At first glance Jesus’ parable of the workers who come late to the field and receive a full day’s pay seems “unjust”…why should those who didn’t work a full day be paid a full day’s wages…especially when those who worked a full day receive the same pay? God’s mercy and love falls, like a gentle rain, on the just and the unjust! No one is left out of God’s Reign, no one is left unloved! While that sounds all warm and fuzzy the truth is that a whole lot of “Christians” don’t buy it and don’t like it! I believe that if we really understood this parable, and Jesus’ point, we would be having a very different debate on many social and political issues like: racial justice and white supremacy, immigration reform, refugees, universal access to healthcare, the national budget, war, a just wage….and the list goes on.

We are called to love as Jesus loved us…to build up the Reign of God…and in the Reign of God even the latecomer gets the same love. As Christians we are called to try and look at these issues through the lens of God’s justice, not human justice. God’s justice challenges our own sense of what is fair. While we know we are not to live by “an eye for an eye”, in fact, far too often it is very much how we in deed define “justice”. Far too often we seek retribution, not justice.

Throughout the Gospels Jesus shows us that justice is about repairing damaged relationships, about making sure that the poor, the immigrant, the marginalized, and all those who are left out -- that they are included…regardless of when they arrive, regardless of what color their skin is or where they were born.

What is my own sense of what is “just” or “fair” in light of this Gospel? How “just” are my relationships? How does this Gospel call me to respond to current social issues such as the demand for racial justice and an end to systemic racism, fair and just immigration reform, the refugee crisis, a just wage and access to decent healthcare?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

Revenge versus forgiveness, kindness and compassion – Today’s first reading from Sirach reminds me of “The Our Father”. It ties God’s forgiveness of our sins to our forgiveness of our neighbor’s sins against us. As we forgive so too shall we be forgiven!

Today’s Gospel speaks to us about forgiveness from the heart. Not a walking away from a wrong done to us, not a “simple letting it go”, but a deep decision to forgive. This is more than simply “moving on”…this is about a way of being in the world…a way of living. Forgiveness is a decision of the heart, one that we must live into, one that takes time when the wound has been great.

We live in a society that often confuses justice with revenge. We seek “an eye for an eye” and we call it justice! And yet that is precisely what Jesus warned us against…he calls his disciples beyond the usual standards of conduct, beyond just loving your neighbor to loving your enemy! This is the crux of the matter! How can I forgive someone who has wronged me, someone who has hurt me, made me look foolish, how do I forgive someone who has taken away something I wanted or worse, someone I loved?

I think that in the parable we hear in the Gospel it is a case of the forgiveness received not having been allowed to transform the heart of the one who had been forgiven. For, if he had truly accepted this gift of forgiveness and taken it into his heart, he surely would not have treated his coworker as he did, but would have reacted with the kindness and forgiveness that had been shown to him. This issue was not about whether the money was owed or not. It was about passing on the kindness, compassion and forgiveness that had been shown to the man who owed the large sum to his master who had forgiven his debt.
   
It is about acknowledging the recklessness of the kindness, compassion and forgiveness that God so lavishly showers upon us in the midst of our sin…and our response to that lavishness is to shower it in turn upon each of our sisters and brothers regardless of the size of their sins against us!

Who most stands in need of my lavish forgiveness today? To whom do I need to seek forgiveness, from God, from sister or brother? How can I let go of my desire for revenge and seek reconciliation and forgiveness instead, and repair relationships?

The current national reckoning for racial justice, is really about this very topic, isn’t it? It is about lavishing kindness, justice and compassion on all of my Black and Brown sisters and brothers. It is about repairing broken relationships. It is about standing up and speaking out against all forms systemic racism and White supremacy in our government and in our institutions both secular and sacred! Let us stand up with the Black Lives Matter movement and demand change; not ask for it -- demand it! Let us march, let us write letters, let us make phone calls and let us VOTE, to end systemic racism and bring about racial equality in our nation! Let us be bold enough to have challenging conversations about racism and biases with family and friends. Let us take time to look deeply into our own hearts and acknowledge our own biases and as the African American, lawyer turned activist, Verna Myers says “walk boldly towards our biases”…because then when we have named them and claimed them, only then, can we change them! And it’s WAY past time for change my sisters and brothers, way past time!

Blessings,
Fr. Tim

In the Gospel this weekend Jesus is essentially talking about mending relationships, about restoring that which has been broken. And when I think about broken relationships I tend to think about “shalom”. The Hebrew word “shalom” we often translate into English as “peace” but as so often happens in translation, so much is lost when we translate from one language to another! “Shalom” means so very much more than just peace, so much more than just absence of war. Shalom means happiness, good health, prosperity, friendship and well-being, and right-relationship with God and with your neighbor…so much more!

In today’s Gospel, in a very real way Jesus is talking about shalom, about working to restore the ancient roots of our relationships with one another, recognizing that we are sister and brother, that we are bound to each other in and through our creation by God. Jesus recognizes that we hurt one another and that we must seek to repair the injuries, and to seek and to offer forgiveness. We must work to forgive and to restore what was taken or destroyed as well as be willing to be healed of the hurt and the suffering that was inflicted upon us. We must be willing to “be SHALOM” for the world -- not for ourselves -- but for the sake of the world!

Shalom means “Black Lives Matter”, Shalom means racial equality, Shalom means a recognition of our common sisterhood and brotherhood of our interconnectedness that flows through our very veins. It is a recognition of our common lineage; our common ancestry as the children of God made from the dust of the earth and given life by the very breath of God.

Shalom mean there is no place for white supremacy and white privilege -- a world where we value one person over another based on the color of their skin or the place of their birth, their sexual orientation, their socioeconomic status, their gender or their immigration status!

Shalom means that I must stand up against the plague and sin of racism and bigotry, that I must demand an end to the systemic racism that infects our institutions both private and governmental, secular and sacred!

Shalom means that I am called to stand back and reflect on my own biases in how I treat my sisters and brothers, how and what I think of them in the recesses of my heart!

When we wish “Shalom” to someone we wish happiness, good health, prosperity, friendship, and well-being, and right-relationship with God and with all our neighbors…and so much more! You and I are called “TO BE SHALOM” to and for all of our sisters and brothers, and for the world itself! In the midst of all that is happening in the world today we hear the clarion call for total racial equality. In the midst of the pandemic, in the midst of economic suffering, in the midst of all of the suffering of our sisters and brothers, how can I “BE SHALOM” in my family, my work, my school, my community, my country?

Blessings,
Fr. Tim