prayer, the shortest, is usually used for daily Masses. The third is customarily used on Sundays. The fourth Eucharistic Prayer with its unique preface stands apart from the others since it summarizes salvation history.

The words of the consecration are slightly altered. Soon you will be hearing the word, chalice, rather than cup. Another notable change is the word, many, in place of all, when the wine is consecrated. Pope Benedict made the change to echo what Jesus said at the Last Supper. Historically, the Roman Canon has always said, “pro multis,” that is, “for many” at the consecration. This subtle change points out that while Christ died for all, not everyone has accepted his gift of salvation.

One significant change comes after the consecration. The celebrant now says, “Let us proclaim the mystery of faith” and together we do, often in song. Soon, he will simply say, “Mystery of faith.” He will listen as you voice one of three acclamations. This is now your prayer. One that has been used often, “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again,” has been dropped while the other three have been modified. The one we presently use will be changed to read, “we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again.”

The Eucharistic Prayer concludes with the doxology, that moment when the celebrant holds up the body and blood of Jesus Christ. He then invites you to pray the Lord’s Prayer, perhaps the best way to prepare ourselves for receiving Jesus. Because of its old English, this prayer wasn’t changed. Some Church scholars assert that the petition in this prayer, “Give us this day, our daily bread,” was coined with the Eucharist in mind, as though we are saying, “Give us this day that mysterious bread, which alone is enough for us today.”

After the Lord’s Prayer comes the sign of peace. Your words and mine had been altered but the purpose remains the same. We prepare ourselves to receive Christ by first offering a sign of reconciliation with those around us.

Resonating John the Baptist, the celebrant will then invite you to “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.” Your response to his prayer has taken on a familiar biblical line. “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” There will be no change to receiving Holy Communion. You are still expected to reverence the moment and respond, “Amen,” to the words, “Body of Christ,” and “Blood of Christ.”

How blessed we are! The Lord wants to feed us with his Body and Blood. He wants to give us food to sustain us. As our way of repaying God, we gather as a community to sing, thank, pray, and eat. We eat this meal together and count our blessings. We have so much to be thankful for as a faith community.

To the state, we pay taxes, but to God we are to give undivided service and worship. Isaiah speaks for God, “I am the Lord, there is no other,” so we give “the Lord glory and honor.” The Liturgy of the Eucharist embodies our response from the moment we offer our gifts to receiving the ultimate gift of Jesus Christ himself.

Did you receive an invitation to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton? Neither did I. But wouldn’t it have been special if we had? Invitations to great events like weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries are chances to socialize and celebrate together the blessings that fill our lives with joy.

In the parable we just heard, Jesus observes that many guests refused to come to the wedding banquet, given by the king for his son. Some reacted rudely, coming across as ungrateful or uncaring. Snubbing the king’s invitation was Jesus’ way of pointing out that many people are too busy to find time for God in their lives. Even today, family obligations, business affairs, sports, or lack of interest have taken priority for some, so they too have put God’s invitation on hold or set it aside altogether.

What catches my attention is how the king treats one guest who comes to the wedding, because he is not properly dressed for the occasion. Evidently, more is expected of a guest than mere presence. The unwelcomed guest responded to the king’s invitation on his own terms, instead of the king’s, and for this reason he was expelled from the banquet. God is expecting us to come properly “dressed,” that is, we must be clothed with faith in Christ if we wish to be seated at the eternal banquet.

Feasting at the earthly banquet that we call the Mass is one important invitation we must not pass up. After all, Jesus told us to celebrate this in memory of him. Faith is the wedding garment we must wear in order to enter the mystery we celebrate here.

As you know, we will begin using a new translation of the Mass on the first Sunday of Advent, just weeks away. The bishops have been working on this for years, the first major change since the Mass was first prayed in the vernacular, that is, the language of the congregation, since Vatican II.

One thing that has not changed is the structure of the Mass. The sequence remains the same: the liturgy of the Word, which begins with a penitential rite, followed by the liturgy of the Eucharist. Our postures, sitting, standing, kneeling, singing, listening, and praying remain much the same. What will change are some of the words we hear and say. These new prayers should help us to pray more consciously since we will be thinking more about what we are praying. Change is hard on all of us so we will need to be patient with one another as we adjust to the new translation.

You may be wondering why changes in the present translation are even needed, considering that we have been using the current sacramentary for four decades. The revised translation will better reflect the current Latin edition, enacted by Pope John Paul. The new translation is more accurate and richer. For example, we presently begin the creed by saying, “We believe,” but the Latin text begins, “Credo,” which means “I believe.” I can only speak for myself when professing my faith in God.

The first change you will notice is your response to the celebrant’s greeting, to which you will respond, “And with your spirit.” This simple change is inspired by St. Paul’s closing line in several of his epistles. While the kyrie remains the same, the Confiteor does not, which will have us acknowledging the seriousness of our sin and the sincerity of our contrition. Like the Confiteor, the Gloria has been revised and expanded, so look forward to a new musical rendering of this prayer. The introductory rite ends with the opening prayer, also known as the collect. All of them have been completely retranslated.

To help you handle these changes, we will be placing pew cards in the hymnals. Also, we are providing every family in the parish with a pamphlet, entitled, Understanding the Revised Mass Texts, which you can pick up in the narthex after Mass. It provides a good explanation of the changes from start to finish.

The liturgy of the Word remains pretty much the same but not the Creed, known also as the Profession of Faith. This prayer is our affirmation that Jesus is both divine and human. The most striking change comes when we say that Jesus is consubstantial with the Father. That is a mouthful but we are asserting that Jesus is the same substance as God the Father. Stay tuned for part II on the liturgy of the Eucharist next week.

Change is a part of life. Nothing stays the same. Just think how much our world has changed in the past decade since 9/11. We are not the same Catholic people we were when the language of the Mass was changed from Latin to the vernacular. Hopefully, we have grown in our faith. That is what Jesus had in mind when he mandated that the Mass should be an ongoing experience that feeds us spiritually each week.

Family and business concerns, though they are good things, should not have been the ultimate concern for the guests in the parable nor should they be for us today. Leisure and relaxation are also good but these too cannot usurp the place of God in our lives. So, who or what is our God?

One way to answer that question is to consider how readily we respond to God’s many invitations in our lives, including the Eucharist. For some of us, they have become so routine that we are not fully present while the Mass is being celebrated. Thus, we sometimes forget just how special the Eucharist truly is, that our gifts become for us the real presence of God. As we begin this journey of exploring the revised translation of the Mass, may we come to appreciate that this is no ordinary invitation God has extended to us. This time together at the Lord’s Table enables us to truly thank God for all that we have been blessed with.

In today’s gospel, Jesus makes the point that tax collectors and prostitutes, considered by many to be deplorable sinners, were entering the kingdom of God before the chief priests and elders. I imagine that his listeners were scandalized to hear what he said.

As the spiritual leaders of the Jewish people, the chief priests officiated at religious services, served as the primary religious teachers, and had the task of protecting Jewish law. They were what our bishops are for us today, the guardians of their faith. The elders, known also as the Sanhedrin, were men respected for their wisdom, who made up the town council, passing and enforcing laws.

As we heard, Jesus was critical of the very people whom others in the community considered holy. He made the point that while they outwardly appeared to be holy in the sight of others, the chief priests and elders did not back up their words with any credible actions. Unlike the tax collectors and prostitutes who heeded the message of John the Baptist, they refused to repent. Like the second son in the parable, they were quick to make promises, but they did not keep them.

The tax collectors and prostitutes, on the other hand, accepted the teachings of John the Baptist and changed their lives. Like the first son, they changed their minds and did what God asked of them. They repented. By turning their lives around, Jesus pointed out that public sinners can enter the kingdom of God.

By doing so, they experienced conversion. Those of us, who are cradle Catholics, think of conversion as a formal change of one’s religion. However, conversion can signify a deepening of one’s faith as well. The tax collectors and prostitutes did not change their religion, but by deepening their faith, they changed their lives.

Conversion doesn’t come easy though. In studying the lives of saints, we often find there was a sense of incompleteness or discontent that led them to change. Thomas Merton, for example, was a playboy in his college days at Columbia University. One night, while traveling through Europe, he was struck with an awareness of his sinfulness that prompted him to really pray for the first time in his life. Turning away from his bohemian lifestyle, he sought to do what was right. Not only did he find Christ, but also at age 26, he became a Trappist monk, and went on to become one of the best known Catholic writers of the 20th century.

Conversion isn’t limited to saints though. Many ordinary folks also experience that same sort of dissatisfaction with their personal lives as the first son in the parable did. Like Merton, they use prayer to find the spark that ignited the fire within them to change.

The legendary country singer, Johnny Cash, was addicted to drugs in the 1960’s and consequently went to jail several times. Cash overcame his addiction by renewing his faith. He tells how a shoeshine man taught him a lesson for living back in 1956, that took him several more years to really understand. “I was expecting a fast, snappy job like the young folks do,” Cash said, “and he was going about his job real slow. I said to him, ‘You don’t seem to be doing much snapping.’

“That shoeshine man looked up at me sort of sideways and said, ‘That’s the problem with the world these days—there’s too much snapping and not enough shining.'” These readings are inviting us to shine so that by our actions others will see that God matters to us.

Paul offers beautiful advice when he says, “Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus.” If we did, then Christ’s values would influence the choices we make. If our values were Christ-centered, we would recognize that God’s ways are not so unfair after all. When Christ is the basis for our daily decisions, we will enter the kingdom of God.

Alas, the driving force for many Christians is anything but Christ’s attitude. Like the second son, their driving force is often self-centeredness and they are apt to consider God’s ways as being quite unfair.

However we may feel about our past life, many saints have demonstrated that we too can experience a change of heart and God’s mercy. They initially said “no” to God but later changed their minds and said, “Yes,” and so can we.

The gospel message is clearly one of hope for you and me. We can enter God’s kingdom, but to do so, we must constantly examine our lives and try to fulfill our promises by turning our words into deeds.

God has given us the freedom to say ‘yes’ or to say ‘no’ since our yeses would have no value unless we could say no. What matters is that we back up our words with actions. Every day we can turn one of yesterday’s no’s into one of today’s ‘yes’s.

Imagine there are four houses on your street. You own the house on the corner and it is valued at $400,000. The house next door is valued at $300,000; the house across the street is valued at $200,000, and the one at the end of the block is valued at $100,000. Yours has been on the market for months.

One day, the phone rings and you answer it. You can hardly believe what you are hearing. The caller is offering $500,000 for your house. You jump for joy and accept the offer on the spot.

The next day you learn that the other owners on your street sold their houses to the same buyer. Then comes the thunderbolt. They each received $500,000. You are so angry that you call the buyer to vent your dismay. “Did I cheat you?” he asked, “Or are you envious because I am generous?”

This is an incredible parable, perhaps the most disliked parable in scripture since it prompts many to react in much the same way the laborers who had worked in the fields all day did. “Not fair!” might sum up your thoughts as well. We sympathize with those who labored all day in the hot sun. Tired and weary, they watch those who were hired last receive a denarius, the usual full day’s pay, for a mere hour of work. Since the master was so generous to the latecomers, they expected even more, but their smiles fade when the foreman gives them the same pay. When they complained, the vineyard owner pointed out, they received the amount they had agreed upon when hired.

Had the early workers not learned what their employer paid the latecomers, they would have gone home thankful that they could feed their family. Instead, they went home angry and jealous. Why did those who worked all day resent the good fortune of those hired last?

Why would you resent the good fortune of your neighbors who also got a half million dollars for their homes? Why do so many people become happy or sad, depending on whether they think they are better off or worse off than their neighbors?

Jesus hints at the answer when he has the vineyard owner says to those whom he hired first, “My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Are you envious because I am generous?” He hits the nail on the head, doesn’t he? Instead of being grateful for what God has given us, we compare ourselves and our situation to those around us. If we think of others as being better off than we are; that they have more money than we have; that they are better looking than we are; or that they are more talented or popular than we are, jealousy arises, causing us to feel less loved. Jealousy can cause us to miss the point of this gospel, that God wants every one to have the chance to be saved.

Life, as the saying goes, is unfair. Some people are born healthy, others crippled, blind, or like me, hearing impaired. Some have a genius IQ, while others are severely mentally challenged and the majority find themselves somewhere in the middle. We judge ourselves by worldly standards instead of by God’s standards. Envy stops us from appreciating what God has given us in the first place: life and unconditional love.

That God is so generous may be hard for some people to comprehend, but as Isaiah observes, God does not think or act in the same way we do. “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.”

Because we judge ourselves and others by human standards, we don’t know what to make of God’s unconditional love. Regardless of who we are and our status and situation in life, we are loved no less than anyone else in the world. Like the vineyard owner, God intends to offers the same gift, namely, eternal life to anyone who accepts it.

Some might consider this unfair. They might feel like the workers who started early. We bore “the day’s burden and the heat.” We have lived our faith for years, don’t we deserve something more? But what more can God give you than what he is already offering? Heaven is his gift to all who accept his invitation to work for the kingdom, regardless of when in life the invitation is accepted. The benefit for those who have lived the faith is a life well lived, very much aware of God’s love.

Put it this way, the devil wants us to stew, but God wants Stewardship. The devil wants us to compare ourselves to others and to stew about how unfair things are. God thinks differently: God wants us to recognize whatever we have as a free gift that we must invest for his glory and the good of others. By doing that, we can come to appreciate just how much God truly loves us. What matters is that when the Lord returns, you and I are working in the vineyard.

In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah tells us, “Seek the Lord while he may be found.” The key word is “while.” It implies that a time will come when it will be too late for us to do that. By falling into a serious sin such as envy, a person could be digging an unbridgeable chasm between himself and God.

Winston Churchill, the great prime minister of England, was right when he noted, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
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Imagine there are four houses on your street. You own the house on the corner and it is valued at $400,000. The house next door is valued at $300,000; the house across the street is valued at $200,000, and the one at the end of the block is valued at $100,000. Yours has been on the market for months.

One day, the phone rings and you answer it. You can hardly believe what you are hearing. The caller is offering $500,000 for your house. You jump for joy and accept the offer on the spot.

The next day you learn that the other owners on your street sold their houses to the same buyer. Then comes the thunderbolt. They each received $500,000. You are so angry that you call the buyer to vent your dismay. “Did I cheat you?” he asked, “Or are you envious because I am generous?”

This is an incredible parable, perhaps the most disliked parable in scripture since it prompts many to react in much the same way the laborers who had worked in the fields all day did. “Not fair!” might sum up your thoughts as well. We sympathize with those who labored all day in the hot sun. Tired and weary, they watch those who were hired last receive a denarius, the usual full day’s pay, for a mere hour of work. Since the master was so generous to the latecomers, they expected even more, but their smiles fade when the foreman gives them the same pay. When they complained, the vineyard owner pointed out, they received the amount they had agreed upon when hired.

Had the early workers not learned what their employer paid the latecomers, they would have gone home thankful that they could feed their family. Instead, they went home angry and jealous.  Why did those who worked all day resent the good fortune of those hired last?

Why would you resent the good fortune of your neighbors who also got a half million dollars for their homes? Why do so many people become happy or sad, depending on whether they think they are better off or worse off than their neighbors?

Jesus hints at the answer when he has the vineyard owner says to those whom he hired first, “My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Are you envious because I am generous?” He hits the nail on the head, doesn’t he? Instead of being grateful for what God has given us, we compare ourselves and our situation to those around us. If we think of others as being better off than we are; that they have more money than we have; that they are better looking than we are; or that they are more talented or popular than we are, jealousy arises, causing us to feel less loved. Jealousy can cause us to miss the point of this gospel, that God wants every one to have the chance to be saved.

Life, as the saying goes, is unfair. Some people are born healthy, others crippled, blind, or like me, hearing impaired. Some have a genius IQ, while others are severely mentally challenged and the majority find themselves somewhere in the middle.  We judge ourselves by worldly standards instead of by God’s standards. Envy stops us from appreciating what God has given us in the first place: life and unconditional love.

That God is so generous may be hard for some people to comprehend, but as Isaiah observes, God does not think or act in the same way we do. “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.”

Because we judge ourselves and others by human standards, we don’t know what to make of God’s unconditional love. Regardless of who we are and our status and situation in life, we are loved no less than anyone else in the world. Like the vineyard owner, God intends to offers the same gift, namely, eternal life to anyone who accepts it.

Some might consider this unfair. They might feel like the workers who started early. We bore “the day’s burden and the heat.” We have lived our faith for years, don’t we deserve something more? But what more can God give you than what he is already offering? Heaven is his gift to all who accept his invitation to work for the kingdom, regardless of when in life the invitation is accepted. The benefit for those who have lived the faith is a life well lived, very much aware of God’s love.

Put it this way, the devil wants us to stew, but God wants Stewardship. The devil wants us to compare ourselves to others and to stew about how unfair things are. God thinks differently: God wants us to recognize whatever we have as a free gift that we must invest for his glory and the good of others. By doing that, we can come to appreciate just how much God truly loves us. What matters is that when the Lord returns, you and I are working in the vineyard.

In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah tells us, “Seek the Lord while he may be found.” The key word is “while.” It implies that a time will come when it will be too late for us to do that. By falling into a serious sin such as envy, a person could be digging an unbridgeable chasm between himself and God.

Winston Churchill, the great prime minister of England, was right when he noted, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”