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27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time [A]

October 4, 2020

Matthew 21:33-43

The vineyard owner in today’s parable is extraordinary. He knows that the tenants are greedy and corrupt, and if I had been the owner, I would have expelled the tenants right away. Yet, this owner is doing the opposite. He keeps sending His envoys and pleading with them, to the point of giving his own son, the true heir. This vineyard owner must be crazy! Yet, that is how much merciful, and patient God is. However, that is not the end of the story. The thing is if we keep abusing God’s mercy, His justice will eventually prevail.

When Jesus was speaking about the vineyard, the context was Jesus was confronting the elders and chief priest. Instead of serving the people, they chose to seek their gains and thus, involved in various corrupt practices. Jesus reminded them that the vineyard would be taken away if they did not repent.  Unfortunately, they were too greedy and proud. Thus, they opted to get rid of Jesus, the Son of God. The history tells us that in 70 AD, around 40 years after Christ, Jerusalem was burned, and the Temple was razed to the ground.

Unfortunately, the story of the gift given and gift taken away is one of the basic patterns in the Bible. Adam and Eve given the privilege of the garden of Eden, yet they offended the Lord, and they lost the paradise. People of Israel were liberated from the land of Egypt, but in the wilderness, they kept complaining and even worshipping false gods. Therefore, they had to die in the desert, and only their children were allowed to enter. The Israelites have received the land and built a powerful kingdom under David, but they kept sinning and forgetting the Lord, and thus, the kingdom was destroyed, and the people were exiled.

God has given each of us, something special, a precious gift. And we should take care of and protect this gift, and we shall not test the Lord. Otherwise, this gift will be taken away from us.

Faith is a gift. Faith is our first step to heaven. Yet, we have to grow our faith, to nourish it with true teachings of the Church and growing relationship with the Lord. We must defend it not only from false teachings but also from our laziness and mediocrity. Otherwise, it will be taken away from us.

A vocation to priesthood and brotherhood is a gift. It is a gift to serve the people of God, to preach the Word of God, and to minister the sacraments through which we receive the grace and salvation. We need to nurture it daily with prayer, assiduous study, and faithfully living the vows. Otherwise, it will be taken away from us.

A vocation to married life and family is a gift. It is a gift to become co-creators and co-workers of God; to bring forth life and to nurture life. We need to protect it from sins and infidelity and selfishness, and nourish it with love, commitment, and even openness.  Otherwise, it will be taken away from us.

The Earth is a gift to us. It is our home, a stunning home to live, and among billions of planets in the galaxies, there is nothing like earth. We need to defend it from exploitation, over-mining, over-fishing and even from our lifestyle that gradually destroy nature. Otherwise, it will be taken away from us.

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

check also my YOUTUBE channel at “bayu ruseno”

26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time [A]

September 27, 2020

Matthew 21:28-31

Reading the entire Matthew chapter 21, we will get the sense of the parable of the two sons of the vineyard owner. Jesus just entered the city of Jerusalem and was welcomed by the people with a shout of “Hosana” and palm branches. Then, he proceeded to the Temple area to cleanse it from the malpractices plaguing the holy ground. Thus, the elders and chief priests, the one who was in charge of the Temple, questioned Jesus, “who are you? By what authority do you act and teach?”

Thus, Jesus answered them through a parable. This parable speaks of two sons; the first representing the elders and the second the tax collectors and prostitutes. Yet, to the surprise of the elders, far from being the protagonists of the story, they turn to be the villains. To add insult to the injury, the elders were practically in the worse condition than these tax collectors, because they are still far from the vineyard, from salvation. However, instead of repenting, the elders got infuriated and decided to finish Jesus once for all.

The question is “why were the tax collectors able to repent while the elders were not?” The answer is something to do with two opposing powers: at one side of the ring is humility and the other is pride. We begin with pride. Based on the Church’s tradition, pride is the deadliest of seven deadly sins. St. Thomas Aquinas explained that pride is “an excessive desire for one’s own excellence which rejects subjection to God.” In short, proud men regard themselves better than others to the point of contempt. What makes pride so dangerous, it may lead even people to think they are self-sufficient and has no need even of God.

Pride is extremely subtle because it can take root even in spiritual matters. We cannot say that I am lustful for prayer, but we can be proud of our spiritual life. We see ourselves holier and more pious than others based on our standards.

 At the opposite corner is humility. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, humility is a virtue that “temper and restrain the mind, lest it tends to high things immoderately.” In short, humility is the antidote of pride. Humility is rooted in the Latin word “humus” meaning soil. Humble persons recognize their identity as coming from the dust, and the breath of life and perfections are gifts of God. This humility will bring gratitude because we realized that despite nothing but dust, God is boundlessly generous and merciful to us.

However, humility and cowardice are often confused. Cowardice manifests in low self-esteem, lack of confidence, and poor in responsibility. Cowardice is rooted in incomplete and even distorted self-image. While humility begins with the right understanding of the self, that we are gratuitously loved by God. Humble people are strong people because only strong ones can confess their sins. Humble persons are mature persons because only mature ones are able to own their weakness, say sorry, and ask for help. Humble men and women are tough people because it is hard to forgive.

Lord, grant us humility, that we may follow Your holy will.

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

25th Week in Ordinary Time [A]

September 20, 2020

Matthew 20: 1-16

Among the many parables of Jesus, this parable of the owner of the vineyard is one that I find difficult to understand. Every time I read this parable, I always felt that something was wrong. Perhaps, I easily associate myself with the first-coming workers, who work from morning to sunset. They are laborers who spend their time and energy under the heat of the sun and give their efforts to meet the demands of the vineyard owner. However, they receive the same wages as those who only offer one hour of work. Of course the owner of the vineyard did not break the contract, but there still seemed to be injustice.

Maybe, this experience is like when I was studying in Manila. I was studying hard to get the best that I could achieve. Indeed, I got good grades, but what I could not accept was when my classmates who did not spent much effort, got also the same grades as I did. For me, It was not fair, but I could drop my complaint because the final grade is the prerogative of the professor.

However, things started to look different when I became a teacher myself. At one point, I needed to give my students final grades. And this is the utmost dilemma for me because I realize that on the one hand, I need to provide justice, but on the other hand, I want all my students to pass and graduate. Finally, I often chose compassion and allowed my struggling students to pass. I am fully aware that some of my students will feel that I am unfair, and that is the burden I must bear as a lecturer who chooses to be compassionate.

If we try to look closely at what vineyard owner is doing, we will find it funny and even weird. He kept looking for and hiring new persons almost every three hours. To make matters worse, he gave the same daily wages for all. In the economy and business, overspending and excess labor are a recipe for bankruptcy! However, the owner of the vineyard did not seem to care and was constantly looking for laborers. Perhaps, he knew very well that if these people were without jobs, they would starve to death, but if they worked and received less than the minimum wage, they wouldn’t be able to survive either. He couldn’t satisfy everyone, but at least he would be able to save everyone.

Learning from this parable, rather than complaining to God, we need to rejoice because our Lord is full of mercy, who even takes the initiative and seeks to seek out those of us who need salvation, and who willingly give eternal life even to those who have not lived well, but at the last moment repent.

 We should rejoice because in God’s eyes, we are all the last workers to beg mercy. Who knows, the workers who come first are actually the angels, and we really are the last unworthy laborers. With our sin, we all deserve to go to hell, but God stretches out His hand and opens the Gates of Heaven. We should rejoice that heaven is not a lonely place where few righteous people deserve it, but it is full of grateful people who enjoy God’s mercy even if they are not worthy.

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

[Check also my Youtube Channel ‘bayu ruseno’ to see videos on Catholic faith and catechism]

23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time [A]

September 6, 2020

Matthew 18:15-20

Today’s Gospel is well known as the fraternal correction or the way to correct our brothers. However, if we carefully read the text, we discover what being corrected is not simply about our appearance, mannerism, or etiquette. The concern of Jesus is about sin. Jesus does not teach us to correct someone who has a weird hairstyle, or someone who sleeps with a huge snore, or someone whose way of talking we do not like. If there is something that makes Jesus angry is none other than sin. Why so? Sin can destroy our relationship with God, and it closes the gate of heaven. Jesus’ mission is to bring forgiveness of sin and to undo the effects of sin, but if we refuse to repent and keep sinning, we throw insults to the sacrifice of Christ.

Jesus gives us the three stages of correcting a brother who lives in sin. The first level is a personal and compassionate reminder. We must not speak behind the person, but rather dare to confront and yet with charity. Just in case, the person is still obstinate, we activate the second level: calling two or three witnesses. The presence of witnesses will substantiate our claim. Yet, if the person remains stubborn, we shall appeal to the Church. We need to remember that the Church in Matthew 18 is not just an assembly of the believers, but the apostles, the authorities of the Church. If again, the person persists in his sin, then the Church has to treat him like gentiles and tax collectors.

Gentiles are non-Jewish nations and because they were not circumcised and worshiped idols, they are considered unclean and sinners. While the tax collectors were people who work for the Roman empire, and because their constant contact with the Romans and their corrupt practices, made them also unclean and sinners. The unclean people are not allowed to enter the Temple and synagogues to worship God. Thus, treating an obstinate brother like a pagan and tax collector means to separate him from the assembly in worship. This technical term for this is excommunication. This word is coming Latin words: “ex-” meaning outside, and “communion” meaning community or fellowship. Thus, being excommunicated is outside of the worshiping community. Thus, excommunicated persons are not allowed to receive the Holy communion, the sign of unity of the Body of Christ.

Excommunication seems to be too cruel, yet looking in a bigger perspective, it is a way of mercy, rather simply a tool of punishment. In fact, the Church rarely pronounced the sentence of excommunication. Most of the cases, it is the people who walk away from the Church and separate themselves from God and His people. We must also remember that Jesus is loving the gentiles and the tax collectors, calling them to repentance and performing many miracles for them. Our love for our brothers who are living sin remains and even gets intensified. The reason is that Jesus does not want them to perish, but live with God. We correct our erring brothers and sisters not because we hate them, but because we love them and because we are part of the same family of God. We are responsible for one another and we shall keep our brothers and sisters in our way toward heaven.

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

check also my Youtube channel at “bayu ruseno” for video catechims, webinars and homilies.