In this week's news, Jesus announced he will provide a spiritual bailout package. The strong moral decline has been caused by believers who have defaulted on their baptismal promises. Seriously though, unlike some working-class people, Jesus demands responsibility and that is a central theme in this week's Mass readings.
This week's readings revolve around the analogy of the vineyard. In the first reading, Isaih compares the Israelites to a vineyard. God has made preparations and have given the Israelites all that they need to serve him. But behold, Israel has produced "wild grapes". In other words, Israel has screwed up. Within the context of all 3 readings, we can see that God is displeased with the people he has entrusted his grace with. In the Gospel reading, the tenants (us-the people of God) make very poor use of the master's property. Despite the fact that the tenants (us) have been given all they need to proper, they act in an evil manner. The chief priests and elders know what justice calls for: "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times." Jesus replies, "the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit." Personally, I don't want all that I have been given to be taken away from me. I don't want to waste what God has given me and few people do. These readings suggest that there are terrible consequences if we "do not produce fruit".
In the second reading, Paul tells us to "have no anxiety at all". He recommends that we pray and "the God of peace will be with you." This week's commentary focuses on prayer. Why do we pray? How do we pray? How does prayer protect us from being "evil tenants", and how can prayer keep us from losing everything that God has given us? There is commentary following the 2nd reading. The rest of the readings are at the end.
Reading II
Phil 4:6-9
Brothers and sisters:
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
Keep on doing what you have learned and received
and heard and seen in me.
Then the God of peace will be with you.
Why We Should Pray
First of all, why is prayer important? Prayer is our relationship with God.1 After all, we can't go tandem bicycling with God, or play video games with him, so we must talk to him instead. Prayer is the encounter of God's desire for us, and our desire for him.2 Prayer is a way to experience union with God.3 Prayer is a way we nourish our relationship with God, just as conversation nourishes any of our friendships. First, we will discuss thanksgiving and petition, quality prayer, and finally, the peace and "fruits of prayer". In all of this, we shall learn how to be good "tenants" and avoid losing what God has given us.
Saying Thanks and Asking for Favors
In this reading, Paul includes thanksgiving as an important part of prayer. Why is thanksgiving important? First of all, it is God's will. The bible says, "In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus."4 But why is it God's will? For one thing, expressing thanksgiving brings joy . It makes us happier. Thanksgiving is an expression of truth- the truth that all that we have comes from God. This idea of all things coming from God is a major theme of this week's readings. Thanksgiving gives us joy because it allows us to enjoy life. After all, have you ever been on vacation with one person who is constantly complaining while another person is extremely thankful? Which person is more full of joy? The thankful one of course! So, joy is a "fruit" of the holy spirit.5 That means, that joy becomes a permanent disposition of ours through the grace of the Holy Spirit. This comes largely through prayer. So, constant thanksgiving can make us permanently thankful and therefore, permanently joyful! God wants us to be joyful because he loves us and THAT is why it is God's will that we give thanks constantly.
Paul also says that we should "make our requests known to God". Why should we ask God to do things for us? We ask for God's help because "petitioning" God is an important part of prayer because when we ask for God's help we show that “we are aware of our relationship with God"6 In other words, as we ask God for help, we admit that he is involved in our lives and that we NEED his help. THis is critical to our relationship with God. After all, if we don't think we need him, then, we will go on without him, perhaps straight to hell. John 14:13 says that we give glory to God if we ask for anything in Jesus' name. In other words, asking God for favors admits that God can do anything and therefore asking God for help glorifies him. God wants us to ask for his help. We must do it every day!
To give thanks to God and to ask for his help, is to be a good "tenant" and to remain on the "vine" of life- God.
Quality Prayer
In this reading, Paul says that we should think about what is pure, just, etc. Isn't that what prayer is? In prayer, we think about God who is perfectly pure, just, lovely etc. God is great! With our eyes and hearts focused on someone so beautiful, we will experience "the peace of God that surpasses all understanding". Even popular secular literature admits that we tend to become what we think about most. To pray means to think about God. To think about God brings peace.
"The life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of the thrice-holy God and in communion with him.”7 Communion can be defined as "intimate communication". How would you like to be in intimate communication with the creator of the universe? That's what prayer is! God desires prayer and he desires communion. On the other hand, the devil despises that we experience communion with God. And so during prayer, we find ourselves distracted (the devil is pleased with this). I remember being at mass one day, and I couldn't stop thinking about fantasy football (an online game where grown men pretend like they are football coaches). During prayer, we experience distraction and in this distraction, we can see our attachment to THINGS and creatures (people).8 We are trying to pray and we find ourselves thinking about money, work, and our significant others. Sometimes, it seems like we are thinking of anything and everything besides God during our prayers! This experience reminds us that we are too attached to the world and not attached enough to God. We are warned in Matt 6:24 that we cannot serve 2 masters, yet continuous distraction and focus on something other than God during prayer can be a sign that we are INDEED trying to serve 2 masters.
The remedy is simple-we must pray more and reduce the amount of time and passion we give to things and people.9 If we are attached to God, we will be be good tenants, and we WILL produce fruit. God will help us do that.
Prayer is Not Enough
In this reading, Paul tells us to "Keep on DOING what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me." Christian life and prayer cannot be separated. Christian prayer involves continual sacrifice. In order to pray, we must turn off the television, be off the phone, and away from people. Christian life is the same way. Christian living involves sacrifice of time, resources, and personal ambitions. So our prayer resembles our christian life and our Christian life looks like our prayers. Paul says "Keep on DOING. Then the God of peace will be with you." So to pray that we will forgive the trespasses of others, and not actually do it, is a waste of time, energy and life. However, if we do what we pray, the peace we experience will be extraordinary. That is the promise of this reading.
Paul says, "keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me." I'm not sure if I've EVER known anyone who had the confidence to say that when talking about life in general. I have, however heard people say things like "daddy smokes, but you shouldn't" or "Yes, I am involved in premarital sex, but you shouldn't be". The reason Paul had the confidence to say "do what I do" was because he practiced what he preached! In Galatians 2:20 Paul says, "yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me." So when Paul hears Jesus saying,"the kingdom of God will be given to a people who produce its fruits." He has no fear. His life and his prayers are the same- both given to God. If we pray unceasingly and live out our prayer life by loving God above ALL THINGS and our neighbor as ourselves, we will have no fear and "the peace of God will be with [us]."
The Point
* prayer is our relationship with God. No prayer means no relationship- period
* constant thanksgiving to God brings joy! that joy can become a permanent part of us!
* we should ask for God's help for every area of our lives. If we don't want to let him into an area of our lives, it's usually because we are sinful in that area, or we are excessively proud (we think we don't need his help)
* prayer is intimate communication with God. This can only bring peace and happiness in life
* distraction in prayer reveals what we are attached to. Without an increased detachment, our prayer life and our Christian life will suffer
* we ask for God's help in prayer, but we must do our part as well, by living the faith by putting God above EVERYTHING and EVERYONE and by treating EVERYONE with love.
Real Life
I spent a year as a missionary. Those missionaries pray constantly. They pray everytime we drive from our home to El Paso. They pray during the drive from El Paso to Mexico. They pray during the work itself in Mexico. They pray all of the time! At first, I thought it was TOO MUCH prayer. But after a while, I began to dislike the prayer a lot less. I began to develop this unfamiliar intimacy with God. Worry and stress started to be replaced by peace, joy, and courage. I made a documentary of this missionary community. Click below to see the 7-minute documentary.God loves us!
1- CCC 2558
2- CCC 2560
3- CCC 2725
4- 1 Thessalonians 5:18
5- CCC 1832
6- CCC 2629
7- CCC 2565
8- CCC 2729
9- Loving people is what God asks us to do, but if we are more attached to a person than we are to God, we cannot serve God.
Reading 1
Is 5:1-7
Let me now sing of my friend,
my friend's song concerning his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside;
he spaded it, cleared it of stones,
and planted the choicest vines;
within it he built a watchtower,
and hewed out a wine press.
Then he looked for the crop of grapes,
but what it yielded was wild grapes.
Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard:
What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I had not done?
Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes,
did it bring forth wild grapes?
Now, I will let you know
what I mean to do with my vineyard:
take away its hedge, give it to grazing,
break through its wall, let it be trampled!
Yes, I will make it a ruin:
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
but overgrown with thorns and briers;
I will command the clouds
not to send rain upon it.
The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are his cherished plant;
he looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed!
for justice, but hark, the outcry!
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
R. (Is 5:7a) The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
A vine from Egypt you transplanted;
you drove away the nations and planted it.
It put forth its foliage to the Sea,
its shoots as far as the River.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Why have you broken down its walls,
so that every passer-by plucks its fruit,
The boar from the forest lays it waste,
and the beasts of the field feed upon it?
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
O LORD, God of hosts, restore us;
if your face shine upon us, then we shall be saved.
R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Gospel
Mt 21:33-43
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
"Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking,
'They will respect my son.'
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
'This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"
They answered him,
"He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times."
Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?
Therefore, I say to you,
the kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit."
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