Living On Borrowed Time

Dear Parishioners,

“I’ll do it in my own good time.” That’s a phrase we sometimes use to postpone a task, because we are currently occupied with something else. But whose time is it really? Is it our time to do whatever we want to do with it, or is it someone else’s time?

Actually it’s God’s time; it belongs to God along with the rest of creation. Time didn’t exist until God, who lives in eternity, created the world. Time is the measure of change since the world began, and since God created time, time belongs to God. We are simply stewards of God’s time. In short, we are all living on borrowed time.

In today’s gospel (Matthew 22:15-21), we hear the famous saying of Jesus: “Then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but give to God what is God’s.” We have an obligation to serve both our government and God. However, since all creation including our time, talent, and treasure ultimately belong to God, we cannot give them to our government when it would be contrary to God’s law. We must remember what happened in Germany, Italy, and Japan in the 1930s and 1940s.

Today, we must ask ourselves what more we can do for the good of our government and the good of our church. How can we more generously use our time, talents, and our treasures to serve both God and country.

- Fr. Carl

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.
To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
~ St. Thomas Aquinas

Contentment

Dear Parishioners,

Christian faithfulness finds it origins in all our lives when we first embrace the “I” of who God made us to be. It then takes on a life of its own when we finally learn that through Jesus, no matter what life may bring our way, “all things” are possible. Today, you and I have God’s prescription in our hands to discover and live in the place called “contentment.” All we really need is Jesus, his love, his grace, his way of seeing life and our world, his way of living with others. Our Lord has been faithful to us in his life, now we are invited to live faithfully with him.

- Deacon Robert

“No one ought to consider himself a true servant
of God who is not tried by many temptations and trials.”
~ St. Francis of Assisi

Making God Proud of His Vineyard

Dear Parishioners,

The owner of a vineyard must be dedicated, hard-working, and patient. It is truly back-breaking work and a test of love and devotion to produce good grapes. That’s how God was with His vineyard, the people of Israel. However, they rebelled against God and lost their sweetness, turning into wild or dirty rotten grapes. (Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43)

Today, God has a new vineyard—the Church. He has done even more than He did for Israel, cultivating and watering the soil with the blood of His son. He has done everything He can hoping we will absorb what He has put into His vineyard and produce a crop of sweet, juicy Christians. Let us do what we can to prune away our pettiness, arrogance, and self-seeking pleasures so as to make God proud of His vineyard.

- Father Carl

“Christian faith and ethics do not wish to stifle
love, but to make it healthy, strong, and truly free:
this is the exact meaning of the Ten Commandments
which are not a series of “noes” but a great “yes” to
LOVE and to LIFE.”
~ Pope Benedict

How Will You Answer?

Dear Parishioners,

Today’s parable is a story about a man who had two sons (Matthew 21:28-32). One morning, the father asked one of his sons to go and work in the family vineyard. The boy responded with a defiant “I will not.” But later in the day, he reconsidered his father’s request and went to work.

The father asked his second son to go work in the vineyard. The boy responded, “I will, sir,” but then he didn’t. Jesus asked those standing around, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first one,” they answered, and they were right.

So here we are, “Yes” and “No” people before God in whose image we are made. If we listen, we will hear the invitation of the Father who never accepts that “No” is our final answer. In the most negative moment of your life, God believes you have a “yes” that longs not only to be said, but to be lived. So, no matter what may have been your “No,” live into “Yes” and in so doing, become God’s gift in Christ to yourself and others.

- Deacon Robert

“Nothing created has ever been able to fill the
heart of man. God alone can fill it infinitely.”
~ St. Thomas Aquinas

Forgiveness

Dear Parishioners,

God’s ways are not our ways. Much as we think that God ought to see things the way we do, He doesn’t. Thank God he doesn’t. We believe in forgiveness, especially when we need it, but to forgive others, we can only go so far. There’s a limit to our forgiveness of others. God’s forgiveness, this side of the grave, is without limit. God is so generous and so, too, should we be.

This week Jesus tells us some people will not have to work as long as ourselves to enter God’s kingdom (Matthew 20:1-16a). That may seem unfair, but that’s God’s way and God is generous. After all, it is God’s kingdom and none of us earn it on our own merits. It is a pure gift from God to those who accept his invitation to work in the vineyard of life. Thank God for the opportunity.

- Fr. Carl

“You cannot please both God and the world
at the same time. They are utterly opposed to each
other in their thoughts, their desires, and their actions.”
~ St. John Vianney

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Dear Parishioners,

Today we focus on the exultation of the cross; that rough-hewn, splintered stake on which our Lord suffered and died (Numbers 21:4b-9; Philippians 2:6-11; John 3:13-17). We Christians have that cross in our midst, lifted in reverence in worship, and often worn in love around our necks. The cross has all our names on it, today and every day.

At the end of our lives, when our days are reduced to hours or minutes, the cross lifted high before us will be the reminder that in death we experience life everlasting through our Lord Jesus Christ. “Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim, till all the world,” including you and me and all creation, “adore his holy name.”

- Deacon Robert

Tough Love

Dear Parishioners,

If we truly love somebody, we want what is best for them. If we truly love, we offer our support when encouragement is needed, but we also confront and point out self-destructive behavior when we become aware of it. Ezekiel in today’s first reading (Ezekiel 33:7-9) recognizes his responsibility as a prophet to point out the sins of his people. He hopes they will repent and avoid punishment. But even if the situation seems hopeless, because the people are hard-hearted, he must try. Perhaps they will, and that would be for the best. Ezekiel’s warning wasn’t heeded, and he suffered for his message, but he was saved by God in the end. It is no different with us if we don’t warn our friends when we see them going astray. God will hold us responsible. So let us be good friends and neighbors and give gentle correction when it is needed.

- Fr. Carl

“We become what we love.”
~ St. Claire