LORD, WE KNOW THERE IS NO GOOD ORDER EXCEPT THAT WHICH WE CREATE...
Azrael's expression did not change.
THERE IS NO HOPE BUT US. THERE IS NO MERCY BUT US. THERE IS NO JUSTICE. THERE IS JUST US.
The dark, sad face filled the sky.
ALL THINGS THAT ARE, ARE OURS. BUT WE MUST CARE. FOR IF WE DO NOT CARE, WE DO NOT EXIST. IF WE DO NOT EXIST, THEN THERE IS NOTHING BUT BLIND OBLIVION.
AND EVEN OBLIVION MUST END SOME DAY. LORD, WILL YOU GRANT ME JUST A LITTLE TIME? FOR THE PROPER BALANCE OF THINGS. TO RETURN WHAT WAS GIVEN. FOR THE SAKE OF PRISONERS AND THE FLIGHT OF THE BIRDS.
Death took a step backward.
It was impossible to read expression in Azrael's features.
Death glanced sideways at the servants.
LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?
Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man
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“Mine”
(by request, my homily from earlier today)
If you were going to summarize the Gospel we just heard [the parable of the wicked tenants, linked at the end], how would you do it?
For me, it comes down to one word – “mine.”
What we see in today’s Gospel is ugly. And it is nothing other than the end product of “mine,” the most dangerous idea our species has ever come up with.
When I say “mine,” I mean all mine.
Not just me first. It’s not enough that I win. You have to lose.
Taken to its natural conclusion, that is where “mine” ends up.
We’ve all seen it happen, maybe even in our own families. When mom dies. And one of the kids says “mine” about something in the estate. Something that mom left to someone else.
Whether it’s been a long time coming, or it’s a complete surprise, as that estate plays out you get to see a side of someone you thought you knew. A part of them that is truly ugly. And one that has no room for anyone else.
That is “mine” in action.
Or maybe you’ve lived it.
You worked there for ten years. You’re a top performer. Nobody does the job as well as you do. And everyone knows it.
When the chance for a promotion opened up, you were the obvious choice.
And then they gave it some kid who hadn’t even been there for a year.
That was your opportunity! You put in the time. No one was more qualified than you. It was yours. You deserved it. You were robbed!
That is what “mine” feels like.
And that is what we see playing out in today’s Gospel. “Mine” has gotten its claws into the tenants. And once it starts, it doesn’t stop.
That’s why it keeps ramping up, and why it gets completely out of hand. So that they can finally say “mine” – about the vineyard.
The thing is, the parable stops before “mine” is done having it’s way with the tenants.
If the owner hadn’t stepped in, if the tenants had taken over the vineyard?
“Mine” would have kept going. And they would have turned on each other, until only one of them was left to say “mine.”
Because that is how “mine” works. “Mine” means all mine.
It’s not enough that I win. You have to lose.
Taken to its natural, unavoidable conclusion, that is where “mine” ends up.
If you want to know what can destroy the strongest bonds of family, love, and friendship, this is it.
If you want to know what can separate us from God, this is it.
If you want to know what got us tossed out of the Garden, this is it.
“Mine” is the original sin.
And you’re thinking, “That’s not me, my sister was the greedy one when mom died. Besides, I’ve never beaten up a messenger, much less killed someone. None of this applies to me, right?”
I wish.
What Jesus is showing us is where “mine” ends up. But that’s not where it starts.
For most of us, it usually starts in disguise. And you and I are the ones camouflaging it.
We disguise “mine” in all kinds of ways. But whether we clothe in the language of success. Or power. Or influence. Or wealth. Or anger. Or even fear. They’re all just different ways of saying “mine.”
And no matter how we disguise “mine” at the beginning, if we let “mine” get its claws into us, this is where it ends up.
So, what can we do about it?
First, we’ve got to be honest about our limitations. You and I both know that we can’t just tell ourselves to not do something. And then pretend like that’s going to work.
If nothing else, we’ve been through enough Lents, where we’ve tried to give up even the most trivial things, to know better.
If we’re going to keep “mine” from sinking its claws into us, you and I need to do something. We need a concrete, positive way to respond.
This is what discipleship and stewardship are all about. How?
Discipleship is practical. It’s accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And then? Actually living like Jesus is your Lord and Savior.
As our diocesan synod put it, discipleship means making “a conscious, firm decision, carried out in action,” to be a follower of Jesus Christ – no matter the cost to yourself. It’s “a committed approach to living a Christian life within the Catholic Church.” That’s the official stuff.
What it really means is being who you are, as a Christian.
And stewardship? It’s how we put discipleship into practice. In every part of our lives. From how we treat ourselves, to how treat others. From how we use the influence that we have, to how we use the things that we have.
It’s living out who you are, as a Christian.
So, how do you and I do that?
I’m going to tell you something you already know. This is not easy.
And it’s not a one-and-done. This is something that has to be done over and over.
In every interaction. In every decision. In every action.
In every day. In every hour. In every thing.
If you’re serious, here’s the roadmap. From C.S. Lewis,
Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it.
Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end. Submit with every fiber of your being, and you will find eternal life.
Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.
Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead.
Look for yourself [say “mine”], and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.
Sunday’s Readings
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METAL FLOWER, MARK III
IV. Inland Waters: Highlands (A Farewell)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)
Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea
Thy tribute wave deliver:
No more by thee my steps shall be,
For ever and for ever.
Flow, softly flow, by lawn and lea,
A rivulet then a river:
No where by thee my steps shall be,
For ever and for ever.
But here will sigh thine alder tree,
And here thine aspen shiver;
And here by thee will hum the bee,
For ever and for ever.
A thousand suns will stream on thee,
A thousand moons will quiver;
But not by thee my steps shall be,
For ever and for ever.
🌺
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