Sunday, 27 September 2020
End of 40 Hours Devotions in Parish of Newtownstewart and Ardstraw East
In today's Gospel, Jesus is in Jerusalem at the start of Holy Week. He has already cast the dealers out of the Temple, something that was guaranteed to annoy the chief priests and the elders to whom he addresses this parable. And in this story, the leaders are portrayed as those who say they will do obey the vineyard owner – but fail to do so. God is interested in those who walk the walk. It is easy just to talk the talk. What can we learn?
Firstly, ever since Adam and Eve, there has been the temptation to give priority to what makes us feel comfortable – and then presume that this is what God wants. Among the followers of Jesus, there has always been the temptation to pick and choose what is most convenient for us. A heresy is not so much a denial of the truth as an over-emphasis on part of the truth. In his time in Jerusalem, Jesus is challenging those who thought that they had tamed God in a way that suited them. The Temple and the synagogues preached a message that pointed to the leaders as being virtuous – and so different from the sinners who had to be condemned. But Jesus was very harsh on those who did not practice what they preached while condemning others. Today he says that tax collectors and prostitutes will make their way in heaven before the chief priests and elders of the people. Jesus was not just telling people that God loved them. He was undermining anything in the religious structures that promoted pride rather than humility. Jesus was not saying that the leaders were bad people. But Jesus knew that power can blind us to criticism which might undermine our status. He wanted to build a community of disciples, made up of people who knew that they needed God. He is critical of leaders who thought that God needed them. It is no wonder that, within a few days, the religious authorities had him killed.
Secondly, [1]. Adoration of the Eucharist sacrament of the Cross should drive us out to those whom Jesus preferred, not drive us in behind protective walls. That is where Mother Teresa got her strength to go out. That is what drove St Vincent DePaul whose feast we celebrate today. As we prepare to celebrate [1] Evangelii Gaudium 49A parish that does not make space for silent adoration of God's love will never be able to be renewed.