Reading 1
Ez 18:25-28
Thus says the LORD:
You say, "The LORD's way is not fair!"
Hear now, house of Israel:
Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?
When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies,
it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die.
But if he turns from the wickedness he has committed,
he does what is right and just,
he shall preserve his life;
since he has turned away from all the sins that he has committed,
he shall surely live, he shall not die.
In this reading, God is talking about death. It's clear that he is not talking about mortal death, because regular mortal death is something that happens to everyone. Eternal death relates to heaven and hell. Regarding THIS subject, people 2000 years ago and people today complain that there is a heaven and hell. Whether we like it or not, heaven and hell both exist. Most people believe in heaven, but less people believe in hell.
Here virtue is discussed. But what is virtue? Virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good.1 In other words, virtue is a natural inclination to do good. This is God's gift to us.
The first reading talks about how a man turns away from virtue and then dies. Where does virtue come from? Virtue comes from God. God gives us 3 virtues as a grace to us and for his glory. They are faith, hope, and charity. These cannot be earned, they are given to us by God and we have the choice to use these gifts, or to refuse and destroy them.
Charity
God has instilled in us charity. Charity is the inclination towards “loving God above all other things for God’s sake and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God”. Some people think that we humans are evolved from apes and that we developed purely out of chance. Evolutionists assert that we are just a masses of cells moving around the planet. If I am just a mass of cells, then why do I feel like I should be nice to everyone? Why do I feel bad when I mistreat people? Why do I feel bad when I mistreat myself? The answer is that God has instilled in me (and you) the inclination towards loving God above all other things for God's sake and my neighbor as myself for love of God. That's why we feel remorse and envy, whereas ladybugs cannot. Sometimes we act charitably towards others. In those tiny moments of charity, we are given a glimpse of how God loves. Charity is one God-given virtue that "someone turns away from" in the first reading. God gives us the gift of charity, and we often reject it, or refuse to use it.
Hope
God has also given us the virtue of hope. Through hope, we desire the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life as our happiness and we put our trust in Christ.2 Hope sustains us because hoping and trusting in God does not result in disappointment.4 God keeps his promises. Hoping in God gives us joy even when we are suffering difficulties. It's just like a man who loves his family immensely. He can still smile after a terrible day at work. Hope is a precious gift from God.
Every person wants hope. When asking someone how they are doing, have you ever heard them say, "same old crap, it's just a different day"? We all need hope and we all want something to hope in. God has already infused this hope in us at baptism. Shall we waste it, or use it? Another important note: our hope is nourished through prayer. Just like the wife who misses her husband- her hope is nourished when she hears his voice over the phone. Her hope is restored even though she misses him. We must pray if want something to hope in. If that prayer is to God we have something even better: some-ONE to hope in. He doesn't disappoint. Hope is a gift from God.
Faith
God has given us the natural inclination to "believe in everything that he has said and revealed to us, and everything that Holy Church proposes for our belief."3 You can see this in children. They have not yet sinned against their faith, so they believe everything that their loving parents tell them. Sooner or later, the parents (unlike God)are not 100% truthful to their children, so the children have difficulty believing. We all have faith until we sin against it. Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin had faith, until they sinned against it. Just like everything else in life, God gives us the choice to refuse him so that we can also have the choice to choose him willingly. Just like charity and hope, every person wants faith. Everyone wants to believe in something. That may explain why most people in the world believe in God even though they have never seen him. It seems illogical to believe in something you can't see. Yet,the reason why we have faith is that God wrote that desire in our hearts because he loves us. God completes that desire to know him when he gives us faith at baptism. Faith is a tremendous gift because if God did not give us faith, we would never know him- and how tragic would that be? Most people believe in the God they cannot see because he gave us that desires to kno him as a gift to us.
The Reason For the Gifts
These virtues God has given us. 2nd Peter 1:4 says, "he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature". So, through baptism, God has given us faith, hope, and charity, so that we can be and love like him. Think of Jesus on the cross. He has been abandoned by his friends, he is humiliated by spectators. He has nails in his hands and feet. But, because Jesus has faith, he believes that God will offer salvation to all of God's lowly people, so Jesus remains on the cross. Jesus has perfect faith. Because Jesus has hope, he knows that heaven is just around the corner, so he suffers without complaint even though it hurts like crazy. Because Jesus has charity,he thinks only of forgiving the people who had tortured him as well as the thief next to him.
Jesus is a very good person. We love him and we wish that we could be more like him. Isn't that what all of our heroes are made of? Our heroes are often men and women who sacrifice of themselves for the benefit of the less fortunate or for the sake of goodness even though the world hates and kills them for it. And so, God wants us to share in his great love and to be just like him. He gives us hope, faith, and charity that is necessary. In this reading, the Lord says, "When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies,it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die." We know very well that God has given us everything. He has given us faith, hope, and charity. If we refuse these things, we will surely die. Because they come from Jesus "the vine", the branches cannot survive without the vine. So if we sin against our faith and refuse God's virtues, not only will we die, but we will choose an eternity in hell with the same God who offers us life eternal.
How to Practice Virtue
We musn't be afraid to hear this. We must take courage. Is God not telling us what he desires for us through his gifts? His gifts tell us that he desires each one of us to be in heaven with him.
* Faith- In order to keep it, we must not sin against it. If we have sinned against our faith (we always do), we must quit that sin and go to confession.
* Hope- In order to maintain our hope, we must pray. Praying 30 seconds before each meal is not enough. If prayer time was listed on your phone bill, would God be the most contacted person? Or would it be your boyfriend, or best friend? Would Jesus even be ON your phone bill? We must pray constantly and God will nourish the hope he has already given us.
* Charity- In order to persevere in charity, we must be loving to our enemies. That means we have to love people who hate us and we even have be loving towards people who ANNOY the heck out of us (especially those people). Jesus loved those hard-headed annoying apostles, so he wants us to do the same.
Real Life
Since I left missionary work, I've been looking for a job. I believed from the beginning that God would find a job that HE wanted for me. I believed that God would give me a sign when the right job came along. As decision time approached, I prayed even more for God's help especially in making a decision. I made the decision about which job to take just recently. This past week, I had interviewed with a lady. She sent me an email a day later which said,"Something interesting happened after I dropped you off [at airport]. I kept thinking about this would work out so I started working on straightening out some really old files which are pertinent to [the job]. In the card I sent you something that I found in those files."
This morning, I received her card in the mail. Inside was a greeting card with 3 napkins inside. On these napkins was my name in bronze-colored embossing. For some reason, in the file cabinet related to the job, she found 3 napkins with my name on them right after the interview. She wrote in her card, "I hope Chicago*[she knew I had an interview with another company the same week] is pleasant. But, I really hope and pray that Detroit*[the city where her company is] is calling you." I smiled when I saw this and then I went to my bedroom.
When I got there, I was filled with this incredible feeling of warm and perfect love. I believe that God was reminding me which job he wanted me to take. But this feeling would not go away and I started to get emotional. Even though I know God loves me, I kept wandering "why do you love me so much Lord?" So I dropped to my knees in tears and told God, "I love you, I love you, I love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you." I thought of Jesus asking Peter if he loved Jesus. Then I thought of the 3 napkins in the letter. I thought of faith, hope, and charity, and I thought of the 3 napkins. I thought of God's incredible faithfulness. Not only did he want to communicate to ME which job to take, he wanted to communicate it to my future boss as well! When this happened, I saw in my mind God (with a white beard) embracing me. I felt as though God was hugging me. I felt as though I was in his presence. Before his immense glory and love, I felt very, very small and I wondered: "Why does he love us so much?" If you ever wondered if God cares about your job, he does. He cares about everything you do. God loves us!
*This picture was taken on 9-27-08. These are not the true city names.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14
R. (6a) Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
The sins of my youth and my frailties remember not;
in your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Reading II
Phil 2:1-11 or 2:1-5
Brothers and sisters:
If there is any encouragement in Christ,
any solace in love,
any participation in the Spirit,
any compassion and mercy,
complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love,
united in heart, thinking one thing.
Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory;
rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,
each looking out not for his own interests,
but also for those of others.
Have in you the same attitude
that is also in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Gospel
Mt 21:28-32
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:
"What is your opinion?
A man had two sons.
He came to the first and said,
'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.'
He said in reply, 'I will not, '
but afterwards changed his mind and went.
The man came to the other son and gave the same order.
He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, ‘but did not go.
Which of the two did his father's will?"
They answered, "The first."
Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you,
tax collectors and prostitutes
are entering the kingdom of God before you.
When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Yet even when you saw that,
you did not later change your minds and believe him."
1- CCC 1803
2- CCC 1817
3- CCC 1814
4- Romans 5:5
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