SELECT HERE for the Audio recording of the Readings of
Sunday, September 20th, 2020, Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

SELECT HERE for the Readings of Sunday, September 20th, 2020, Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

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Sunday, September 20th, 2020, Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
 

Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near...
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, not are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
Isaiah 55: 6,8

To Grow Is To Accept A God of Surprises

In these pandemic days, being near somebody can cost you; social distancing, six feet apart, quarantine, isolation, masking, etc., are becoming common words in our daily conversations. ‘Nearness’ is not recommended at all. The message and tone of the readings this weekend is a direct opposite of what we are experiencing right now. ‘Be near’ to God, seek the Lord while he may be found or ‘the Lord is near to all who call upon him’ (Responsorial Psalm antiphon). Turning to God, accepting God, changing our ways to God’s ways, being like God, opens the door to a God of surprises (God’s generous grace).

The prophet Isaiah in the first reading with an imperative urges the weary people of Israel to seek the Lord, to call upon him.  Do it now!  Make the decision and do not hesitate, do not doubt (how hesitation and doubt often can be a stumbling block to many things).  They must also be clear that nearness to God means knowing that God’s ways are not their ways and His thoughts are not their thoughts.  God is a God of surprises.  He acts in total freedom.  He cannot be tied down by human expectations or calculations, neither can he be judged with human categories of success or failure.  He is free to do as he wishes and this freedom is what will restore us.  It is for our benefit.

What hesitation or doubts do I struggle with when it comes to God and his plan in my life? Are there moments of doubt?  When and why?  Have I made up my mind about who God is for me?

In the Gospel, there is something odd about the Landowner.  He is involved.  He does the hiring himself.  He goes out at dawn and then at various times of the day, seeks those who have not been hired or are unwanted.  He wants all to be given something to do.  Isn’t this God’s nature or image?  He always ‘seeks.’  He is about ‘giving not receiving.’ His giving ‘restores’ and ‘encourages.’  He surprises those he seeks with abundant generosity.  He pays the last, first and the first, last.  Where is acceptable in human terms?  Is this fair, we would ask? 

Listening to this Gospel, we are challenged  to change the way to look at God.  He is one who seeks (never repulses or abandons), who freely gives.  The Kingdom is a gift!  There are no ‘nobodies’ with God.  God's generous grace is given equally to all without measure and by God’s wanting.  No one controls this or Him.  It is not about who deserves what. No credentials are needed. Only seek (be near) Him.  How often we have been benefited by God's goodness!

If we believe and worship this God, then something about his nature, character and attitude must rub off on us, too. What is it about Him that others might see in us?  What must we adapt? In a world of distancing between people because of various reasons, a world of unfairness, a world of ‘receivers,’ can we surprise others (the nobodies) with our generosity?  Can we sacrifice in order for those who are ‘last’ could have the joy of being ‘first’? (Why is this hard?)  Can we lift others up?  Can we discourage less?

Let our relationships with others and God be not transactional but be true, genuine and about 'the other’s good' too,
not only ours.

A Blessed Week in the Lord!
Fr. Anthony