Comments on the liturgy of the day taken from the September/October 2020 issue of the “On Your Word” missal.
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
1st week of the Psalter
FIRST READING
From the book of the prophet Isaiah (Is 55:6-9)
Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, who will have mercy on him, and to our God, who will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. The word of God.
Commentary on the first reading
Prophets have the great gift of a clear word which, even when it judges, opens the heart to hope. In this passage from his book, Isaiah does not deny the existence of injustice, wickedness, and iniquity. Yet none of these negative things can prevent us from seeking the Lord, who does not deny himself to those who seek him with a sincere heart. It is always a time of grace. All that is needed is the decision to return to the Lord. How beautiful this Word is! It says that the Lord is our point of departure and our dwelling place. It does not say “go” but “return.” I go to a place where I may never have been before, whereas I can return only to a place where I have already been and for which I retain a deep longing. At the same time, it assures us that our journey is destined to reach “the Lord who will have mercy.” Another beautiful word, and perhaps one that has been overused a little. Mercy expresses not so much an attitude of the mind as, more concretely, God’s will to continue giving life to those who had turned away from him. Mercy is God our Mother.
SECOND READING
From the letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Philippians (Phil 1:20c-24, 27a)
Brothers and sisters, Christ will be glorified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. But if living in the body means fruitful labor, I do not know which I should choose. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart this life and be with Christ, which would be far better; but for your sake it is more necessary that I remain in the body. Conduct yourselves, therefore, in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. The word of God.
Commentary on the second reading
There is nothing in human experience that is not for the glory of God. Life is for the glory of God, but so is death. That is why the apostle Paul can confidently affirm that his body is for the glory of Christ. In their evangelization, the first Christian communities had to contend not only with the Jewish environment but also with Greek culture, which had little regard for the body. From Plato onward, philosophy had regarded the body as the tomb of the soul, a burden from which one had to free oneself in order to savor the taste of true life again. Christians, however, know that the body is not something accessory, a mere container for the soul, that is, the truest and noblest essence of every human being. In Jesus, God took on a body and made it the place of salvation. “Caro cardo salutis,” wrote the Church Father Tertullian: the flesh, weakness, and contingency are the hinge and summit of salvation. A truth we cannot keep silent about, especially today, in an age when we witness both the idolatry of the body and its contempt.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 20:1-16)
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples this parable: «The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out again around nine in the morning, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them: “You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.” So they went. He went out again around noon and at three o’clock, and did the same. Going out once more around five o’clock, he found others standing there and said to them: “Why do you stand here idle all day?” They answered: “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them: “You also go into the vineyard.” When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward: “Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last and ending with the first.” When those who had started at five o’clock came, each received a denarius. When the first came, they thought they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarius. Upon receiving it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying: “These last ones worked only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, who have borne the burden of the day and the heat.” But he said in reply to one of them: “Friend, I am not treating you unfairly. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go. But I wish to give this last one the same as you. Am I not free to do as I wish with my own things? Or are you envious because I am generous?” Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last». The Gospel of the Lord.
Commentary on the Gospel of the day
Nothing could be further from our sensibilities, accustomed as we are to labor-union victories, percentages of GDP growth or decline, and bank interest rates, than this parable told by Jesus. But it is precisely when Jesus “goes overboard” (to use language fashionable today) that we must make the effort to enter into the depth of the message. The first striking point is the landowner’s continual going out. To paraphrase a phrase dear to Pope Francis, we could call him “a landowner who goes out” (the Pope often speaks of a Church that goes out). He not only goes out continually but is attentive to the people in the marketplace. He asks. He calls. He sends. He promises. He calls and sends even those whom no one else has hired for the day, considering them fit for work. But it also seems quite clear that, economically speaking, his behavior is not exactly guided by justice according to market laws. Why does Jesus provoke this scandal in the listeners of his time and also in us? Because his main objective is not to establish a new school of economics, but to convey the identity of the Father, who is the true owner of the vineyard. This Father gives what is just in order to make life possible.
