“Felices nimium colitur qucis vinea Christi aequa laborantes praemia namque ferent.” 

“Too blessed are those who tend the vineyard of Christ; for they shall receive equal rewards for their labors.”

Ambrosius Francken I, Thesaurus Novi Testamenti, 1580-1585.

[The vineyard owner said] “What if I wish to give this last one [hired] the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?” Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”     Matthew 20:15-16.

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You can almost hear the objections of those workers who had toiled in the fields all day as they watched all the recently hired workers get identical pay (and also had to wait for them to get their wages even though they were the first workers hired!). Yes, the immediate reaction is to think that they should have received more for their extra toil – except, of cause, it wasn’t extra: it was the exact amount they had agreed to at the beginning of the day. Technically they had no reason at all to complain! And the first thought to emerge is that the whole parable is a description of our work as children of God through our lifetime, trusting that we too will be admitted into heaven. But of course you cannot get “more” or “less” heaven depending on how long you have tried to obey God’s will through life… Heaven is what it is, no more or less, and we simply do our best to behave, think and respond to situations as God wills us. But a parallel situation occurred to me thinking about this parable.

To be a Christian in the first 300 years of the church risked losing your life! If you did not accept the Roman emperor as divine (therefore, as a living god) and rejected the pantheon of gods and goddesses who protected the Empire, you risked torture and death. It was a form a treason, murder of the state: if you did not worship the gods and the emperor, who protected the state, you threatened the safety of the state, were guilty of treason and therefore had to be punished. Quite logical. It was due to the Emperor Constantine that Christian persecution ended once and for all in the Roman Empire in the year 313. In fact, his immediate predecessor Emperor Diocletian had inflicted the worst Christian persecution known up to that time. So the confusion among those early Christians must have been total – threatened with terrible death in many creative ways, and then only a few years later Christianity was declared legal! But here’s the thing: Constantine, after a legendary victory at the Milvian Bridge, which won him the throne, seems to have been convinced of the truth of Christianity. But – and it’s a big ‘but’ – he waited for baptism until literally on his deathbed. To this day the Church states that all sins are forgiven at baptism. And Constantine waited until the very end before being baptized. So couldn’t you say that Jesus’ parable today parallels that situation? I have been trying to do the right thing for the Lord for the past 81 years, and yet I know that has not been a sinless period! Purgatory was established for the likes of me – the cell in which I will be imprisoned awaits. And I might well see someone I may have condemned in life for being a reprobate and who had not been baptized, but who saw the light at the last moment, was baptized and flies past me into the heavens….. That’s what the first laborers in the parable felt! After all, I knew all that time what I should have done in all circumstances, yet so many times I did not act the way I should have. It is for those failures I must pay the price before gaining heaven. It’s called justice.

So what can we make of this whole complicated scenario? A super generous God of course! God can do things which, by any of our standards, are unthinkable! Yes indeed: the Lord can welcome some into his kingdom way ahead of any of us, greet each of them warmly while we wait (and  it might well be a long wait) before it’s our turn. So we have a choice: moan and groan about our miserable lot (“Look at what I have done to help others! Look and see how much I have paid to charity! Look at the time I have devoted to others when I could have had a great time)…. and so on. God can see things and evaluate things of which we have no clue. What we should do is rejoice in a God so wonderfully generous who tends to the strays before he comes to us. So we should rejoice in their salvation and their realization that much of their lives had been a mess and the huge remorse that comes with that, but they saw that at long last, and did something about it. And us? Well, we can wait a little longer, happy in the fact that we belong to God’s chosen, knowing that a just God will, indeed, gather us up as well.

Life.Church’s Post, September 12, 2025.

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Pope John Paul II visits and forgives Mehmet Ali Ağca, who attempted to kill him in 1981.

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.      Matthew 18:21-22.

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It would be a reasonable guess that Peter was surprised, if not astounded, at Jesus’s response to his question, mentioned above. It is such a human reaction to get even with someone who has done us wrong. Hollywood would probably not exist if there was an eternal and universal desire to forgive and possibly forget (though probably to remember where the hatchet is buried). However, there is quite a lot of research and discovery about revenge, and how debilitating it can be – and how entertaining if it does not concern you! The classic British film “Kind Hearts and Coronets” is totally based on revenge with no sign of remorse or guilt. It’s great entertainment, but not based on contemporary evidence which suggests that revenge does not satisfy as it retains the pain inflicted and the anger which resulted from the hurt. Here is some of the latest research on revenge which is remarkable, and also happens to fit right into Jesus’ forthright thinking. With that in mind, we can approach the demand that Jesus insisted upon: Forgive! And there is more. Jesus was quite prone to idiomatic expression; if you take his instruction literally, then you must forgive 77 times (in this translation from the original Greek, more often translated as “Seventy-seven times seven times” or 539 times). After that – what? The literalist would perhaps say it’s fine to take revenge then. No – not so. We have many expressions in English which are strictly idiomatic, not to be taken seriously. For example:

The origin of the expression “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs” (and Pitchforks apparently), published by George Cruikshank, “Very Unpleasant Weather” 1820.

…..or, as I well remember listening years ago to then Communist East Europe short-wave radio: “Tonight it’s raining dogs and cats here in Bucharest”. Idioms have a way of making a point strongly, albeit indirectly, on which the Lord capitalized. And revenge, “a dish best eaten cold” it is said, (though it is even better not served at all) might well have provided the strength for “Kind Hearts…”, the movie mentioned above. But the research says that revenge seems to have the potential to take over our whole thought process, even damaging and corrupting our whole mind, and with no acceptable outcome except for doing more wrong. “Forgive” says the Lord, always, everywhere, without question, bear no evil thoughts of revenge. In the famous movie “Jesus of Nazareth”, there is an imaginary scene set in the Temple in Jerusalem between Jesus and Barabbas. Fully expecting Jesus to call the people to arms and defeat the Romans, Barabbas reassures Jesus of their willingness to follow him to victory. But Jesus had a very different idea… Forgiveness may seem to be impossible in the heat of the moment, but when some perspective is possible, we must forgive – and from the heart. Consider the clear contrast with the determined revenge in “Kind Hearts…” with another stage character, Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. You will recall that he was imprisoned for stealing bread to feed his family and then could not find work once released as he was still on parole. But he, rather than pursue a life of crime (and he was clever enough to do so) was transformed because of his experience with the saintly Bishop of Digne, who bought his soul for Christ in a key event, and went on to a life of selfless dignity and worth. And finally, there was that terrible slaughter of the innocents in West Nickel Mines in Pennsylvania in 2006. A man broke into a one-room Amish school and shot dead five children in cold blood. The response of the grief-stricken parents and the Amish community can be seen here, one of the most incredibly Christian responses in the face of evil unimaginable.

Today’s other two readings reinforce the Lord’s clear instruction, but with rather more severe language. Sirach says, “Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin! Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor….” And the second reading focuses on the essentials: “None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord….” And revenge of any kind cannot survive a life lived that way. But it does indeed have the potential to lead us down the wrong pathway away from life hand in hand with the Lord, to a destiny of tears and hatred, just what the Devil ordered!

Holy Trinity Catholic Church (permanently closed), Romeo Celleghin 1946, Lorain, Ohio, USA. 

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Jesus embracing the Prodigal Son, unknown provenance.

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Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.    Matthew 18:15.

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At the heart of the Christian message is the challenge and reality of forgiveness. It can be desperately hard to forgive, but the Lord himself managed it, forgiving those who had crucified him. And with forgiveness comes freedom, because anger, retribution, hatred and revenge are all chains, limiting our freedom to be our true selves, children of God. A recent article in the APS magazine says “Behavioral scientists have observed that instead of quenching hostility, revenge can prolong the unpleasantness of the original offense and that merely bringing harm upon an offender is not enough to satisfy a person’s vengeful spirit.”  In other words, revenge doesn’t work, does not bring peace and seems to be able to make a bad situation even worse. It seems to be a sort of cancer of the mind, able eventually to dominate the individual who gives way to it. And the healthy opposite of all that is forgiveness. Jesus in today’s gospel offers a practical alternative to such destruction, with a culmination which seems to be a shunning of the individual who is unable to confess, to be treated a “a Gentile or a tax collector”, someone disliked by society (but still worthy of respect). But then we must remember that Matthew was a hated tax collector, but Jesus went to his (shunned) house for dinner – which won him over! So the message would seem to be, keep trying to forgive! Indeed, today’s first reading seems to mandate an effort for us all to attempt to “dissuade the wicked from his way” whether we like it or not! And today’s second reading appears to provide the strength to do all this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.” Love, which can be expressed in many ways is the antidote. Here are some real stories of forgiveness where it seemed it was impossible to do so. And then there was this terrible crime which was met with incredible love.

It is possible that each one of us has been damaged, insulted or ridiculed by another at some time in our lives. Perhaps it was a parent, or an apparent friend who truly wasn’t, or a colleague at work who turned out to be the opposite of what we had hoped for. So be it – but how did we deal with it? It can take a really long time for many of us to come to forgiveness. I often suggest to people who mention such blighted moments in their lives, that the person responsible who reacted unacceptably might well be acting in best way they can. It may well be far from the way each of us would act – but it might be their best way, and who are we to reject it? We can quietly pity them in their cold world of being always right and we always wrong. But it is their choice, and our challenge as children of God is to act in such a good, loving way that will sow seeds of love which might well take root in that other and change them. I think that is the source of today’s message. Not easy, but at least full of hope. After all, if we demonstrate the behavior we wish others would copy, then there is the best model for them. If we can do it, so can they! Take a look at this.

So today’s readings seem to challenge all of us, all in different situations, different milieux, different backgrounds and so on. But the challenges may well be very similar, and this Sunday the Lord is asking each of us to look around, assess those around us and see where is the greatest challenge (or challenges). Then decide on an appropriate course of positive action, and begin! And never forget; when we look inside ourselves, do we find what we hope for there? Is that perhaps the place we should begin? Look at today’s readings, and each of us could begin at comparing the ideals we find there to the ideals we find in our own hearts…..

Ave Christus Divinus.

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 Christ Rebuking Saint Peter, Flemish School, artist unknown, National Trust: Kingston Lacy, Dorset, UK.

Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as humans do.”     Matthew 16:21-23.

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This scene in the gospels is probably unique. Literally minutes after Jesus had entrusted the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to the leader of the apostles than he called him “Satan”! And, recalling last Sunday’s gospel, he had even changed Simon’s name to Peter, a name which means “Rock” suggesting that he was rock steady! Clearly something had been horribly mistaken for Jesus to employ such an extreme name to his most trusted disciple! What had Peter done to deserve such a rebuke? Well, look at what Jesus had just predicted: he said he was on the way to Jerusalem where, shockingly, he would suffer greatly at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the scribes (who controlled all of Jewish society) and be killed. Peter’s rejection of that prediction was what precipitated Jesus’ extreme response (though he clearly missed the crucial final words Jesus uttered: “…and on the third day be raised”). Not really surprising though, as those other predictions were so dire. Here was the man all his followers were convinced was the Messiah, the Promised of God – yet was saying he was doomed! I might well think any one of us would be tempted to do exactly what Peter did! It was unthinkable that the Messiah would suffer, he who was to restore the very Kingdom of David and expel all pagans, the Roman occupying force, and recreate God’s kingdom. Well, no: Jesus was to suffer and be killed!

Throughout the previous 500 or so years, the Hebrew people had lived under an almost unyielding pagan nations the messianic prophecies that it would all end: when kings would bow down before the Jewish Messiah and all would at last be right in the world. All the Jewish population was reared on such biblical prophecy but as there was no date on when this would occur, everyone was ready for the call at any time! And note well that there were indeed three uprisings against the Romans about then, in AD 66, then AD 115 and a third in AD 132. All were disastrous, and the third one resulted in all Jews being expelled from Jerusalem, which was even renamed Aelia Capitolina. But it certainly points to the conviction that almost all the Jewish population clung to the belief that an uprising would come to restore David’s kingdom. It didn’t. But it does explain Peter’s explosive rejection of Jesus’ prediction of disaster and death, especially when he and all his followers supported the popular expectation of an uprising against the pagan Romans, led by Jesus! And there is a thought for us today, an armor-clad Messiah charging into battle against a feeble Roman resistance resulting in – what?

And that might be an entrée into today’s first reading. The word “duped” is ugly, not poetic in the slightest degree and not worthy of a place in the Bible, but there it is. Jeremiah is complaining that God’s calling for him – a prophet – was not the cosy, life-affirming career he had hoped for. “Deceived” is the normal word for this passage in the other translations, and carries greater weight (in my opinion). But that actually tied in with Jesus’ predicament in today’s gospel, though he did not complain like Jeremiah. But he eventually did ask for that cup of suffering to be taken back in Gethsemane: “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39). And Paul, in today’s second reading, reassures us that obedience to God’s will, whatever it might be, is the road which is good and pleasing and perfect. In other words, whatever life may throw at us, sometimes pleasant, other times catastrophic, obedience to God’s will is what will keep us rooted in the good and pleasing and perfect. Jesus trod that route, in his case, to the bitter end. And it is to him that our eyes should be set at all times, for there is life eternal and the promise of everlasting happiness.

The Agony in the Garden, El Greco and workshop 1590s, The National Gallery, London, UK.

St. Peter Receives the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, St. Joseph’s Abbey, Spencer MA, USA. 

Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.       Matthew 15:16-19.

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First. let me refer you to the reflection of August 9th, where the connection between Peter’s name and its meaning are explained in some detail. If you speak a Romance language it will be much easier for you to understand the explanation! This passage from Matthew is the foundation of the claim for the Pope to be the direct ordained descendant of Peter, and to hold the keys of Heaven as Christ said. Indeed, the very coat-of-arms of the Vatican City State display this claim to the fullest:

Here you see the papal crown (which has not been used to crown a pope since Pope Paul VI in 1963) and the keys of St. Peter. The Vatican City State is the smallest sovereign state in the world, at just under 50 square kilometers. For centuries the middle of Italy comprised the States of the Church until the reunification of Italy in 1861, with the result that popes were so-called “prisoners in the Vatican” until the creation of the Vatican State in 1929. This means that the Vatican now has ambassadors (called “nuncios”) throughout the world, representing the “Holy See”. But I doubt that Jesus had all that in mind when he addressed St. Peter in the way described in today’s gospel! But it certainly represented a significant recognition of Peter as the leader of the first Christian community. And the Catholic Church has taken that passage as demonstrative of the claim that the Pope is the leader of the Christian Church here on earth. However, all Orthodox Christians and all Protestants deny that claim; however for the first 1000 years or so, it certainly seemed that way, or at the very least, the Pope was “first among equals” (primus inter pares in Latin). Additionally, if you look back to Sunday 9 August 2026 (the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time), you will see my lengthy explanation of the meaning of Jesus’ new name for Simon bar Jonah, “Cephas”, or “Rock” in Aramaic, Jesus’ language. Also, note that today’s gospel ends with the commission making Peter the leader of the church. Nothing more. But if you read the very next verses, where Jesus announces that he will be arrested, condemned and killed, Peter vehemently objects and is then called Satan by Jesus! Because Peter, and the rest of the disciples, have no idea of what the true Messiah must undergo. Their idea of the Messiah was the same as everybody else’s, the conquering hero who will defeat the Romans and re-establish the Kingdom of David. Not so.

But today’s gospel only points to the leadership of the early church and who was to lead it. Note also the authority Jesus gives to the early church, “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”. It is similar to the authority Jesus gave to the apostles after this resurrection, where he gives them power to forgive sins, among other things, but here the basis of the sacrament of Reconciliation, accepted as such by the Catholic and Orthodox churches. So these verses are very important in the development of the early church, and date down to this present moment. Today’s other readings seem to be a reflection on the theme of leadership – or its mystery: “For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Or who has given the Lord anything that he may be repaid?” – as the second reading says. In other words, remember who is really in charge! So today is perhaps a lesson in reality and humility – even the early church required a way to control itself, a way to bring order into potential chaos. And so it was. And for many years the papacy really did proclaim the pope as a semi-divine leader, using all the pomp derived from the Roman Empire itself. But now humility seems to have become the order of the day. Today the pope is a leader facing the same challenges and should demonstrate the same humility all leaders should show, and perhaps has become a model of appropriate use of authority, a Christian model, a humble model, replacing the older model:

Pope Pius XII, 1939-1958 in St. Peter’s Basilica: the Sedia Gestatoria.

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Jesus and the Canaanite woman, “Serbian Fresco” provenance unknown.

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[The Canaanite woman said] ….”Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Matthew 15:27.

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Here is Jesus taking a leaf out of his own book! You will recall his parable of the Good Samaritan, where a Jewish gentleman on his way to Antioch was waylaid by robbers, beaten, stripped and left to die in the desert sun. A priest and a Temple official passed by without stopping. A hated Samaritan (Jews at that time considered Samaritans to be condemned heretics) stopped, bandaged the man, took him to the nearest inn, told the innkeeper he would be back and would pay for any extra expenses. The Jews hearing that story for the first time would have been astounded! Jews and Samaritans did not get long well together! Now in today’s gospel we have a real-life parallel. Jesus was apparently traveling in old Canaan, near Tyre and Sidon, which was definitely not a Jewish land. Indeed for centuries the Canaanites were considered to be the traditional enemies of the Jews. But, for whatever reason, Jesus was in Canaan. Then it happened. A Canaanite woman, who somehow had heard of this Jewish master teacher and healer of all sorts of maladies was in the area. She must have done some research and found out where he was. She had a daughter who was being plagued by devils. Now that could have been any number of problems which we today would call by different names, but the result was the same: abject misery and desperation. So she begged the Lord for help. A Canaanite begging a Jew would in itself be extraordinary; she was clearly at her wits end. Then came the extraordinary conversation with this woman and Jesus. The Lord clearly considered himself called only to the Jewish people, the Chosen of God. That becomes crystal clear in the dialog which followed the Lord’s silence after the woman begged him for help:

But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”

And it seems that Matthew’s version of this encounter, as there is a similar one in Mark, is more combative; for example, the term “Canaanite” was obsolete by then. Mark’s term is “Syro-Phoenician”, which was current at that time. Matthew saying “Canaanite” seems deliberately to conjure up the centuries of warfare and distrust between the two peoples. That, of course, makes Jesus’ volte-face even more striking! The woman’s clever retort to Jesus’ put down clearly counted for something: he restored her daughter to health (look at the right side of the icon above, showing the moment the evil demon was exorcised from the girl). But he had obliquely called the woman a dog! No question about that. What is going on? Here is one powerful explanation: “The narrative portrays Jesus being bested by a woman and changing his behavior on that account. This is the only instance in the extant tradition of Jesus being taught by someone, and that someone is a woman who should not properly be speaking to him at all.” (Harriot Reed Congdon). It is apparently a critical moment, when Jesus enlarged his own view of his mission, now open even to non-Jews, the Gentiles. And this done by a Gentile woman! Oy veh!

Like most of us, Jesus grew up in a society which had its heroes and its bêtes noirs as all do. For centuries the Jews and the Canaanites had been at each others’ throats, not least because of the Canaanite belief in the supreme god El, and all their other gods and goddesses. It was somewhat similar to the world in which I grew up, where we Catholics were assured at all Protestants were doomed! Thankfully all that has been quietly dropped, but Jesus was in the thick of a tradition which confronted him directly and strongly – and he changed! Not exactly in a gentle way, as his response was, at the least, abrupt: “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” Almost begrudging! But he helped her, and her daughter was returned to her. That was the point. Yes, Jesus was sent to everyone! He clearly had a bit of an internal struggle, but of course he came down on the right side, and almost certainly established a tradition among his followers that we are all God’s children, even those we don’t like! And in a way it culminated later in the gospel in the Roman centurion approaching Jesus on behalf of his servant who was dying. Firstly he was a Roman soldier, symbolic of Jewish oppression, was unclean as he ate food forbidden to Jews, and a pagan (Matthew 8:5-10). (And note that his humility is echoed by each of us every Mass when we respond to priest’s announcement: “Behold the Lamb of God….). But it seemed that Jesus had much less difficulty dealing with him than he had with the woman. But both the Canaanite woman and the Roman soldier seem to stand for most of us who were not brought up in a Jewish family but yet are fully incorporated into Jesus’ church. It took some adaptation on the part of the totally Jewish early Christians to accept non-Jews, but they eventually came round to the idea that we are all God’s children, all in need of the Lord and his saving power. And, typically, the Canaanite woman and her daughter were apparently fully incorporated into the church, both even given names in the Pseudo-Clementine literature. We should also not forget that the Devil is an equal-opportunity merchant, happily servicing pagan and non-pagan alike! The other two readings today seem to echo the theme of incorporation, stating “The foreigners who join themselves to the Lord” in the first reading and Paul’s remark to the Romans: “Brothers and sisters: I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles…” So, along with the walls of Jericho, all the barriers between us and the first Jewish-Christians came a-tumblin down!  – and it has remained so ever since; after all, it was Pope Francis who urged us all to “build bridges, not walls”…

POLITICO, Nov. 11, 1989 file photo, East German border guards are seen through a gap in the Berlin wall after demonstrators pulled down a segment of the wall at the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin.

The Loaves and the Fishes, Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, Tabgha, Israel.

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[Jesus’ disciples told him…]..“This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves”.   Matthew 14:15-16.

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Jesus had just heard the news that King Herod had executed John the Baptist, the one who had recognized Jesus as the Messiah, the Son – the Lamb – of God. They were cousins according to ancient tradition, so Jesus, as we all would, wanted somewhere quiet to mourn and pray. Not to be – the crowds who now followed the Lord wanted to hear more of what he wanted to say. And – note – Jesus responded in kind, curing their sick and, presumably, comforting them and giving them hope. And then he heard his disciples advising him to dismiss all of them to the nearby villages for the the night – and also get something to eat! And then came the famous instruction, quoted above. His disciples must have been astounded. We are told there were many more than 5000 there, excluding the women and children! There was no way they could be all fed! But the Lord calmly instructed them all to be seated on the ground, took the five loaves and two fish, blest them and handed them to his disciples, who then distributed them to the multitude who, it seems, consumed them to the extent of having 12 baskets full of leftovers! But there are two ways to consider this miracle. One is a miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes. The other way, beloved of scholars, especially those not partial to the miraculous, was that no-one in their right mind would go out into the wilderness without preparing something to take with them and eat afterwards. The scholarly take on all that would be to admire the generosity of everyone there to share all they had, moved by Jesus’ presence and spirit. Either way, it seems, is an acceptable take on the powerful presence of the Lord, moving many people to be super generous and share all they had with others. The other way, of course, is to see this miracle as fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, today’s first reading: “You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk! But even that can be seen in the light of human generosity and divine expectation of the way God wants all of us to be.

So being generous is very close to the heart of God. Indeed, the Son of God gave his very life rather than deny his whole mission of revealing God’s love for us in any and every generous way. That is ultimate generosity! Interestingly, the word generous derives from the Latin word generosus, which means “of noble or good birth”. It is thought that it took its present meaning by moving from one fortunate to have been born into a wealthy, noble family, into the expectation that one who was that fortunate would have to act honorably by sharing that which he was fortunate enough to be born into (genesis, gentry and gender come from the same root meaning). That meaning does seem to flower in the first reading today: “Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk!” It reminded me of an act of generosity which Princess Mary, daughter of King George V of England, originated. It was intended in the beginning as her Christmas gift to British and Imperial troops serving in the trenches of World War I, but developed into a recognition of duty and service up to 1920! I myself was granted an extremely generous gift from the British government in the 1960s. I grew up in a very poor family (one cold water tap in our apartment, water being boiled on the gas stove and carried over to the small hip bath we had, etc.). it was pretty bad. But the government at that time believed in education. I was given a 100% financial grant to study in college for three years (the standard time for a British degree) and get my London University degree, plus, a few years later, a full grant for living expenses, board and lodging, books and even transport, allowing me to go to Oxford University for a year to get a Teaching Certificate. I had to commit myself (by word of mouth) to teaching for three years in England, which I did, then I joined the Society of Jesus! When I tell students about all this now, both in England and the USA, they do not believe me! That governmental generosity set me up for life, and I have been extremely grateful to this day. That is the power of generosity, and why we are called by God to be as generous as we can be for those less fortunate. When I see the situation in so many parts of the world where something like my experience is utterly unknown, then I feel called to be as generous as I can afford to be. I believe we are all called to that Christian life. As Jesus himself said, the poor we will have always with us (Matthew 26:11). But we can do all in our power to do something about it!

And then there is the unlimited generosity of the love of God! As the second reading today says: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There is the ultimate generosity. No matter how ungrateful we might be, no matter how sinful and disrespectful we might be, God’s love awaits us all, waiting for that moment when we will come to our senses and say “Sorry” and respond to the warmth and acceptance that is God and begin to live life to the full, being as generous as the Lord himself who gave his life that we might live!

The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes (detail), Lambert Lombard 1545, Rockox House, Antwerp, Belgium.

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Tympanum of the Last Judgment, Great West Door of the Abbey Church of Sainte-Foi, Conques, France. Picture taken in 2008.

[Jesus said] “Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”  Matthew 13:49-50.

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The first thought which occurred to me looking at today’s first reading where God appears to the young Solomon, son of King David, and offered him anything his heart desired. Solomon replied:: “Give your servant…. an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?” Well my first thought was one of incredulity. I wonder how many of us would reply that way to such an offer. You might reply “Oh, but Solomon was destined to rule the population of the kingdom – I’m not”. But we are all called to rule over ourselves! That is a challenge which quite a few of us seem unable to do, judging from certain behaviors! And Jesus is pretty blunt at the consequences if we fail to do that – just look at the picture above, closely and carefully. That is the grand entrance to the Catholic Romanesque Abbey Church of Sainte-Foi (Saint Faith) in Conques, now under the Premonstratension Order of St. Norbert. Conques is rough mid-point between Bordeaux, Toulouse and Lyon in France. The West Door shows vividly both the result of a life rejecting God and those around us, and, on the other hand, what we can expect if we have responded as best we can to Christ’s call to love God, neighbor and self. Although it does not look like it, that doorway was constructed between 1107 and 1125, 900 years ago! And the message remains unchanged. Love God, neighbor and self. 

Relic of St. Faith, Treasury of the Abbey of Sainte-Foi, Conques, France.

God granted Solomon his wish and the “Wisdom of Solomon” entered our language, and all others, and became known throughout the world. The other two readings reveal what we can rightly expect if we do desire to live the life that God wants of us. We have been called to such a life which hopefully we have decided to respond to it, and hence be justified and, according to today’s reading, be glorified by God when called to account for ourselves. That is quite a promise! It seems as though God is trying to convince us all that the right way is, indeed, the right way for all. And that is the explanation of the well-known parables in today’s gospel. If we discover the pearl of great price among regular old semi-precious pearls, or a treasure buried in the field that we now do our utmost to purchase, the pearl and the treasure are both the discovery of the right, best, most fulfilling way to live our lives, loving God neighbor and self. Anything to the contrary is to be discarded, the wicked expelled from God’s presence of their own accord, where, as we saw last week, there will be weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth! And, if you look closely at the Conques doorway above, properly called a tympanum, all this is vividly rendered!

But, looking at Jesus’ words today, there does seem to a slight element of luck involved. Someone found the treasure by what seems like luck, hides it again, and pools everything to buy the field and, of course, the treasure buried in it (a little bit like “detectorists” in the UK who search and find such things). The fishermen haul out a goodly catch, and then sort out the good fish from the bad, discarding what is useless, which sets the model for the Endtime: separating the wicked from the righteous. Does that mean we all might well find a buried treasure accidentally? Actually, I believe the answer is yes! After all, we are all fully aware of the Lord’s teachings and have probably been for a long time. Then, perhaps blindingly, we might suddenly realize that here lies the golden hoard we have been looking for all our lives! Here lies the secret of life eternal. It is this treasure which will provide certainty and happiness forever, and how to achieve it. It will give us the strength to deal with every challenge. It will guide us through life’s ups and downs surely and confidently. Isn’t that a treasure worth everything? Just look at Saint Faith, and how strong was her total conviction that God was with her to the end. And her certitude was what attracted many others to the Faith. The blood of the martyrs was – and still is – the seed of the church, first expressed, it is thought, by Tertullian, probably in the third century. Today we might not be facing the threat of martyrdom,  but there is a recent British report that claimed 4998 people were killed worldwide for faith-related reasons in 2024. So some are still confronted by those Big Questions to the point of martyrdom, even if many choose to ignore them. But they do provide answers to such questions and have done so for 2000 years, even when they culminate in violent death. However, at that dread Last Judgement, I trust that I and all around me will be able to declare without equivocation that we have led a life in union with Jesus to the very best of our ability. If so, then our place will be on the left hand side of every Last Judgement ever created, being helped on our way into Heaven. Let us pray for divine guidance and assistance that that will be so.

The Last Judgement, Michelangelo 1541, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City State.

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