God's Invitation is Persistent! (27.A)

 

Father Jeff pointed out to me that there’s some odd behaviour in today’s parable, both by the tenants and the landowner.

Killing the landlord’s servants seems a poor way of getting a break on the rent. But after this happened twice, the landlord should have known better than to send his son to meet with these bloodthirsty people. And the tenants are crazy for thinking that by killing the rightful heir to the property they’d inherit instead.

This is, of course, the history of Israel, and our history too. We repeat our mistakes, our sins, our rejection of God’s message and messengers.  He sends his Son, anyway, knowing what will happen.

Let’s not focus on the bad behaviour of the murderous tenants. In a recent book, the auxiliary bishop of Seattle says “the first thing to notice is how persistent and relentless” the landlord is in desiring to interact with his tenants. (Come Follow Me: year A, p.293).

Have you ever thought about God as persistent and relentless? Francis Thompson’s famous poem “The Hound of Heaven” uses a very earthy image, comparing God to a hunting dog tirelessly chasing us.

But God’s persistence is gentle. He is relentless only in not giving up.

One of the gentlest ways that God pursues us in his desire for a relationship is by inviting us to Mass.  Few Catholics don’t feel that something’s not right if a Sunday passes without them getting to church. Even the expression “missing Mass” suggests an opportunity not taken.

Today, God our Father sends his Son to us, to this altar, so he can collect the fruit his gifts have produced in our lives. Unlike the evil tenants, we offer these fruits with joy.

For a long time now it has been difficult, even impossible, to gather around the altar to give the Lord his due. But “even the hardest trials can bear fruits of grace.” This is what Cardinal Robert Sarah, the head of the Vatican department for worship and sacraments, says in a recent letter titled “Let us return to the Eucharist with joy.”

His letter was published after we had decided to invite every parishioner to church every Sunday, but it’s sure been a great encouragement.

Cardinal Sarah tells us about 49 martyrs in the fourth century who were put to death because they’d gathered for Sunday worship. Their response to the judge is a bit hard to translate, but basically they said, “we can’t live without Sunday.”

Neither can we. The Cardinal says we can’t live, as Christians, without listening together to the Word of God. We can’t be Christians without the banquet of the Eucharist. We cannot be without the Lord’s Day, without the weekly observance of the Sacrifice of the Cross and the Easter mystery.

“We cannot be without our brothers and sisters, our Christian community, And we cannot be without the house of the Lord, which is our home,” without the physical place where were baptized, confirmed, forgiven, and said farewell to loved ones.

Cardinal Sarah writes gratefully of the live streams and broadcasts of Mass through internet and TV.  He calls them “a great service” to the sick and others who cannot come to church. But he warns that “no transmission is equivalent to personal participation or can replace it”—our “physical contact with the Lord is vital, indispensable, irreplaceable.”

Which is why our parish is extending the Lord’s invitation to each and every one, every Sunday, despite what this demands from our parish staff and volunteers. I don’t expect folks will be out banging pots for this army of generous parishioners, but I can tell you that they are spiritual health care workers who deserve warm thanks from each of us.