Daily Reflection Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

All good literature, especially biblical literature, is enhanced by the use of parables. We look at life in the third person by viewing it from another’s perspective. Then slowly we interiorize what change needs to happen in our own lives.

     In our first reading today, various trees explain what they must forfeit if they were to become king. This parable poem represents the nomadic disrespect for monarchy. The best do not have to be kings; therefore, it usually falls to the worthless to accept the role of the monarch. So, in choosing a king one receives the choice between the shadow of the thornbush or its fiery onslaught. Either is useless or dangerous. The Book of Judges gives a riddle that requires much pondering.

    Jesus tells us a parable consistent with the working conditions of his time. The workers here certainly are not unionized! Yet, the landowner knows the economic situations of all the workers who apply for the job. He knows that the men who come for work at five o’clock in the afternoon are elderly or sickly and cannot work as hard as the younger ones. Yet, they also have a family to support. The daily wage supports a family for a day. Jesus is telling us that mercy is more important than justice. 

    Both parables focus on choice. As we look out at our own neighborhood, or town, or nation, or world, can justice be compatible with mercy? Yes. Within our own selves, our families, our parish, our neighborhood, our nation we witness poverty. We experience poverty within ourselves when we have difficulty mustering up enough enthusiasm to show interest in a family member’s excitement about something good. We understand what it means not to have enough nutritious food when we see the escalating prices of produce in our supermarkets. We know what our own parents or grandparents experienced in seeking economic freedom when coming to the USA. So, we extend ourselves to help those seeking refuge now in our country. Remember that Jesus told parables to shake up our thinking. Let us spend time today immersing ourselves in our own poverty: emotional, intellectual, social, and material. Let us practice what Jesus shares in the person of the owner of the field. He understands each person’s circumstances; therefore, he gives accordingly.

MADE HOLY

We are made holy

by our recognition

of God in us.

God is in all and everything.

But the reality

of God’s presence

only comes about

through human recognition.

Ah then!

We have the power

to sacralize the world.

                                                                         --Edwina Gateley