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.”

In last week’s gospel, Jesus posed the question to his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Judging by his reaction to Peter, a fitting question to ask now is, “Who do you think you are?” His words appear to be spoken in anger and perhaps they were.

I imagine Peter was stunned when Jesus scolded him for his well intended advice by saying, “Get behind me, Satan!” What was so wrong about what Peter had said? Nothing really except that he was perhaps unwittingly trying to prevent Jesus from following God’s will.

While he meant well in his prayer that God would spare Jesus from the pains of crucifixion, Peter was refusing to accept God’s will. As Jesus pointed out, “You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Peter still expected the Messiah to be an earthly king who would rid his homeland of the Romans. Judging the situation at hand by human standards instead of God’s standards, he was an adversary bent on stopping Jesus from following God’s will.

So, who do you think you are? When we offer advice, do we ever ask ourselves if we are thinking as God does or are we thinking as human beings do? How often do we follow Peter’s example and set our sights on human concerns rather than the divine? More often than I suspect we care to admit or realize. In spite of their good intentions, many people give advice that cause others to trip and fall because they are ignoring God’s standards.

For example, pregnant women who for whatever reason cannot or will not accept the unborn child in their wombs are often advised to get an abortion. The advice may be a quick solution to the problem at hand but one thing Project Rachel revealed to me years ago is that few women are left emotionally or physically unchanged by a surgical procedure that takes less time to perform than a commute from here to Seattle. Down the road, some eventually discover the link between their abortion and their present health issues and when they do, they find themselves regretting that they had ignored God’s wisdom.

From the start of our faith journey at baptism until that point when God will judge us, there will be countless moments when people in our lives will advise us on what to do. Some counsel will be worth heeding while other advice will be well worth ditching. Be it advice we give or receive, we should ask ourselves, “Would Jesus give that same bit of advice?”

In his rebuke, Jesus raises a haunting question we cannot afford to ignore. “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” He is warning us that we will be repaid according to our conduct in this lifetime and if we focus on worldly things rather than him, we risk losing everything in the end. The damage caused by making choices that would not be deemed acceptable by God may seem insignificant but danger lurks anytime we ignore God’s wisdom.

Many of our neighbors consider themselves Catholic yet we rarely see them here at Mass. Convinced by others that missing Sunday Mass is not wrong, despite what the Church tells us, they are absent from the Eucharistic gathering for any number of reasons. That bit of worldly advice has lured them into a weekend routine that allows them to become even more distant from understanding God’s way of thinking.

Few Christians set out in life intent on ignoring God and identifying instead only with the world and its secular ways. Keep in mind that the path to conformity and worldliness, which Jesus cautions us to avoid, often begins with seemingly harmless steps yet eventually those who continue to venture down that path find themselves thinking less and less as God does, thus less able to see the value of his wisdom over worldly wisdom.

Paul advises us, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, and pleasing and perfect.” This can only be done through prayer. For Paul, a life lived according to God’s will is the most basic form of worship there is.

Jesus cautions that we cannot follow him unless we take up our cross. “Be ready to offer your life for my cause,” he is telling us. To be a committed Christian, one must be willing to suffer. Martyrdom isn’t the fate of most Christians but those who are committed to him accept the sufferings that come into their lives because of the choices they make for the sake of the Kingdom. They find themselves taking up crosses of inconvenience, of bearing witness, or for some, of martyrdom. That may not seem so attractive against the backdrop of worldly lures but Jesus also tells us that those who lose their lives for his sake will find it.

We are urged to think as God does regardless of the cost. God doesn’t want us to suffer but sometimes suffering and sacrifice might be required of us as we respond to our call as disciples.

Jeremiah, Paul, Peter, and Jesus all found themselves standing at crossroads where they had to decide which way to go: the way of their times or the timeless way of God. They all knew that ultimately the way of God would be the most satisfying yet also the more costly choice to make. They would agree with the poet, Robert Frost, who wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

The message of these readings is simple yet challenging. We should keep the advice we heard in mind when giving advice or before accepting advice, for the choice we make could make all the difference when the day comes that we find ourselves standing before the Son of Man.

1st reading – Ezekiel 33:7-9
2nd reading – Romans 13:8-10
Gospel – Matthew 18:15-20

As I was reflecting on today’s readings, I kept going back to when I was a young boy, about 10 years old. Back in the old days, some say, back at the old homestead.

I remember how it was my sisters jobs (all six of them) to help my mother prepare the meals and to set the table. I also remember, “oh too vividly”, that it was my brothers and me who had to clean up and do the dishes. Can you imagine how many dishes there were with 10 kids, a set of parents, and no dishwasher? I cringe every time I think of it!!!!

I remember how one of my older brothers used to check the sharpness of the knives by chopping away at the top of the knife drawer before placing them in the drawer after drying.. I also remember how I told him not to do that because mom would be very upset. Of course, my brother would not listen to his younger brother so he never stopped.

According to our gospel today, the best thing I could have done would have been to go to my mother, but being boys and not to be outdone by the other, my other brother and I joined in also to check the sharpness of the knives before placing them in the knife drawer.

When the time came to pay the piper, my mother, we would all blame each other; No, I didn’t-he did! Not me, him! Mom, I’m your favorite!(as if that would work).

The point is – that if we are our brothers and sisters keepers, a lot of the wrongs around us would be eliminated, no matter how small or large the wrong is. I was wrong not only for what I did but for what I did not do, go talk to my mother about the problem.

I believe that the real sin here was doing something that got my mother very mad and the knowing that my brothers and me were the cause. We were all affected, even my other little brother and my sisters and even my father because they faced the brunt of my mothers wrath.

This scenario of my two other brothers and me is somewhat how our society is today. We see the same non-caring for those who are making wrong choices or doing wrong things. Nowadays it is easier for some people to turn their heads instead of confrontation with the one committing the wrong or easier for them to join in like my brother and I.

You can see this in the inner city where gangs are so prevalent. You can see this by how many abortions are done each day throughout the world. You can see and hear about the violence around us every time you pick up a newspaper or listen to the news on t.v. Yes, we are all affected by all the sins of the world.

Pope John Paul II, now Blessed, during his pontificate wrote, “There is no sin, not even the most intimate and secret one, the most strictly individual one, that exclusively concerns the person committing it. With greater or lesser violence, with greater or lesser harm, every sin has repercussions on the Whole Human Family”.

Our readings today are about responsibility. Responsibility to look after one another to include doing that which keeps one another in good standing with God. Of course we can only do this if we are in good standing ourselves.

Imagine how it would be if your family was in a similar situation as I was when I was young or it could have been a situation you remember from your past. Could you see yourself being confronted in the manner of what we heard in Matthew’s gospel? How embarrassing would that be? It probably would definitely stop one from doing what got them in the situation in the first place.

In some way, I feel that it goes a lot further and means much more than just getting scolded for your action. It is about being in union, in harmony with the ones around you and with God. It is also about living our Christian faith on our sleeves, not hidden away for no one to see.

People around us are our responsibility. Our responsibility to look after and to love. If we truly love one another, then we become the watchman, as we heard in the first reading. As followers of Jesus, we who belong to the Church have the responsibility to treat sinners with respect and lead them to repentance.

Followers of Jesus had the responsibility to respond to penitent sinners by reintegrating them into the community, and to avoid unrepentant sinners as was the customary response to Gentiles or tax collectors who were often separated from the community.

We have a responsibility to ones around us as well. And I believe it goes further than just those in the Church. It touches every aspect of our society. I would like to ask these questions for all of us: How often do we join in the assembly of those who are standing up and protesting against the atrocities of abortion? How many of us get on that bus to go to the capital every January to stand up for the rights of the unborn?

How many of us write to our legislators to have our voices heard on topics and laws that go against the respect and dignity of every human being? How many of us have written to the newspaper in response to an article that went against the principles of which we stand for as Catholics? How many of us have turned our heads or just joined in the flow of things? I did when I was 10 years old and there were other times much later on that I am not too proud of.

Let us watch after each other. Let us not be like Linus in the Comics Strip “Peanuts”, who was confronted by Lucy who demanded that the t.v. channel be changed. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus. “These five fingers” says Lucy-holding up her hand. “Individually they’re nothing” she says but as she makes a fist, she says “When I curl them up like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold”.

Linus considers the situation a second-then says, “Which channel do you want ?” Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, “why can’t you guys get organized like that?”

Let us not be like Linus who wants the same power as Lucy. Our power lies in our hearts not our fists. Powered by God’s love given to us in the body and blood of Christ, we can go forward from here to live our faith fully in word and action. We can go from here as ones who care for each other. And as we heard in the letter of St. Paul to the Romans, Love does no evil to the neighbor, so we can go from here to “Love our neighbor as ourselves”.