25th Sunday in Ordinary time -Year A
Every December, the priests of my diocese gather for a Christmas dinner with our bishop. Nearly 200 of us in one room: newly ordained and long retired, pastors of large parishes and quiet confessors, men full of energy and others moving more slowly. Some carry visible success; others bear hidden wounds. It is a tapestry of vocations and lives. When the bishop thanks us, I am always moved. For a moment, none of our differences matter. What matters is that we belong to one another. I usually leave that evening with a deep sense of peace, but also with a sober realization. Nothing drains joy from the vineyard of the Lord faster than comparison. The quiet habit of measuring, ranking, and resenting can creep in even among those who sincerely serve God. That is what Jesus exposes in today’s parable of the workers in the vineyard. The early laborers are not upset because they were treated unjustly; they are angry because others were treated generously. Their resentment blinds them to the gift already in their hands. When the landowner asks, “Are you envious because I am generous?” he names the real wound. This tension echoes throughout salvation history: the elder brother resenting the prodigal, the faithful servant scorning the latecomer. Jesus does not deny the labor of those who have borne the heat of the day, but He refuses to let God’s mercy become a zero-sum game. In the end, the vineyard’s reward is not about fairness but belonging. The joy offered is communion with a generous Father, who delights in gathering early and late, strong and weak, into one household of grace. — Father John Muir
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Do you have faith? Do you believe God is all powerful? That God can do anything and everything? That God created everything? I suspect and hope you all said yes to every one of the above questions, for yes is the correct answer to all those questions. Now let me ask you, do you believe that Noah took two of each animal on the ark? That they repopulated the earth after coming off the ark? I suspect many if not all of you said no to this second set of questions and I can understand that for just think how big the ark would have had to be in order to hold that many animals! And how could just two of each species repopulate the whole earth! It is completely unimaginable! Unless you go back to the first set of questions. Would it not be possible for God to perform such at act? Could He not give Noah the ability to collect all the animals and build an ark big enough to hold all of them? Or are we changing our answer to the first set of questions? I honestly don’t know how exactly it took place with Noah, how big the ark was or how many animals were on the ark, I just know faith tells me that Noah and the ark existed and that God can do anything and everything. My brothers and sisters let us always remember when we are having doubts or we are afraid or feeling lost, we only need to turn to our God – our Loving God and ask for His help knowing that he truly can do anything and everything even if it seems impossible or unimaginable.
God Bless you and have a wonderful week, Fr. Michael
SCRIPTURAL REFLECTIONS ON STEWARDSHIP
“Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
You’ve heard the saying “it’s not where you start, but how you finish.” This certainly applies to this Bible passage. We have a responsibility not only for our own lives, but for the lives of others as well. We are called to generously share our gifts with others, not hoard them for our own use. Our sincere gratitude and cheerful generosity will help us live “God-centered” lives and not “self-centered” lives.
Back-to-School Blessing
Dear God, we ask that You bless the students in our congregation, giving them inspirational teachers, studious habits, solid friendships, and Your Grace in every moment of this school year. Bless the teachers and school staff in our congregation, too. Fill them with Your love and care so that, as they teach and minister to our young people, Your wisdom and light may be known, encountered, and shared. Amen.
Prayer for Vocations
Dear God, Give us the courage and strength to answer when You call! Give us clarity and trust to hear Your soft invitations. Give us the love to respond, and the bravery to take the steps that will bring us ever closer to You. Amen.
PRACTICING CATHOLIC
RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS By Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman
The Why
Sometimes, the Gospel takes everything you think you know about Jesus, throws it in a box, shakes it violently, dumps it on the floor, looks you in the eye and says: “Clean it up.” And there you are, picking up the pieces, wondering how, after 2,000 years, someone can still keep you guessing. Today is one of those Gospels. We know Jesus as a champion of the poor. We envision him as a social justice warrior. And now He’s advocating for time theft in the workplace? Make it make sense. Well, at its heart, today’s Gospel is a story about who gets what. A story about comparison, which we are told is the thief of joy — but without comparison, nothing would ever get done. In this world, wages are set, court cases are settled, international borders are drawn, all by comparing one entity to another and evaluating that comparison to make a judgment. What this Gospel doesn’t tell us is the “why.” The workers who labored longest in the vineyard feel cheated because those who showed up later earn the same wage. This would be egregious — unless we consider that the only criteria used in the comparison is the length of the work day’s duration. Quality and efficiency of work is never even mentioned. For all we know, those all-day workers could have been standing around fanning themselves, and should feel lucky to get what they did. “Why” is a question we ask a lot in this life. Why did my dad die? Why did I get cancer? Why did my husband lose his job? As we pick up the pieces of today’s Gospel, we should ask ourselves this: when we know what we know about Who decides who gets what, do we have to know the “why?”
PRAYER REQUESTS
That God will relieve their suffering and restore them to health. Please pray for: Kellie Salata, Kelly Chinchar, Jessica, Daniel Breslin, Stanley, Joseph Marrone, Anthony, Michael, Joseph, Jessica Esopo, Steve, Audra, Bernadette, James Weiss, Baby Ford, Rosemary Malangone, Elizabeth Malangone, Sue West, Colleen Emery, Richard, Joan Russo, Christina Martin, Mornia Evans, Valerie Valverde, Diana McGuckin, Cheryl Prinjinski, Stephen West, Bryan Westfall, Cathy Bruno, Anne Trainor and Lheny Sunga.
Holy Name Medical Center is looking for Eucharistic Ministers, volunteers, who are willing to help out in giving out Holy Communion to their patients. If you are interested, you can email them at pokafor@holyname.org or call their office at 201-833-3243 or stop by their Pastoral Care Office, behind the chapel, lobby/ground floor at Holy Name Medical Center.
THANK YOU
The gift of Bread & Wine for the first two weeks of September has been given in memory of Louise & John Hansen by Mr. & Mrs. Raymond DeRiso.
The gift of the Sanctuary Lamp for the month of September has been given in memory of Cecelia Jashembowski by Linda J.Sylvestri
Please consider sponsoring our Bread & Wine, Altar Flowers, and the oil for the Sanctuary Lamp.
Opportunities for Parish Support
There are several ways you can help support our parish and honor loved ones at the same time. As you may have noticed on the first Sunday of every month in our bulletin, we thank the donors of our Altar Gifts. You can donate the Bread & Wine, Altar Flowers, or the Sanctuary Lamp in a two-week block for $50 in someone’s memory. We have blocks open for this year. We also need to purchase a new Easter candle each year (the tall candle on the altar) for $300-$400 which can also be donated in someone’s memory. You do not have to fund the entire amount, anything you wish to donate towards the purchase of our Easter candle is appreciated. We also have masses available for your intentions. If you wish to honor someone in any of these ways, please call the rectory.
Prayer for our Nation
God our Father, giver of life, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care. You are the rock on which this nation was founded. You alone are the true source of our cherished rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Reclaim this land for your glory and dwell among your people. Send your Spirit to touch the hearts of our nation’s leaders. Open their minds to the great worth of human life and the responsibilities that accompany human freedom. Remind your people that true happiness is rooted in seeking and doing your will. Through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, patroness of our land, grant us the courage to reject the “culture of death.” Lead us into a new millennium of life. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Praying the ROSARY
The Rosary is a meditation, a time to recall and think about the life of Jesus as seen and experienced by Mary. As the model of faith, Mary’s life sets a pattern that we strive to follow: saying ‘yes’ to God’s will in our lives and sharing His love and message with others. The Mysteries of the Rosary form a mini lesson of faith, using the highlights and significant moments of the life of Jesus. Like paging through a family scrapbook, we see in brief the events of salvation history that are the core of our belief and the hope of our eternal life.
WE NEED BULLETIN ADVERTISERS!!
We would like to thank all the advertisers who have supported us throughout the past year. Our parish benefits greatly from the ads you see in the bulletin. The revenue pays for the printing which is an important means of communication for the parish. If we do not have enough advertisers, the cost of our bulletin goes up. We thank the local businesses that advertise with us especially in these tough economic times. We have some spaces on the back of our bulletin that need filling so if you would like to advertise your business as well as benefit your church, please contact John Patrick Publishing at 1-800-333-3166.
Please support our advertisers at the back cover of bulletin.
