"Grant, O Lord, that as your Son Jesus Christ prayed for his enemies on the cross, so we may have grace to forgive those who wrongfully or scornfully use us, that we ourselves may be able to receive your forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."
Psalm 105:16-22, Genesis 37:3-4, 12-28, and Matthew 21:33-43
The idea of being used is a terrible one, and when we feel like we've been manipulated for someone else's motives we might fill up with anger and embarrassment: at ourselves, at others, and at the situation. Even if this happens just once we might be filled with an uncertainty of the motives and objectives of others, especially if we don't know the others very well.
As with most things that can happen in our lives, something like this isn't isolated to one part of our life. We can be manipulated at work, by our family, or even by strangers. Sadly, this can also happen in the Church. This happens when a gift or an overture turns into an ultimatum or a demand. Sometimes this can happen when someone asks for assistance from one of us here, and we find out later that this same person asked another one of us just a week or two prior. When the situation gets this far we realize we're in a tight spot, and we have trouble getting out. We want to be helpful, but we also don't want to be manipulated or enabling.
In this morning's Gospel Jesus tells the story of a vineyard tended by "wicked tenants." These tenants use the landlord, taking advantage of the landlord's absence and killing the landlord's servants when they come to collect the fruit for harvest. The tenants are so abusive that they end up killing the son of the landlord, the heir to the fortunes of the landlord. Jesus says, "The Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom."
Jesus tells this story to show that God does not punish all of humanity because of the actions of a few. If we are to be "perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect", we, too, are called to not punish those around us for the actions of a few. This is a call to be trusting of others and trying not to be cynical about the needs and actions of people just because we've been tricked before. This is about not falling out of relationship with the world around us because of the actions of a few. Hopefully this can also help us to be aware of the way we are with the world around us and be aware of those times when our actions and overtures are not completely pure.
1 comment:
It is difficult to know when to help. You see people on the side of the road and you wonder do they really need help or is this their gimmick. A person may approach you on the street asking for some change and you might wonder if he wants it for food, his family or to buy a drink; are we to condition our giving on what we think will be the use? I know the Bible says to give alms freely, however, there just seems to be so many needy people. How to know or decide which ones to help and which ones to pass on the other side?
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