Look to the Heart

There is a big problem with this story. In a good story Jesus al­ways raises a question. It seems a bit unfair to be thrown out, having been brought in at the last minute, because you had no garment. However, the garment means you want to be there and to take on the values of the feast. The garment is the desire of the heart to be a follower in name and deed.

God invites all, but expects us to come with a good heart. Of­ten we see people around Mass who seem not to respect it. They may not come often, but God looks to the desires of the heart. Maybe the non-churchy parents who want their child baptised know deep down that their love for the child brings them to bap­tism. Is that not a good reason? Or maybe the young people who come to Mass because they have exams coming up and need all the help they can get?

While Jesus is totally the inviting one, he wants us to remain with him. The heart that follows is the heart that wants to love, and that desire is the wedding garment.

The man knew in his heart that he should not be there. Jesus sees into the heart. What we look for is the sincerity in what brings us to God and that can be different for everybody. Religion is firstly of the heart, and then practice. We never know what’s in the heart of our people who sometimes come in faith. You never can tell! Let God be the judge of that!

Recall a time you felt invited by God to help a neighbour.
Offer that thanks to God now.
Lord, make my heart compassionate like yours.

Donal Neary SJ

The Vineyard is Ourselves!

God is all the time caring for his people and thinking of us, mak­ing sure we’re not endangered when he can help it. His care for his people goes into the heart of the Trinity, one of whom be­comes one of us, for our sake.

He wants us to bear fruit, as in the second reading. He will give these fruits – and wants us to value them.

In our society today, we could say that in many countries child protection and care is better today, We are more inclusive of people who differ from us and the church is open to the whole human family. In Ireland we have more peace now than we had, but maybe not more justice, especially for our migrant people. These are some fruits. We miss out on some issues – the value of faith and community is low and sometimes in public or political life we go for the temporary and the illusory and the dramatic. The gap between rich and poor is wider than ever. We have had bad experiences of greed and financial abuse, even in the charities sector. Our care of the elderly leaves much to be demanded.

Looking at the gospel vision, we can ask how the vineyard is nourished. We find that the cornerstone of the Christian way of life is love, and the love is a person in Jesus. He is the one who will invigorate the vine … Some will ignore him, some will fol­low. All of us are probably a bit in between. God sent his own Son into the vineyard of human life, not because life is perfect, but because love is. Jesus comes among us because we need him. 

Imagine a situation where people try to do well
in underdeveloped countries and are prevented. Pray for them.
Lord, may your kingdom come, here, there and now, today.

Fr Donal Neary, S.J

The Grumpy Brother and the Honest One

Two brothers: the second was grumpy, honest and generous; the first was kindly, confused and selfish. We know often people who do what they say, who do something in the end, or who don’t do what they say. The first man knew his mind and then did what was right. Is it the message of this humorous and honest story that sincerity and integrity are important? A certain spirituality ignores ourselves – it’s all about doing. Grit your teeth and get down to it. Roll up your sleeves and work… ‘but nobody asked us how we were‘. But we find God both in the discernment and in the doing. In the end we must know how we feel about some­thing and then put that in the hands of God and in prayer and do what seems right. The Lord wants the follow through! We need to take time to decide well – the first son did not do that. Then we need to follow and do what is right.

We need sound heads, compassionate hearts and willing hands. The vineyard is where we live all the time. The call is to live in truth, love and justice. We need to believe in the possi­bilities of a better world, and to become people who can decide on what is right in the sight of God and do it. We will often re­sist. We want to do what is right and do the opposite. He under­stands our mixed motivation. In all of that we need the Christian vision and a desire to do the world a world of good.

Recall a time you felt resentful about doing what you ought to do.
How did you feel after doing it?
Lord, may everything I do begin with you
and be happily ended in love. Amen.

Fr Donal Neary, S.J

Deserving our rights

We often say that people don’t deserve welfare or food if they don’t work. We can be stingy in judging what others deserve and need.

Jesus has a new way. We deserve our rights even when we do the least. The denarius was a day’s wage, enough to live on. There are certain rights we all have – to have food and a job are two of them. These people wanted to work. We are rewarded by God for who we are, not for what we do.

Jesus’ vision is that everyone deserves to earn enough to live on.

To believe in a God who is an unconditional Friend, is to have the most liberating experience that one could imagine. On the contrary, to live in the presence of an avenging and threatening God could change us into the most dangerous and self-destructive neurotics. We need to learn not to confuse God with our own narrow and stingy plans. We sometimes wish to distort God’s un­fathomable goodness. (J. Pagola).

That’s the way the kingdom of God grows. It grows within us in thanks and sharing. That’s what we do at every Mass. Success for Jesus is not the amount we do, but that we do things with a full heart.

Recall the picture of a dole queue or a provision centre and pray.
Lord, may all I do this day and week begin with your inspiration
and end with your pleasure. Amen.

Fr Donal Neary, S.J