XXX.O.T. EX 22:20-26; Thess 1:5-10; Mt 22:34-40

 In today’ Gospel Jesus gives us the message, to be truly religious is to love God and to love the man whom God created in his own image. The first reading from Exodus explains the second greatest commandment, namely, loving one’s neighbors, especially the underprivileged. The chosen people of Israel should remember that once they were aliens in the land of Egypt.  Just as God protected them and treated them kindly, so they are to protect others and treat them with kindness.  Thus, they should become a humane society rooted in the basic religious concept of loving God living in their neighbor.  

Arthur F. Sueltz told about a man he knew who bought a lovely house in the suburbs. On the day he moved in, the man's new neighbor came running across the yard in an obviously belligerent state. "Did you buy this house?" asked the neighbor. "Yes I did," was the reply. The neighbor continued, "Well, I want to tell you something. You bought a lawsuit. You see that fence of yours? It's at least seven feet over on my side of the line, and if it takes every dollar I've got, I intend to sue you and get that fence moved." The new homeowner said, "Well, neighbor, I'm sorry to hear this. I bought this house in good faith, but I believe you're telling the truth about this situation and I'll tell you what I'm going to do. First thing tomorrow morning, Ill have that fence moved back those seven feet." The neighbor was dumbfounded. "What did you say?" The new owner repeated, "I'm going to have that fence moved back seven feet." "No, you're not," was the response. "You leave it right where it is, and anything you need is yours for the asking."

We don't know what had happened between that angry man and his previous neighbor. All the man seemed to be asking for was to be treated with a little dignity and respect. That is what most people crave. Someone who does not accord dignity and respect to others does not know the Gospel.

There is no obedience to God which does not have to prove itself in the concrete situation of meeting one's neighbor. "Jesus does not separate love for God from love for man, since the latter flows from the former, and since without the latter the former is impossible." They both are like two sides of the same coin. But the first is always the first. Loving God has to be manifested in our life.

Pastor Jimmy D. Brown tells about the first girl who ever caught his eye. They were in second grade together. Up until this point he confesses that he just wanted to throw rocks at girls. But this girl was different. He didn’t want to throw rocks at her. Her name was Sherri and she was as cute as anything young Jimmy had ever seen. She had short little pigtails and wore the sweetest little dress with a great big teddy bear on it. She also had the prettiest smile, especially with that middle tooth missing. And she could jump out of a swing farther than any of them. In short, Sherri was great, in his estimation.

          He remembers one day this lovely child passed him a note during class and it read, “Do you love me?” Uh-oh, things are getting serious. He says he didn’t even know what love was, but he learned early that girls like to hear you say that you love them, so he checked, “Yes” on the note and passed it back.

At recess that day Sherri came up to him with a big smile on her face and said, “Say it.” By this time he had no idea what she was talking about.

“Say what?” he replied.

“Say that you love me,” she said. It kind of embarrassed him, but he went ahead and said, “I love you.”

          The next day Sherri came up to him and said, “Do you really love me?”

          “Yes,” he replied.

          “Do you mean it?” she asked seriously. “A lot of the boys tell me they love me, but some of them don’t mean it.”

          Even at the tender age of 7, says Brown, he knew the right answer to this question. “Of course I mean it.”

          He says that satisfied her for that day, but on the following day she came up to him again and said, “If you love me and you mean it, then why don’t you show it?”

          “Good grief,” he was thinking. “I let her have my special GI Joe eraser, I stopped pulling her pigtails, I even made Tommy and Billy stop calling her names. What more did she want?”

          “You’re supposed to hold my hand,” she said with a stern look on her face. “And play with me at recess. And sit next to me during free time . . . you’re supposed to show it.”

          “Almost twenty‑five years have passed since that day,” says Pastor Jimmy Brown. “It always makes me laugh when I think back to that second grade class. It also always amazes me how God can use the ordinary events of life, even that of a 7-year-old boy, to teach us about Him. For instance, God asks the same questions that the little girl asked me. ‘Do you love me?’ Quickly we check off the appropriate box, ‘Yes. Of course I love you, God.’

“‘Then, say it.’ He responds. ‘Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.’ (Psalms 107:2)

“‘I love you, Lord,’ we say with a smile, particularly on Sunday mornings or during our daily prayers.

“‘Do you mean it?’ He asks. ‘Because a lot of people say that they love me, but some of them don’t mean it.’ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.’ (Mark 7:6)

          “‘Of course, I mean it,’ we quickly answer.

          “‘Then show it.’ God concludes. ‘If you love me, keep my commandments’ (John 14:15). 

Concludes Jimmy Brown, “do you love God . . . Do you really love Him? If you do . . . SAY IT, MEAN IT, SHOW IT. Say it with your words, mean it in your heart and show it with your actions. After all, that’s what He did for you when He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross.”

         The component of biblical love is not affection or a fussy feeling, but a commitment, a choice, a decision we make to place Him above all else.

Of course the most important way we show our love for God is by how we live our life. When we leave this place of worship, our friends and our family will know whether we’ve truly been in the presence of God by how we live.

Let’s pray that we may whole heartedly love God: love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and all being. And love our neighbor as ourselves.

XXIX:O.T.

At some time, every older sibling has pulled this on a little brother or sister who had a nickel they wanted.

"Okay," older child offers, "let's flip for it. Heads I win, tails you lose."

The little kids agree: "Sure!" Then when heads appears the older proclaims "Heads, I win!" Of course if tails comes up the declaration is "Tails, you lose."

At this point it suddenly dawns on the younger child that this is truly a no-win situation. Whatever way the coin lands it's going to land in their sibling's pocket.

In this week's gospel text the Pharisees think they've concocted the perfect no-win question to present before Jesus: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" If Jesus says yes, he'll alienate all those who continued to struggle against Roman rule and who ardently believed Israel must only be obedient to God and God's Torah. If, however, Jesus answers no, then he's immediately at odds with the entire Roman Empire and has identified himself as a dangerous opponent. Rome would deal swiftly with such a threat.

What amazed the Pharisees and the Herodians about Jesus' response was how he refocused the issue to something much bigger than they had intended. In essence Jesus said, give Caesar what he has coming, a silver coin with his image on it. It's already his anyway, so let him have it back. But give back to God all that God deserves, which is everything, including yourselves.

From this passage we cannot learn how or when to turn Christian convictions into public policy or how to vote in the next election. The fact of the matter is that Jesus did not say much about such things; and the rest of the New Testament provides different responses believers should have in response to human government. In Romans 13 Paul paints a positive picture of the role of government and commands Christians to obey it; but in Revelation 13 the author describes a government gone demonic and warns believers to resist it unto death. According to the book of Acts, it did not take Jesus' followers long to discover that "we must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).

What we owe to God is infinitely more than we owe to Caesar. The Words of 1 Peter 2:17 help put the issue into perspective: Fear God, honor the king." There is a world of difference between those two obligations, no matter where we draw the line between God and the government.

Every Christian holds dual citizenship, each one of which has its own benefits and duties. Our birth made us citizens of an earthly nation; our baptism made us citizens of a heavenly Kingdom. Sometimes they overlap, but in the end, our earthly citizenship will finish, while our heavenly citizenship will last forever. It's obvious then which one is more important. Through the centuries, the many Christian saints and martyrs have taught us that if we are ever forced to choose between the two, if ever Caesar tries to take what belongs to God, we must be faithful to our true, everlasting homeland, even if it means suffering painful consequences here on earth.

The movie: A Man for All Seasons, is based on the life of St. Thomas Moore, the Chancellor of England. By profession he was a lawyer. He loved his king. He loved his country and he loved its laws. Then a terrible dilemma developed for him when the king decided to end his allegiance to the Pope in Rome. Moore was conflicted. While he loved his country and his king, he also loved the church. He was faced with two deeply personal loves, and yet he realized he could no longer have both. As he weighed his options, he considered the fact that both the king and the church had its problems. The king he loved could be ruthless and he wasn’t faithful in marriage. The church he loved, on the other hand, was full of all kinds of sinful men. What was he to do?

In a powerful scene from A Man for All Seasons that takes place in the sweating walls of the Tower of London, his wife visits her prisoner husband and asks why he won’t just sign the statement of allegiance to the king so they could get back to their life of comfort and prestige. With anguish, Moore cries in a gut-wrenching scene that he is not made of the stuff of martyrs. He doesn’t know for sure if he is doing the right thing.

In the end, Moore is convicted of treason for his refusal to acknowledge that the king was the supreme head of the Church of England. Moore defended his actions by saying, “I am the king’s servant, but God’s first.” He weighed all decisions relative to his commitment and love for God. Even if it results in his personal loss of freedom.

What exactly belongs to God? Do we owe any taxes to the heavenly IRS?  All of us know the answer immediately; it is written in the very first pages of the Bible. All that we are, all that we possess, and all that we can hope for has come to us from God. Just as the Roman coin bore the image of the Emperor who made it, so the human soul bears the "image and likeness" of God (Genesis 1:26), our Creator and our Father.

He called each one of us into existence; he wants each of us to exist, so that we can enter into and develop a personal relationship with him. This is the whole purpose of our lives: to live in communion with God, starting now and leading into everlasting life. Anything coming contrary to this purpose is not worth fighting for.

As followers of Jesus Christ, our ultimate obligation is to "seek first the kingdom of God," and all other obligations have to have a lower priority. There can only be one top priority.

As you will be going to the election booths, remember that there is nothing politically right that is morally wrong. Governments cannot legislate morality, that is God’s domain. If any government tries to take the right of God, it is our duty as Christians to resist that as did the early martyrs did with their lives. Let’s pray that people may seek light from the Holy Spirit before they choose to vote for a Candidate. And may we honor God by giving what belongs to Him.

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

An older couple was being married. Both had lost their spouses to death and had grown children. The combined children sent out this wedding invitation in their behalf: “Phil, Richard, Karen and Allison, and John, Matt and Steve request the honor of your presence at the marriage of their Mother and Father. Because they are combining two households, they already have at least two of everything.  So please, no presents! Reception and garage sale immediately following the ceremony.”

There is no more hopeful event on earth than a wedding . . . at any age.  Jesus loved weddings. His first miracle was at a wedding. On one occasion he referred to himself as a bridegroom. So it is not surprising that at least one of his parables should feature a wedding.

In this parable one man showed himself not in the right clothes. Everyone else wore tuxes and evening clothes and he was in jeans. Does wearing the right clothes matter?

In his book, David Brinkley, A Memoir, Brinkley tells about coming to work for NBC in the 1940s. At that time, NBC considered itself the elegant network. The rule was that after 6:00 p. m., radio newscasters were required to read the news wearing tuxedos. Can you imagine that? Their radio audience couldn’t see the newscasters, but NBC management believed their attitude and presentation skills improved dramatically when they were properly attired.

 No wonder then why the church asks us not to come to church with beach clothes on. Because that would not make us properly disposed for the sacred mysteries.

In this parable the man came without proper dress not because he could not afford wedding clothes. Scholars tell us it was the custom in Jesus’ time for the host to provide free garments for all the guests. There was no excuse for this guest to be dressed inappropriately except for either ignorance or obstinacy. The attitude of the king indicates that it was the latter. His silence also provides added proof to this. The king didn’t cut him any slack: He said to his attendants, “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

 This is a shocking text for many people. In fact, it is not about clothes at all. This text implies that there are certain qualifications for those who follow Jesus.  Many people today have heard the message of grace: “Jesus loves me, Jesus accepts me just as I am.  I’m saved. I’m headed to the Promised Land.” But that is only a part of the Gospel message. British bishop N.T. Wright comments: “We want to hear a nice story about God’s throwing the party open to everyone.  We don’t want to know about judgment on the wicked, or about demanding standards of holiness, or about weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

 He goes on to say, “[Jesus’] love reached [those who were invited to the feast] where they were, but his love refused to let them stay as they were. Love wants the best for the beloved.”

  “Actually,” he continues, “nobody really believes that God wants everyone to stay exactly as they are. God loves serial killers and child molesters; God loves ruthless and arrogant businessmen. But the point of God’s love is that he wants them to change. He hates what they’re doing and the effects it has on everyone else and on themselves too. Ultimately, if he’s a good God, he cannot allow that sort of behavior, and that sort of person, if they don’t change, to remain forever in the party he’s throwing for his son .

          “The point of the story is,” continues Bishop Wright, “that . . . God’s kingdom is a kingdom in which love and justice and truth and mercy and holiness reign unhindered. They are the clothes you need to wear for the wedding. And if you refuse to put them on, you are saying, you don’t want to stay at the party . . . .” . God loves us as we are, but God expects us to clothe ourselves with the character of Jesus Christ. 

 Just like the man who showed disrespect to the host by coming in inappropriate garments, the invitees who did not show up at all were offensive and culpable.

We may sometimes find ourselves in either of these camps.

When we don’t show up or don’t come prepared to meet the Lord, then we are like those who turned down his invitation to the wedding feast. Our excuses may run like this: We need our Sunday recreational times. We have to work. Sunday is the only time we have to spend with our family (and apparently we don’t want to spend it in worship). Sunday is the only day we have to sleep in. I would get up early to pray, but I have a busy day ahead and need my rest.  My spouse is not supportive of my faith.  I know I should read the Bible, but television is more entertaining. I can’t serve the Lord because my kids are active; I have to take them to ball game practice; and I want to share all these times with my kids, perhaps when they are older.

When faith becomes a compartment of life instead of life's vibrant center, when we are squeezing God in between everything else- we miss the party, or poorly dressed.

A legend tells the story of a fisherman called Aaron. Aaron lived on the banks of a river. Walking home with his eyes half-closed one evening after a hard day's work, he was dreaming of what he could do if he were rich. As he walked his foot struck against a leather pouch filled with what seemed to him to be small stones. Absentmindedly he picked up the pouch and began throwing the pebbles into the water. "When I am a rich man," he said to himself, "I'll have a large house". And he threw another pebble into the river. He threw another one and thought, "My wife and I will have servants and rich food, and many fine things". And this went on until just one stone was left. As Aaron held it in his hand, a ray of light caught it and made it sparkle. He was not throwing ordinary stones but valuable gems, throwing away the real riches in his hand, while he dreamed of unreal riches in the future." This legend summarizes our situation. The value of the Kingdom of God is before us if we will but realize.

XXVII. O.T. Is 5:1-7; Phil 4:6-9; Mt 21:33-43 

The common theme of today’s readings is the necessity of bearing fruit in the Christian life and the consequent punishment for spiritual sterility, ingratitude and wickedness.  The parable of the wicked tenants is a theological summary of the entire history of the ingratitude, infidelity and hard-heartedness of the Chosen People.   Its importance is shown by its appearance in all the three Synoptic gospels.

Jesus describes the mysterious absence, the seeming distance of God, in terms of a landowner who goes away on a long journey, leaving his vineyard in the care of others. The servants fail the tests: they forget that they are stewards, not owners. The stewards reject even the owners’ son which was a terrible mistake, leading to their damnation.

There is a legend about a simple man who was lifted from the gutter and magically granted three wishes. First he wished for material goods and forthwith became very rich. Then he wished for understanding and soon became very wise. At last he used his third wish to express his desire to become as God, and immediately he found himself back in the gutter.
So it was with the wicked tenants. Dissatisfied with their role as stewards and not owners, they eventually lost the very vineyard which supported them. The tenants of the vineyard are most to be pitied.

Jesus quoted the words of the Psalmist to open their eyes to the mistake the Jewish leaders were doing: "The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head stone or the corner stone." The cornerstone is the keystone or capstone completing the arch and supporting the entire structure. There was a legend that was well known in New Testament times that in the building of the temple of Solomon most of the stones were of the same size and shape. One stone arrived, however, that was different from the others. The builders took one look at it and said, "This will not do," and sent it rolling down into the valley of Kedron below. Then years passed and the great temple was nearing completion, and the builders sent a message to the stonecutters to send the chief cornerstone that the structure might be complete. The cutters replied that they had sent the stone years before. Then someone remembered the stone that was different than all the rest that somehow did not seem to belong. They realized that they had thrown away the cornerstone. They hurried into the valley to retrieve it. Finally under vines and debris they recovered it and with great effort rolled it up the hill and put it in place so that the great temple would be complete. The stone that had been rejected had become the chief cornerstone. Jesus, who had been rejected now reigns at the right hand of the Father. From rejection to rejoicing.

October is Pro-Life month. Abortion and the culture of death are far from conquered. It is the worm killing the grapes in the vineyard, and spoiling the garden. There is an axiom in law which states that the greater the person offended, the greater the offense itself. Since God Himself was the victim in today's parable, the offense against Him was beyond measure. Jesus directed the story at the Pharisees. Who does He direct it to in today's society?
Parables are never only past; they are also present. How do we treat the prophets and truth tellers of our day? How do we care for the earth, which God has put into our care? Do we welcome truth even when it sounds harsh to our ears? Do we act like owners or like stewards whose master is on the way?

Recognizing that we have to honor the contract we made at the baptism with God, the owner of the vineyard, let us ask ourselves these questions.

What kind of grapes do we as a parish community produce?  Are they sweet or sour?  What is our attitude toward everything God has given to us?  Are we grateful for everything God has given to us, or are we like the ungrateful tenants who acted as if they owned everything God had given them?   Do we measure the quality of our parish by what happens during Mass, or on what happens when we leave Church?  How do people see us? By what we do on Sunday, or by what we do on Monday as well?

Let’s pray that we may be good stewards in God’s vineyards by producing good fruit and being responsible with our Christian duties?.

XXV. O.T. Is 55: 6-9; Phil 1: 20c-24, 27a; Mt 20:1-16a 

A Jewish "farmer lived in Poland whose family had been very poor for generations. One night he was awakened by an angel of the Lord, who said: "You have found favor in the eyes of your Maker. He wants to do for you what he did for your ancestor Abraham. He wants to bless you. Therefore, make any three requests to God, and he will be pleased to give them to you. There is only one condition: your neighbor will get a double portion of everything that is bequeathed to you."

The farmer was startled by this revelation and woke up his wife to tell her all about it. She suggested that they put the whole thing to a test. So they prayed. "Oh, God, if we could just have a herd of a thousand cattle, that would enable us to break out of the poverty in which we have lived for generations." No sooner had they said these words than they heard the sound of animal noises outside. Lo and behold, all around the house were a thousand magnificent animals!

During the next two days, the farmer's feet hardly touched the ground. He divided his time between praising God for such great generosity and beginning to make practical provisions for his newly acquired affluence. On the third afternoon, he was up on a hill behind his house trying to decide where to build a new barn when he looked across at his neighbor's field, and there standing on the green hillside were two thousand magnificent cattle. For the first time since the angel of the Lord had appeared, the joy within him evaporated and a scowl of envy took its place. He went home that evening in a foul mood, refused to eat supper, and went to bed in an absolute rage. He could not fall asleep because every time he closed his eyes, all he could see were his neighbor's two thousand cattle.

Deep in the night, however, he remembered that the angel had said he could make three wishes. With that, he shifted his focus away from his neighbor and back to his own situation, and the old joy quickly returned. Digging deep into his own heart to find out what else he really wanted, he began to realize that in addition to some kind of material security, he always wanted descendants to carry his name into the future. So he prayed a second time: "Gracious God, if it pleases thee, give me a child that I may have descendants." With that, he and his wife made love, and because of his experience with the cattle, he was not too surprised shortly thereafter to learn that she was expecting.

The next months were passed in unbroken joy. The farmer was busy assimilating his newly acquired affluence and looking forward to the great grace of becoming a parent. On the night his first child was born, he was absolutely overjoyed. The next day was the Sabbath. He went to the synagogue, and at the time of the prayers of the people, he stood up and shared with the gathered community his great good fortune: now at last a child had been born into their home. He had hardly sat down, however, when his neighbor got up and said, "God has indeed been gracious to our little community. I had twin sons born last night. Thanks be to God." On hearing that, the farmer went home in an utterly different mood than the one in which he came. Instead of being joyful once again he was filled with the canker of jealousy.

This time, however, his envy did not abate. Late that evening, he made his third request of God: "Please, gouge out my right eye."

No sooner had he said these words than the angel who had initiated the whole process appeared again and asked, "Why, son of Abraham, have you turned to such vengeful desirings?" With pent-up rage, the farmer replied, "I cannot stand to see my neighbor prosper. I'll gladly sacrifice half of my vision for the satisfaction of knowing that he will never be able to look on what he has."

Those words were followed by a long silence, and as the farmer looked, he saw tears forming in the eyes of the angel. "Why, O son of Abraham, have you turned an occasion for blessing into a time of hurting? Your third request will not be granted, not because the Lord lacks integrity, but because God is full of mercy. However, know this, O foolish one, you have brought sadness not only to yourself, but to the very heart of God."

St Thomas Aquinas described envy as “sorrow at another’s good fortune”. It has been described as the only one of the seven deadly sins that gives the sinner no pleasure - however illusory or transitory - at all. It only eats away at us and destroys relationships.

The parable of the vineyard workers offends our sense of fairness. Why should everyone get equal pay for unequal work? This parable goes against the business mentality that dominates our lives. We have always been taught: You get out of something directly in proportion to that which you put in it. Yet, that is not what happened in Jesus’ story. In our way of thinking, the laborers who came to the field late got something for nothing. This parable challenges us not to look upon the Kingdom of God, or the church, as a business community. We live in a world of tenure and seniority and it goes against our grain when we hear Jesus say: The first shall be last and the last shall be first. God's grace is not based upon what is fair, but rather what helps. His love is unique that he loves us evenly even if he gives more or less graces different people.

One time a Sunday school superintendent was registering two new sisters in Sunday School. When she asked them how old they were one replied, “We’re both seven. My birthday is April 8th and my sister’s is April 20th.” That superintendent replied, "That’s impossible girls." The other sister then spoke up and said, "No it’s true, one of us is adopted."

"Oh," the superintendent said, "Which one?" The two sisters looked at each other and one said, "We asked Dad that question a while ago, but he just looked at us and said that he loved us both equally, so much so that he couldn’t remember which one of us was adopted."
That is a wonderful analogy of the love of God. God loves us all, equally. We are loved, not because we have earned God’s love or deserve it, but because of God’s grace.

We all tend to think that love is like a pie. The more people that came to share it, the smaller the slices had to be. But love is not that way. If you had two children, you are not taking your love for one child and sharing it with the second. No, you may be sharing the first one’s things with the second, but not the love. Your love for the second one generates completely new. Your love for the second may not sometimes be as much as the first one, but it is not because you have one child already before. But it is because certain things prompt you to hold some from the second one due to some reason.  

St Augustine once pointed out that whereas material things diminish when they are shared out - if I share out my food there is less for me - this is not true in the case of spiritual goods. If I love my neighbour and can rejoice in his good fortune, I do not lessen the charity within me, but, in fact, only increase it.

God wants all his children to enjoy the complete fullness of eternal life. No true child of God wants it any other way. Jesus Christ is extraordinarily generous; the history of salvation is the story of his boundless giving.  Just as the landowner gave the laborers real work to do in his vineyard, even if the reward far outweighed the work, Christ too allows us to make a real contribution to the eternal happiness of ourselves through prayer, self-sacrifice, and service. But the salvation itself is his pure gracious gift. As we continue with this sacrifice where Jesus completely and generously gives himself to us, let us ask him for the grace to be generous as He is generous and not to be ever jealous of others blessings.

FEAST OF EXALTATION OF THE CROSS 

(Numbers 21: 4-9; Philippians 2:6-11; John 3:13-17)

We celebrate this feast of the Exaltation of the Cross for two reasons: (1) to understand the history of the discovery of the True Cross and (2) to appreciate better the importance of the symbol and reality of Christ’s sacrificial love, namely, the cross in the daily life of every Christian.

According to a reliable legend, when the Body of Jesus and those of the two thieves were removed from their crosses, the disciples buried the body of Jesus in the tomb donated by Nicodemus. As it was customary, the crosses of Jesus and the two thieves were buried in a pit dug close to the tomb. They remained there unnoticed till the fourth century. In AD 312, while the pagan commander Constantine the Great was in combat with Maxentius for the throne of the Roman Empire, some of his Christian soldiers suggested that he pray to the God of the Christians to help him in his battle. In answer to his prayer, the sign of a luminous cross appeared in the sky with the words “IN THIS SIGN YOU WILL CONQUER" inscribed on it. Following this, Constantine won the battle over Maxentius. Indebted to the God of Christians for his victory at the Milvian Bridge, Constantine became a Christian catechumen. The Emperor issued the Edict of Milan (in 313), guaranteeing Christians religious tolerance throughout the Roman Empire. He declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and commanded that the sign of the cross be placed on all the Roman standards and on the shields of all the soldiers. On September 14, AD 327, a team of excavators, led by Constantine’s mother St. Helena, found below the temple of Venus at Calvary the True Cross on which Jesus had been crucified. The cross of Christ was identified by the miraculous healing given to a terminally sick lady when touched by the cross of Jesus. In 355, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was established in Jerusalem to commemorate St. Helena’s discovery of the true cross of Jesus.

A cross is a symbol of suffering and shame. Yet God turned that cross into the means by which you and I may find our salvation.  Jesus did not die as a hero or a martyr. His death was a total failure on the cross. His executioners rejoiced at his death and they celebrated his death.  Yet Christianity had, and still has, at its center this most awful symbol of death and disgrace. On the feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross, then, we must learn to appreciate the real message of the cross in our Christian life. 

The cross in itself was a total failure for Jesus. But we honor the cross because on the cross he saved us. It is through the cross of Calvary that God is fully revealed. It is through the cross of Calvary that we come to know of God's love.

The crucifix is the symbol of God's loving and sacrificial offering of Himself in a humble, total self-emptying love for all of us, that we might have everlasting life with Him. The cross is a symbolic summary of the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ -- all in one image.

 The cross of Jesus Christ is the place where atonement happened; where Jesus became a substitute for man. Christ died where man should have been, so that man may be where God is.

The cross is the work of God for salvation. Jesus disclosed this as being necessary because the disciples needed to understand the place of the cross in the economy of God's redemptive purposes. "The Son of Man must suffer” Jesus said: It is the key to the self-disclosure of Jesus and to the plan of God for salvation for sinners.

A pattern of self denial should be present in the life of the believer to be part of Jesus’ salvation. The cross can be the pain we undergo in our lives or the pain we suffer for others. It is the sanctifying pain involved in sharing our blessings sacrificially with others. It is the pain involved in controlling our evil tendencies in an attempt to attain a higher degree of holiness.  It is also the pain involved in standing with Jesus and gladly following him even if that means scorn and humiliation from the rest of the world. St.Paul identified himself fully with the cross of Christ and so he said: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal.2:20).When we have fully identified ourselves with the cross of Christ, we should be reminding ourselves of its implications by signing ourselves always with the cross. As soon as we wake the first thing we should do be signing ourselves with cross and ensuring that the rest of the day is going to be sanctified. Before we start driving or cooking do that again and remind ourselves that we are redeemed by Christ’s cross and so nothing is going to defeat me. Of course sometimes we may be ashamed to do it before others. But then remember the message of Paul again: For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor.1:18). For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength (1 Cor.1:25).

As we continue with the celebration of this Mass, let us ask for the grace to be reminded of the price Jesus paid for our salvation on the cross and our call to share in the sufferings of Christ when we wear or sign ourselves with the cross. And may the cross of Christ always be our protection from all the evil influence and evil thoughts and habits in our everyday life. Amen.

XXIII.O.T. Ez 33: 7-9; Rom 13: 8-10; Mt 18: 15-20 

The common theme of today’s readings is our responsibility towards the salvation of others in our community because they are God’s children and our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are, therefore, the “keepers” of our brothers and sisters, for each one of us is important to all others in our Faith community. In the first reading, God tells Ezekiel that he is a "watchman for the house of Israel,” obliged to warn Israel of moral dangers.  If Ezekiel should refrain from speaking God’s word intended to convert the wicked, God will hold Ezekiel responsible for the death of the wicked.  Prophet Jonah was sent to preach conversion to the Ninevehites and he refused to go to Nineveh and went to the opposite direction. We know what happened to him. God stirred a storm in the sea and he was cast into the sea and was swallowed by a large fish. This may be a lesson for those who refuse to preach repentance to sinners. In the second reading, St. Paul points out that the love we should have for one another should be our only reason for admonishing the sinner.  Love seeks the good of the one who is loved. Therefore, we should admonish one another so that we all may repent and grow in holiness.

We are afraid to discipline sin in the church because of popular verses that are taken out of context and improperly interpreted. "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." "Judge not that you may not be judged." Indeed, we surmise, how can a sinner correct a sinner? The result is, there is precious little discipline in the typical church today. People do as they please. Folks can get away with anything, and we have an unholy anarchy of gossip, sexual immorality, inattendance, false teaching, and lies. None of this glorifies Jesus Christ!

The Gospel lays down 4 steps to correction.

 1) Confrontation:  The worst thing that we can do about a wrong done to us is to brood about it. Brooding can poison our whole mind and life, until we can think of nothing else but our sense of personal injury. We mustn’t gossip either.  Hence, the first step proposed by Jesus to the one who has been wronged is that he should go to meet the offender in person, and point out lovingly, but in all seriousness, the harm he has done.  This first stage is designed to let the two people concerned solve the issue between them. If it works out at that level, that is the ideal situation. "You have won back your brother." 

2) Negotiation:  Suppose the first step does not resolve the situation and the person refuses to admit wrong, continuing in a behavior bad for him or her as well as for the one he has injured. This creates a problem; for example, among the young where a friend steals or shoplifts, uses drugs or drinks excessively, hangs around with a bad crowd, plans to run away, contemplates suicide or abortion, or just "goofs off" in school. Here, the second step is to take one or two other members of the Church along with the wronged person to speak to the wrongdoer and to act as confirming witnesses. The taking of the witnesses is not meant to be a way of proving to a man that he has committed an offence. It is meant to assist the process of reconciliation by emphasizing and explaining calmly the gravity of the situation. Nowadays, we call that an “intervention” and the group may also include a qualified third party - counselor, teacher, priest or physician.

3) Adjudication: If the negotiation step does not resolve the situation either, the third step is to have the whole Church or community of believers confront the wrongdoer. The case is brought to the Christian fellowship because troubles are never amicably settled by going to a civil court of law. Further, the Church provides an atmosphere of Christian prayer, Christian love and Christian fellowship in which personal relationships may be righted in the light of love and of the Gospel. Finally, in matters of honor and shame, the community is the final arbiter, for the community as a whole suffers from the wrong. 

4) Excommunication: If the offender chooses to disregard the believing community's judgment, the consequence is “excommunication.” This means that if none of the three steps has brought a resolution of the situation, then the wrongdoer should be treated like "a Gentile or a tax collector."  That is, the wrongdoer should be put out of the Church with the hope that temporary alienation alone may bring the erring person to repentance and change. The sinner is expelled because every obvious case of unrepented sin denies the Gospel's power and the Church's mission of reconciling sinners to God and to the community. But the excommunication should be carried out with genuine grief (1 Cor 5:2), not vindictive glee over another's "fall" or self-righteous pride. 

Modern believers tend to think that they have no right to intervene in the private lives of their fellow believers. Others evade the issue saying, “As a sinner, I don’t have the moral courage or the right to correct anyone.” But Jesus emphatically affirms that we are our brothers' keepers, and we have the serious obligation to correct others. When we tolerate someone to drink and get behind the wheel, we cannot guarantee that the only thing that he will hit is a roadside tree or the road dividers. If we tolerate it we or our kids may be dead; or his kids and dependents may be left orphan whom the community may have the responsibility to look after. So, it is our business to correct our dear ones, and anyone who does mistakes. Very often we hesitate to correct others because of the fear to lose the friendship.

Let’s ask the Lord for the strength and the wisdom to have the courage to correct the erring brothers and sisters and bring them back to the right track and bring glory to God and the Church.