Dear Friends, With the election season heating up, the airwaves are full of promises. This is familiar to those who have weathered the countless political seasons and the hype of the current democratic process. The elect make promises. The follow-through may be shoddy, but the intent is to win our confidence in them to secure a future that we deem to be in our best interest. The promises of our baptism can be in some ways similar to campaign promises; we intend to do good, to listen and follow God’s voice by following in the footsteps of Christ. We intend to participate in the life of the faith community, to educate our children in the matters of faith, to live Gospel values of compassionate service and selfless love. We intend to ‘die to ourselves’, so as to live for Christ. We make these promises to secure a future that offers fullness of life. But so often the reality of our lives interferes with our intentions, or at least compromises them. In the juggle of time, the sorting through of priorities, and the demands of 21st century living, our promises often are forgotten. (“Yes, I know that’s what I said, but the circumstances have changed!”). We rail at politicians because of their feigned sincerity, and accuse them of lying to us just to obtain our vote. Jesus in this Sunday’s Gospel recognizes the worthlessness of promises that are without follow-through, and tells us a story of insincerity and words that are simply for show. Some who are less willing to say “yes” are far more committed to lives of faith and service. We’ve said “yes” already; we’ll go into the vineyard to serve the Lord. But how many excuses will we make to do other things? Fr. Kevin
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 19:37:01 +0000