On the Eve of All Saints

From the Little Chapter from the First Vespers:

Hebrews 12:22-24

You have drawn near to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

On the Message and the messengers

Malachi 1:14-2:10

Cursed be the cheat who has a male in the flock and vows to give it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished; for I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name is reverenced among the nations.

And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse on you and I will curse your blessings; indeed I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and I will put you out of my presence.

Know, then, that I have sent this command to you, so that my covenant with Levi may hold, says the LORD of hosts. My covenant with him was a covenant of life and well-being, which I gave him; this called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in integrity and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts, and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you have not kept my ways but have shown partiality in your instruction.

Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?

I Thessalonians 2:7b-9,13

Brothers and sisters:
We were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children.
With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you
not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well,
so dearly beloved had you become to us.

You recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery.
Working night and day in order not to burden any of you,
we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly,
that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us,
you received not a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God,
which is now at work in you who believe.

Matthew 23:1-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,
"The scribes and the Pharisees
have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.

For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people's shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.

All their works are performed to be seen.
They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.'

As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.'
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called 'Master';
you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

Very interesting readings in the context of the last several years. The message may be true, but oh, you'd better watch out for the messenger.

This seems patently clear in the light of the scandalous manner in which our bishops, archbishops, and at least three of our sitting cardinals conspired to cover up the sexual abuse of minors by priests and religious under their pastoral care. But they are easy targets for our scorn. Each of us has been baptized to proclaim the gospel of Christ, each of us has been called to live this message in every aspect of our daily, personal lives. Each of us has failed to do this, at some time.

On the question of Caesar

Isaiah 45: 1, 4-6 (NRSV)

Thus says the LORD to his anointed,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
and strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
and the gates shall not be closed:

For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name, I surname you,
though you do not know me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other;
besides me there is no god.
I arm you, though you do not know me,
so that they may know,
from the rising of the sun and from the west,
that there is no one besides me;
I am the LORD,
and there is no other.

Matthew 22:15-21 (NRSV)

Then the Pharisees went and plotted
to entrap him in what he said.
So they sent their disciples to him,
along with the Herodians, saying,
‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere,
and teach the way of God in accordance with truth,
and show deference to no one;
for you do not regard people with partiality.

Tell us, then, what you think.
Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’

But Jesus, aware of their malice, said,
‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?
Show me the coin used for the tax.’

And they brought him a denarius.

Then he said to them,
‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’
They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’

Then he said to them,
‘Give therefore to the emperor
the things that are the emperor’s,
and to God the things that are God’s.’

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

(From the NAB version)

"Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?"
Knowing their malice, Jesus said,
"Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?
Show me the coin that pays the census tax."
Then they handed him the Roman coin.

He said to them,
"Whose image is this and whose inscription?"
They replied, "Caesar's."

At that he said to them,
"Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and pay to God what belongs to God."

I have to say that I prefer the punch of the NAB version today!

On the Feast of St. Francis

Undistorted was the Saviour's Image
in the poet of God
for neither greed, nor guile defiled his soul;
therefore, Let us beg the Saviour this day
to preserve his image in us as well
and, for Francis' sake, to save our souls.

On the Question of the Vineyard of the Lord

Isaiah 5: 1-7

Let me now sing of my friend,
my friend's song concerning his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyardon 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!

Philippians 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.

Matthew 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."

I'm not at all comfortable with these vineyard stories. God is shown here as the Good Guy who has done all that he can to make one or other of the Vineyards work. In one, the fucking grapes just refuse to be domesticated. In the other, the evil tenants kill all the owners representatives, even his son! God gets to be guiltless. God gets to say, "To Hell with you lot! I'm going out to find a new group of grapes, a more responsive clutch of tenants and THEY can inherit the Kingdom instead of you!"

This may not be what God, or the Church, intend us to hear. But is does seem to be a pretty clear message: Get your shit together, or get left behind!

Perhaps that is a compassionate message. Is the God who owns the vineyard, who sends his own son to it, the same God of peace that St. Paul speaks of?

Hard to say.