Catholics Love Scripture! Life Teen Teaching 10/26/14

In the 16th century an event took place called the “Protestant Reformation.” A priest named Martin Luther took issue with several practices within the Catholic Church and ultimately many people broke away from the Church. One of the things Martin Luther misunderstood in his grievances was the role the Church played in the interpretation of Sacred Scripture. A result of the reformation is a strong emphasis on the Bible in Protestant Churches, in reaction to what Luther believed was too strong of an emphasis on Sacred Tradition within the Catholic Church. Because of this, there have been many misconceptions that exist among other Christians about the relationship
Catholics have with the Bible.

One of the first misconceptions is that the Catholic Church is “unbiblical” or isn’t Bible-based. A quick look at the history of Sacred Scripture dispels this misconception.

THE HISTORY BEHIND THE CANON
The Church did not come out of the Bible; the Bible came out of the Church. A look at the history of the Bible reveals why:
The Old Testament books were all written between 1000 – 50 BC. Some of the accounts contained within these books are much older and existed as oral tradition before being written down. The Old Testament was translated into Greek around 200 BC. This Greek copy is called the Septuagint. This version became the primary copy of the Old Testament that the writers of the New Testament would have been familiar with.

The Old Testament was comprised of the Torah (Pentateuch), Historical Books, Wisdom Books and the Prophets. The Septuagint consisted of 46 books. The Gospels, the Epistles and the Book of Revelation were all written in the first century AD, after the death of Christ. In the first centuries after Christ, the early Church leaders begin to affirm the content and order of the New Testament and compile early canons of Scripture. Origen, Tertullian and others all recognize the four Gospels, the
Epistles and the Book of Revelation. In 367 AD, Athanasius writes a letter where he gives lists the name and order of the 27 books of the New Testament. This is done to help Christians know what writings about Christ were accurate and which writings were forgeries or false. In 382 AD, Pope Damascus made a decree that listed the books of today’s canon. In 393 AD, the canon of the New Testament is affirmed in an ecumenical council at Hippo. Pope Innocent presided over this council.
With all of this information it is clear that the Catholic Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, is responsible for compiling the Bible that we have today and for discerning what writings spoke truth and which ones did not.

IS IT TRUE THAT CATHOLICS DO NOT USE OR READ THE BIBLE REGULARLY?
While there is certainly a need for many individual Catholics to become more familiar and comfortable reading their Bible, to say that Catholics don’t use the Bible regularly would be completely false. Every week we immerse ourselves in Sacred Scripture when we celebrate Mass. The Gloria, Liturgy of the Word, Sanctus, Eucharistic prayer and other prayers within the Mass are all recited straight out of Scripture. The structure of the Mass is found in the Book of Revelation.
Priests, religious, and many lay people pray the “Liturgy of the Hours” every day – five times a day. The Liturgy of the Hours is rooted in the Scriptures – with psalms, canticles and readings. It has been called the “breath of the Church.”
CCC 141
CCC 1190

WHY DO CATHOLICS MAINTAIN BELIEFS AND PRACTICES THAT ARE NOT IN THE BIBLE?
Everything that we know about Jesus we have learned from His apostles or the people that were companions of the apostles. The New Testament was written after Jesus had ascended into heaven by these men, who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The apostles are the ones who have passed down the teachings of Christ from generation to generation. The apostles called Jesus “rabbi,” meaning “teacher.” The Jewish tradition of a rabbi means that the 12 men dropped everything of their former way of life and went and lived with their rabbi for a period of time. They learned by his very way of life – how he prayed, what he taught, his manner of life. If we consider how much the apostles learned from simply observing Christ, then we must consider that there is a lot about Jesus that was communicated but was not written down in the Scriptures. This is called Sacred Tradition. It provides a key to understanding the Scriptures, and it is also a source of Divine Revelation. The Holy Spirit and the Church have protected Tradition all throughout the centuries.
2 Thessalonians 2:15

Tradition provides the key to properly understanding and interpreting the Scriptures. When Martin Luther broke from the Catholic Church in the Protestant Reformation, he also broke from this Sacred Tradition. Before this schism, the Church had only two divisions – Catholic and Orthodox (they divided in the Great Schism around 1000 AD). Since Luther preached sola scriptura Protestantism has divided into over 30,000 different denominations. The confusion created by not paying attention to the teachings of the apostles has caused a complete lack of unity in the Church.

WHY DO PEOPLE TRY TO CHANGE THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST?
People have tried to change teachings about Christ for many different reasons. Sometimes it is to justify their particular belief or lack of belief. Sometimes it has been out of sincere but misguided or misinformed efforts to try to explain mysteries about Jesus Christ or God’s Revelation. In the early history of the Church, there were a number of heresies – false teachings – that developed. The Church
had to answer many tough questions to protect the teachings of Jesus Christ.
CCC 465 - 467
Frequently, in the early Church, these heresies gave the Church the opportunity to defend the teachings of Christ and to develop the theology of the Church. The Catholic Church has always protected the Truth of Christ. The Magisterium is the teaching body of the Church and it is made up of the pope and his bishops. As successors to the apostles, these are the people that Jesus entrusted with his teachings through apostolic tradition. Jesus promised Peter that the gates of Hell would not prevail against His Church. When we stand by the Church and her teachings, we stand by the one that was given authority by Jesus Christ to teach.
Matthew 16:18

CONCLUSION
This is why the Catholic Church is important. Because it compiled the Bible as we know it, it is the only authority able to accurately interpret it. There are many misconceptions that exist about the Catholic Church and the Bible; however, they are untrue. It is important for us to realize how deeply our Church is rooted in Sacred Scripture. We also need to become more familiar with it ourselves, so when we are asked about the relationship Catholics have with the Bible we can prove it with our words and actions.

(Taken from "The Family Bible" Life Teen International resource on Scripture)

The Cold Within (Poem)

The Cold Within

Six humans trapped by happenstance
In bleak and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood
Or so the story’s told.

Their dying fire in need of logs
The first man held his back
For of the faces round the fire
He noticed one was black.

The next man looking ‘cross the way
Saw one not of his church
And couldn’t bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.

The third one sat in tattered clothes.
He gave his coat a hitch.
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?

The rich man just sat back and thought
Of the wealth he had in store
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy shiftless poor.

The black man’s face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight.
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.

The last man of this forlorn group
Did nought except for gain.
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.

Their logs held tight in death’s still hands
Was proof of human sin.
They didn’t die from the cold without
They died from the cold within.

The poem is in public domain, which has been confirmed by Timothy Kinney. Click here to read the full interview with Tim Kinney.

Oct. 26, 2014 Homily by Fr Mathew 30th Sunday

“He had a blank stare”

Ex 22:20-26; I Thess 1:5-10; Mt 22:34-40

In 1960s, a Catholic survey was done in which the participants were asked this question: : What's the more important in your Catholic faith:  love your neighbor, or give up meat on Friday? More than 50 percent responded, "Give up meat on Friday." When meatless Fridays trump love of neighbor, we Catholics are in deep trouble.

Today’s readings reveal what is more important in our faith: They tell us unequivocally, love of God and love of your neighbor.

God has given us two hands: one to hold onto God and one to reach out to his people. If our hands are full of struggling to get possessions, we can't hang onto God or to others very well. If, however, we hold onto God, who gave us our lives, then his love can flow through us and out to our neighbor.

The summarized two commandments imply three principles: The First one the love of your neighbor. Who is your neighbor? Anyone in the world could be your neighbor. Most of us are inclined to love those who are good to us. There is nothing heroic in that kind of love. We love our parents, children and grandchildren and also our friends who are good to us. Anybody does that. Even the Mafia does that. We are just practicing a popular principle," you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." There is nothing christian in it.

That is not the kind of love that Jesus is talking about when he tells his disciples to love their neighbor. You must have heard the story about a man named Autrey. He rescued a man who fell to the tracks while he was waiting for the subway train in New York with his two little daughters. Mr. Autrey rushed to help,

As he was trying to rescue him, the headlights of the No. 1 train appeared. “I had to make a split decision,” Mr. Autrey said. So he made one, and leapt.

Mr. Autrey lay on the victim between the tracks, his heart pounding, pressing him down in a space roughly a foot deep. The train’s brakes screeched, but it could not stop in time.

Five cars rolled overhead before the train stopped, the cars passing inches from his head, smudging his blue knit cap with grease. Mr. Autrey heard onlookers’ screams. “We’re O.K. down here,” he yelled, “but I've got two daughters up there. Let them know their father’s O.K.” He heard cries of wonder, and applause.

That night he went to visit the victim up in the hospital before heading to his night shift. “I don’t feel like I did something spectacular; I just saw someone who needed help,” Mr. Autrey said. “I did what I felt was right.”

This story explains who your neighbor is. This incident also explains the meaning of genuine love for our neighbor. The Man risked his life for someone whom he has never met in his life. This is called agape love. The greatest example of agape love is on the cross.

You cannot love your neighbor if you don't love yourself. Jesus says that you got to love your neighbor as yourself. Have you ever seen people who are negative, sour and bitter in their lives? Nothing can please them. They are critical of everybody and everything.  In fact what we see and experience about these people is called in psychology “self-projection.”  They don't love themselves. They are unhappy about their life. They are projecting their own mental condition in negativity in their interaction with others.

Lack of self-esteem and feeling of not being loved have become an epidemic among us.  How can we overcome our lack of self-worth and low self-esteem.?  Unless we find God who loves us unconditionally, it is very hard to believe in ourselves and our self-worth.

You heard the news yesterday:  This was the title of the news: Two Dead, Including Gunman, in Washington High School Shooting.”  “Fryberg was a popular student", CNN reports, "who played football and was named as the high school’s freshman homecoming prince.”

What is wrong with this boy who killed people? He had everything. I am sure he is not any different from any other typical student from a typical family in Mattawan who prided in sports and extracurricular activities more than anything else.

Time ended the article, “He had a blank stare,” one of the students said. “He was just staring at the victims as he shot them.”

Many of us will have blank stare if we don't experience God and embrace God's unconditional love. The blank stare is going to persist on us in the midst of everything until we experience  God’s loving embrace.  Unless we love God and love ourselves, we cannot love our neighbor.

Some critics of Pope Francis point out that he really isn't teaching anything new. I agree, but would also say that Francis has prioritized some of our oldest teachings. He has a new top 10 list, and, even more striking, he's actually living it. With a straight face he can repeat Paul's statement, "[Be] imitators of us and of the Lord."

Homily by Fr Mathew October 19, 2014 29th Sunday A

All Belong to God

Is 45:1, 4-6;  I Thes 1:1-5b; Mt 22: 15-21 

A little boy, who wanted $100.00 very badly, prayed for two weeks but nothing happened. Then he decided to write GOD a letter requesting $100.00. When the postal authorities received the letter to GOD, U.S.A., they decided to send it to the President. The President was so impressed, touched, and amused that he instructed his secretary to send the boy $50.00. Mr. President thought that this would appear to be a lot of money to the little boy. The little boy was delighted with the $50.00 and immediately sat down to write a thank you note to GOD that read:  "Dear God, Thank you very much for sending me the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you had to send it through Washington, D.C., and, as usual, those guys took half of it.

Someone has said, "Death and taxes may always be with us, but at least death doesn't get any worse."

Arthur Godfrey once said, "I feel honored to pay taxes in America. The thing is I could probably feel just as honored for about half the price."

Thus we are obliged to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”

Rendering unto God, on the other hand, is entirely voluntary. Of course, that puts the church at a little disadvantage.

“Render unto God the things that are God’s.  This sentence may sound very simple. Render unto God the things that are God’s.  What belongs to God? Or let me ask you this way. What do we have that does not belong to God?: The world around us?- Our family? -Our children, our grandchildren, our relationships, our health, our talents, our future? It is all God’s.

If we don’t believe in God, then we can say everything is mine. But we Christians go to Church Sunday after Sunday and profess our faith in God and proclaim that Jesus died for us and as a  disciple we profess that we walk in his footsteps. If that is true everything should belong to God.

Every now and then I go to Atlanta and Houston. When I go there I would go to church on Sundays with my family  and  sit with them in the pews. At the offertory time, usually the collection baskets would be passed to give your gifts. Both places it happened. As they were passing the baskets, it came to my turn and I put my sacrificial offering and passed the basket to the next one. As I was sitting there, there comes another basket; so I gave a few more bucks.. Within a few moments, comes a third basket. I wondered, “My God, what is happening here? I saw people putting money in the collection baskets three times during the offertory.

This reminded me of a story about a local fitness center which was offering $ 1000 to anyone who could demonstrate that they were stronger than the owner of the fitness center. The owner of the fitness center was a muscular man. He would squeeze a lemon until all the juice ran into a glass. Then he would hand the lemon to the next challenger. If he could squeeze   just one more drop of juice out, he would win the money.

Many people tried; weight lifters, athletes, construction workers: all tried. Nobody could release another drop of juice from the lemon after squeezing it. Finally, a short and thin man came forward and decided to give a try. The crowd laughed.  The owner after squeezing every drop of Juice from the lemon handed the lemon to this short skinny man. The skinny man took the lemon in his hands and clenched his fist around the lemon and squeezed six drops of juice into the glass. The crowd cheered. And the man won $ 1000. The owner was surprised. He asked him, “What do you do for a living? He said, “I am the Pastor of St. John Bosco Parish.”

Again, we laugh to keep from crying.  Many pastors have to squeeze people many times to get enough money to keep their ministry and parish running. Today's gospel teaches us an important concept of stewardship which we Christians have to practice to be true followers of Christ. 

Stewardship is not just about money. It is a way of life.  It means that we are mere custodians of all what we have. Today we celebrate world Mission Sunday. Every dollar we contribute to this cause will be used to have clean water and sanitary facilities and health dispensaries for those peoplewho are less fortunate than us.

It is in this sense we take up the offertory during the Mass. At the offertory the bread and wine along with our financial contributions are brought up to the altar. The offertory is you and me; It represents our toil, our sweat and our very life which  turns  into Jesus during the Mass and offered up to the Father. By our offertory and financial contributions we are trying to emulate Jesus in a sacrificial way who gave up his life for us on the cross.

When we don’t pollute our world we become God’s worthy stewards. When we share our talents and time with the church and community in a sacrificial way we  become God’s worthy stewards. When we  share our resources for  the welfare of other people and to continue Jesus mission in this world, we become worthy stewards of God.

Render unto God the things that are God’s. All things belong to God. We are just custodians, not owners. When we use those resources in a responsible way and share our time, talents and money for the welfare and wellbeing of humanity, we become worthy stewards of God.

"In Reverse" Middle School Retreat Teaching Points

"The Lord's Prayer can change your life! In it we are given a glimpse into the very heart of God. In this prayer, Jesus teaches us how to pray by simultaneously teaching what to pray; how to think, how to love, and how to receive God's love. The Our Father is the perfect prayer from the perfect Pray-er. It is adoration. It is petition. It is a reordering and re-prioritizing so that we know what's most important. It is an invitation to a deeper relationship. It begs and celebrates God for his grace. It rejoices in the Father's fidelity. It promises eternity and offers hope to humanity. The Lord's Prayer expresses the totality of what it means to love and the summation of what it means to be a true child of God." Mark Hart, author of The "R" Father

Session 1 Rescue “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

1)      Sin is death (Romans 6:23)

2)      God loves us enough to say, “Enough!”

3)      We don’t always love and honor Him in our words, actions, and attitude.

4)      God became man to save us from our sins.

5)      The Sacrament of Reconciliation gets rid of sin and replaces it with His grace.

Session 2 Reliance “Give us this day our daily bread.”

1)      Control is an illusion.

2)      Relying too much on our own abilities invites disappointment and unhappiness.

3)      We recognize our daily need for God’s love and mercy.

4)      When we trust and rely on God, peace and confidence replaces fear and anxiety.

5)      Prayer is putting ourselves in the presence of God.

Session 3 Renouncement “Thy kingdom come.”

1)      THY, not MY. If thy kingdom comes, my kingdom must go.

2)      Sacrifice is the key to living in right order; God’s kingdom first.

3)      We love the One who gives us the blessings more than the blessings themselves.

4)      There is nothing we can do to make God love us more; or less.

5)      The Mass. Love. The Sacraments, the crucifix, tithing, fasting, living the virtues – ALL are sacrifices!

Session 4 Reverence “Hallowed be Thy Name.”

1)      Revealing your name opens yourself up to a relationship with another person.

2)      God revealed His name to us and it is holy and sacred.

3)      Our culture is casual and careless with God’s holy name.

4)      We will bring back reverence for God’s name in our speech, activities, and dress.

5)      Halloween = Hallowed Eve. On All Saints Day we celebrate those who modeled holiness.

Session 5 Relationship “Our Father.”

1)      “Our” means that we are in relationship with each other as brothers and sisters of Christ.

2)      Do I live like “I” or “Our” each day? Who is my brother/my sister? Everyone.

3)      The God of the universe wants us to call Him, not Master or Creator, but “Father.”

4)      Our relationships with our earthly fathers can not define our relationship with our heavenly Father.

5)      My heavenly Father loves me more than anyone else - even more than I love myself.

Oct. 12 2014, Homily by Fr Mathew 28 Sunday Year A

The Dress Code in God's Kingdom

Is 25:6-10a; Phil 4:12-14, 19-20; Mt 22:1-14

A preacher finishing his sermon on temperance said,, "If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river." With even greater emphasis he said, "And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river." And then finally, he said, "And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river." Then he sat down.

The song leader then stood very cautiously and announced with a smile, "For our closing song, let us sing Hymn # 365: "Shall We Gather at the River?"

The Kingdom of God is a party. Life in God is a celebration. This reminds me of what Pope Francis said in a homily a few months ago. He said that many Christians are afraid of being joyful.  This is a Christian disease.  He said that some Christians are like bats that come out only at night. They prefer darkness to light. They are in perpetual mourning as if they have returned from a funeral. Without being joyful in this world, how can we become joyful in the world to come (in heaven)?

The invitation to the party is universal. Everyone is  invited. We are free to accept or refuse the invitation. There are party poopers. When I  read the parable what came to my mind was the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son who refused to join the joy of his father who had thrown a big party for his younger brother when he came home after squandering all the money with prostitutes. What a great example for refusing the invitation to the party! 

In the parable, some others accepted the invitation. We who are here belong to this category. We accepted God's invitation to the party at the time of our baptism. The question we have to ask ourselves is, "Am I  properly dressed for the occasion?’ 

This reminds me of a story about a little young boy who asked his mother at a wedding, ‘Mom, why do the brides during the wedding have white dress on? The mother looked at her son and said, ‘Son, the white wedding dress the bride is on tells her family and friends that she is pure.' The son thanks his mom and goes off to double-check this with his father. 'Dad, can you tell me why the brides during the wedding put on white dress?', asked the boy.  The father looks at his son in surprise and said: 'Son, all household appliances come in white.'

So what is the dress code for the party in God's kingdom? We're in. The question is "Am I properly dressed for the celebration?"

Fr George Smiga in a homily, commenting on today’s parable,  said that we humans create our own faces. He says we are born without a face(*).

Did your mother ever say to you, “Don’t make that face or it’s going to freeze like that forever”? There is some truth in it.

Babies are born without a face. Babies are cute and adorable. However their faces do not say anything about their individuality or character. But as they begin to grow, they start demonstrating their character, traits, and attitude. Around the age of 40, the lines of most people’s faces are set. From that age onward, every face betrays a certain character, certain traits, and a certain kind of beauty.

In other words, up to about 40, it’s pure genetics. This is why you can be a jerk and beautiful at the same time! But after 40, your faces will betray your individuality and personal characteristics. If you are a petty, mean, narrow, judgmental and prejudiced person, it is going to show up in your face. If, on the other hand, you are a generous, warm, forgiving, and loving person, that is going to show in your face as well. 

The face we have created during our lifetime has something to do with the garment that we put on at the wedding party in the kingdom of heaven! In Colossians, St. Paul explains the kind of garment we are expected  to put on.  "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3:12).

We could come into the Kingdom of God with prejudice and selfishness, with pride and greed, with anger and judgment. We would be wearing something, but it would not be a wedding garment because those qualities are not appropriate for the Banquet of Christ.

Every day we are busy weaving that garment we will put on at the party in the kingdom of God.  The older that we become there are fewer opportunities to build our character and to change our face.

 At the end of our lives when we enter heaven and throw open the doors of the wedding feast, we will come up to the Lord and say, “Jesus, I’m here!” How sad would it be if Jesus would look at our face and say, “My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?”

*Reference:  Fr George Smiga, “Forming Faces.”

The Fuse 10/12 & The EDGE 11/12 Teaching

I. Jenga Tower Analogy   

A. Our Catholic Faith is like your Jenga Tower; tall, solid, strong, made up of the whole of Christ's teaching (Revelation) and guided by the Holy Spirit.

B. Public Revelation ended with the death of the last apostle; John

C. Heresy - The willful and persistent rejection of any article of faith by a baptized

member of the Church.

D. What happened when individual blocks were taken out of the tower base? It weakens the tower which eventually falls over.

II. "The Protestant Reformation"

A. Renaissance, "rebirth" 1400-1500AD. Cultural transformation in art, education, politics, and return to Greek philosophy and Greek architecture

B. 1455 Printing Press, Gutenberg Bible, Education flourished, not only for clergy, but for lay people too

C. Reform was necessary in the Church; Extravagance and Indulgences

D. Martin Luther 1517-Lutherans, 1530 John Calvin-Calvinists (Reformed), King Henry VIII 1533, 1530s Anabapists

III. Divorce

A. Divorce - total separation, disunion, dissolving a marriage

B. Does a divorce solve all the problems between two people? No.

C. What problems arise because of divorce? sadness, loneliness, guilt, anger, guilt, anxiety, shame, lack of trust, disappointment, hopelessness

D. The Protestant Reformation was like a "divorce" in the Catholic Church

IV. Protestants

A. Protestant = one who protests

B. A member or follower of any of the Western Christian churches that are separate from the Roman Catholic Church and follow the principles of the Reformation, including the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches

C. Not in "full communion" with Catholics due to some key differences, i.e. the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, Marian Theology, Communion of Saints, Sacraments, etc.       

Oct. 5, 2014 Homily by Deacon Louis Zemlick "Vineyards and Virtue"

We are called to love like God.

In order to do this, Pope Francis, in his Synod of the Family, calls us to deepen our prayer life; to get on our knees and to have a radical personal relationship with Jesus.

If a Muslim asked you, "What is so different and great about being a Christian," what would your answer be? It should be that we are family, we are a community, a Trinity of Love; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! God is our Father, Jesus is our Brother, and, in a very special way, Mary is our Mother. Many religious traditions don't follow this type of love, including Muslims.

In the Old Testament (Isaiah 5:1-7), the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 21:33-43), and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we hear that the Vineyard is the Church and we must take care of it, but we also must look interiorly, inside ourselves, to eliminate the wild grapes inside of us. These small, hard, sour grapes must be pruned. As St. Paul, in our Second Reading (Philippians 4:6-9) says, this process can be aided with what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gacious, and worthy of praise. The virtues of Humility (teachabilty), Chastity (moderation, respect for our bodies and our fertility), Patience, Temperance (moderation), Self Control, and Fortitude (spiritual courage) will create in us an abundant grape harvest for the Lord. 

We must also be the vineyard for the world not the Judge or the Police. The world wants us to judge it, but we will not. WE WILL LOVE THEM WE WILL BE CHRISTIANS WE WILL BE CATHOLIC. We will be the vineyard of radical love, not radical rules. As we come forward and receive the Holy Eucharist, let us transform our vineyard into that love with finest bread and the choicest wine. 

Check out this link! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3kQeHnDHyc 

OCT 5 2014, Homily by Fr Mathew A 27th Sunday

Is 5:1-7; Phil 4:6-9; Mt 21:33-43

Today’s Bible readings remind me of the story of the cookie thief. A woman at the airport waiting to catch her flight bought herself a bag of cookies, settled in a chair in the airport lounge and began to read her book. Suddenly she noticed the man beside her helping himself to her cookies. Not wanting to make a scene, she read on, ate cookies, and watched the clock. As the daring “cookie thief” kept on eating the cookies she got more irritated and said to herself, “If I wasn't so nice, I’d blacken his eye!” She wanted to move the cookies to her other side but she couldn't bring herself to do it. With each cookie she took, he took one too. When only one was left, she wondered what he would do.

Then with a smile on his face and a nervous laugh, he took the last cookie and broke it in half. He offered her half, and he ate the other. She snatched it from him and thought, “Oh brother, this guy has some nerve, and he’s also so rude, why, he didn't even show any gratitude!” She sighed with relief when her flight was called. She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate, refusing to look at the ungrateful “thief.” She boarded the plane and sank in her seat, reached in her bag to get a book to read and forget about the incident. Next to her book was her bag – of her cookies.

The cookies they ate in the lounge were his not hers. She had been the thief not him. Is it not the same we hear in today’s parable. The parable tells us how the tenants attempt to steal the vineyard from the landowner

As we reflect on the parable, like a mirror,  we can see our own reflection in this story. The wicked tenants are us! God has been gracious to us in many ways. His love and kindness was unlimited.  God gave us a wonderful life and placed us in the lushest vineyard in the world.  Look at everything we have. God has blessed us essentially in this beautiful vineyard with food, clothing, shelter, meaningful work, family, friends, church, and community.

Here is the crux of the issue. Like the wicked tenants in the parable, we very often cut God out of the spectrum of our life and declare ourselves that we are on our own and we have nothing to do with God for all the resources and blessings we enjoy in our life.   We forget the fact that  we are just tenants or stewards 

 There are people today who are tempted to ignore their families -- tempted to spend their time making a living instead of making a life -- tempted to major in minors -- tempted to live their lives in such a way that, when they are added up at the end of time, they will amount to little more than zero.

There are people here today who are tempted to give God short shrift in their lives -- tempted to give God an hour on Sunday morning and call it good -- tempted to ignore God's call to love their neighbor and to serve those in need -- tempted to believe God's promises, but to ignore God's claims on their lives.

Robert Newell was driving along an isolated road one night when his car suddenly stopped running. He was stranded. Then the lights of another car approached, pulled alongside, and stopped. After exchanging pleasantries, the other motorist pulled a rope from his trunk and towed Newell's car several miles to the nearest garage. Newell tried to give money to the man, but he refused it. Newell then said, "Well, I must in some way return your kindness." The stranger replied, "If you really want to show your gratitude, buy a rope and always carry it in your car."

God is like that. He has put us in the vineyard, and invites us to enjoy its fruits--but he wants us pass the blessings on--to live righteously, to care about each other, and to bear witness to our faith. God's emphasis on fruit-bearing is not unlike the motorist saying, "If you really want to show your gratitude, buy a rope and always carry it in your car."

 As you go through this coming week, I invite you to remember that you are living in the Lord's vineyard.  Assess your life. Ask yourself if you are paying your rent -- giving God his due. 

  "Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them" (Oliver Wendell Holmes).