Homily Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time “How Do You Make Your Choices”
Homily Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time “How Do You Make Your Choices”
Sometimes we hear a story with which we are somewhat uncomfortable, but we don’t know why. We have all heard a joke, for example, from a comedian, maybe we start to laugh, but then we catch ourselves thinking, “Well that isn’t very funny.” The story of the workers in the vineyard is a story like that. We hear it, Jesus told it, so we are supposed to be edified, after all, he is God’s son, but something doesn’t seem quite right.
Why are we bothered? Because we all have a sense of morality. Scholars like Lawrence Kohlberg had some interesting moral theories. Kohlberg says our ethical sensitivity grows throughout our existence just as we grow physically and emotionally as we live life. Kohlberg has many stages of moral growth, but if we wanted to simplify, we could say there are four stages.
The first stage would say that if we are good, we get rewarded. If we are bad, we get punished. We try to please authority in our life by being virtuous. Virtue will lead to reward. The second stage of moral development is that we have a sense of what is fair. If we see people getting treated unfairly, there is a feeling of outrage. The third step in moral growth is a sense of law and order. We have certain rules that we follow in life. The laws come from the state, from the church, from God…. if everyone follows the laws and rules, we will have order. When someone breaks a rule then they need to be punished. If law breakers aren’t penalized there will be chaos. We don’t operate out of one level of moral sensitivity. We tend to bounce around.
The parable about Laborers and the vineyard offends us at all the moral levels I just outlined. We hear about these laborers sitting around the town square. And they don’t seem to be very energetically looking for work. Perhaps we feel they are lazy. We might picture them as dirty, unintelligent, lacking in personal skills, to old to work. For some reason they were labeled as less worthy. Some sin on their part must be present to explain why they are not working.
We can also be upset by the parable because it seems like the owner is unfair. Fairness would say that those who only worked half a day or a couple hours shouldn’t be given the same pay. We sympathize with the workers who question the owner’s pay scale. It’s just not fair.
We are struck by the fact that the owner seems to be breaking all the laws. Isn’t there a minimum wage? Shouldn’t people get paid by the hour? Doesn’t governmental regulation offer any guidance. Something’s not right.
But there is that last level of moral development, which is the highest level that person can operate out of. Jesus, obviously, because of who he was, always operated from this level. We might call it the level of charity or the level of mercy. Jesus considered the common good whenever he made a moral decision. Jesus erred on the side of mercy. He believed that each moral choice called for discernment. Most of us are uncomfortable operating at this level. To pray, to discern, to take responsibility for our judgements, to risk being taken advantage of, requires a lot of energy. We would rather have someone, or some system tell us what is right or wrong. The vineyard owner made choices based on charity.
Presently, we are faced with a lot of moral choices. We are still struggling with the pandemic. What are we to believe about how we are to act in public? We are facing racial justice question. We have an election that is going to be most contentious. We can operate at the lowest levels of moral decision making. We can just label people as good or evil. We can just ask what is most advantageous to us. We can look to leaders to make choices for us. But then again, we can try to take decern what is best for everyone. We can pray every day for insight. Too many people pray to be affirmed in what they already believe. Discernment involves having an open mind and an open heart. And it may require us to move in new directions. The question for all of us, is what kind of virtues are going to guide my moral choices?
Reflection Questions:
- When I hear about someone being unemployed in the media, do I think the worst of them? Have I ever been unemployed? How did I feel?
- Is God fair? If I just keep the rules does that translate into a good life?
Dear Parishioners,
On Saturday September 26 and Sunday September 27, we will have a mission appeal in our parish. Usually, when a parish has a mission appeal a missionary comes in to preach the weekend Masses who we have never seen before. We are fortunate that Fr. Matthew Cole of the Society of African Missions has been with us the last few years. We are familiar with him. Hopefully, we appreciate his ministry.
Members of the Society of African Missions engage in what is called primary evangelization. They try to go to areas that do not have churches and begin Christian communities throughout Africa. They try to fill needs like the need for water, or the need for basic health care or the need for primary schools. The society has many religious vocations so a lot of the funds that are raised are used to educate seminarians.
Fr. Matthew and I have a lot of interesting discussions. I appreciate his friendship. He has an interesting perspective on the United States and on issues of peace and justice throughout the world. He reminds me that the church is bigger than our local parish. He also challenges me to think about how I participate in mission work. Jesus challenges all of us to, “Go out and make disciples of all nations”.
Please respond favorably to Father’s appeal. Your charity will be used for a very worthy cause.
May Our Lady and all the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark