Archbishop's Weekly Homily
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time- A
The collapse of trusted financial institutions has grabbed this week's headlines and shaken the world economy. We do not yet know how much this is going to affect each of us. We, in hurricane-ravaged south Louisiana, worry about the repayment of loans, mortgage installments, insurance costs, the security of retirement plans and even jobs or at least wages. So we can be forgiven if we initially hear today's gospel passage as a teaching on economic justice…and wonder about God's notion of justice at that. But this parable is really about salvation, that is wages in the world to come, not in this world.
Yes, on one level the parable about a landowner, his vineyard and the laborers in the vineyard seems to address wages for work in this world. Thus it seems grossly unfair that the laborers who worked only one hour should receive the same salary as those who worked from dawn until dusk. This is the very reaction of those who worked all day. So Jesus uses this reaction, undoubtedly shared by his listeners, to move them toward a deeper understanding of God's way of calling people to salvation. The landowner, an image of God, calls people to work in his vineyard, an image of life in this world, at different times in life. He offers the same redemption to all who say 'yes' whenever they are called and then do what they are asked to do. God calls everyone, but at different times in their lives. Eternal salvation is the same reward for all who say 'yes' and are then faithful. 
Human as we are, we tend to resent what we perceive as inequality. Envy prompts us to look around and resent it when we think others are getting more for less. But envy emerges from faulty understanding and disordered desire. As Isaiah cautions us today in the name of God: 'My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.'
The meaning of today's gospel parable is even clearer if we go back to the beginning of today's passage from Isaiah: 'Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near. Let the scoundrel forsake his way and the wicked his thoughts; let him turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God who is generous in forgiving.' There is indeed a mystery in God's call. We cannot predict when others may be called. What is important is that we respond when we are called and that we help others do the same.
Love of God needs to be conjoined to our love of neighbor. We are all aware of family members and friends who may have been baptized in the Church and have wandered elsewhere in life. Our hearts ache for them. Like Monica who prayed and sacrificed for her son Augustine, we are asked to pray and sacrifice for those near to our hearts who have not yet been able to hear or respond to God's call.
Moreover, let us always remember that although the reward of life forever with God is the same for all, our capacity to enjoy that life increases with the degree of sacrificial love and virtue that develops in our lives. The reward of happiness is the same, but the degree of happiness depends on the capacity for true happiness developed in this life. That is why it is important to respond promptly and wholeheartedly when we are called…and then to be faithful in developing virtue.
How important it is for us to recognize our responsibility to ensure that our children truly receive education and formation in the faith, moral, sacramental and spiritual teaching of the Church. Today we observe Catechetical Sunday. God asks us to recommit ourselves each year to the graced task of offering an inspiring, persuasive, systematic exposition of the Catholic Church teaching to everyone in accord with their age and background. In this work, parents and Church need to collaborate. I will always be so grateful not only that my parents modeled for me what it meant to be a believing, practicing Catholic, but also that my Dad sat down with me and went over each religion lesson with me to ensure that I understood and recognized the wisdom of living it. From his efforts, I sensed from my youth that God intended no disparity between his teaching and the living of daily life. This is the ordinary way of helping those dependent on us to hear God's call to answer in a timely way.
We also have with us those who work with and support the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center. They assist adults to learn how to companion with others through spiritual direction to say 'yes' to God.
On this Catechetical Sunday, I ask God to bless all those who offer themselves as catechists in their parishes…and those who oversee and guide this effort so effectively on an archdiocesan level. May God grant to us all the grace not only to hear and heed promptly the call he gives, but also to live it in such a way that we grow daily in our inner capacity to experience happiness with him and our loved ones forever.
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