Paulist Evangelization Ministries

10/02/2026

IT'S WAY MORE THAN A "RENT STRIKE" IN SUNDAY'S PARABLE. WHAT CAB WE LEARN FROM IT? A SHORT REFLECTION:

It’s hard to know who gets peeved more, owners or renters? Owners spend a lot of time trying to make sure their property is not being abused by renters. “They left the apartment a mess,” we often hear. At the same time, renters often have a hard time with owners because they call many times about a broken window but, after weeks, no one comes to fix it.

The situation Jesus gives us to think about this week mostly has the renters very upset. They are hired to run the vineyard. But, pretty soon, they don’t want to serve in the vineyard, they want to own it. They think they can accomplish this by killing the master and just taking over. No one renting an apartment in New York City has delusions like this!

But, like the other parables of Jesus, this one needs unpacking. Because it’s not about a vineyard but about the Kingdom of God. Those who want to take over the vineyard want to use their faith for their own purposes. Instead of their faith revealing the face of God, their faith becomes a way to actually distance themselves from God.

How does this happen, we ask? It’s not hard to see. When our faith turns into a way to become absorbed in ourselves, when we use our faith as a way of dealing with God instead of loving God, and when we see our faith mostly as rituals and external actions rather than expressions of a growing commitment to God, then God can become very far our hearts.

One way this might reveal itself is through politics. How often throughout history did emperors try to use religion to secure their power? How often, too, did religion try to use secular power to accomplish to secure its power? We have plenty of questions even in contemporary American life about how some politicians use faith, and how church leaders identify with politicians for a variety of purposes.

In the long run, this doesn’t work. The parable Jesus gives us shows that when people want the Kingdom for themselves, they end up losing everything. When people try to be God, they end up failing. When people think that God can be used for their own purposes, their sense of God and themselves soon vanishes.

God needs to be the center of our lives. Serving God needs to be seen as a privilege and not a burden. To work in the Garden is to build the Kingdom of God, to participate in God’s transformation of all things through his infinite love. Giving all we have to God has to make the most sense because when we do this, it’s because we have seen how God has been given to us in Christ.

Ultimately, it’s perfectly fine to be tenants in the Lord’s vineyard. That, after all, is how we find out what a perfect Master God is to us.

09/25/2026

JESUS' PARABLE THIS WEEK FORCES US TO LOOK AT THE EMPTINESS OF SOME OF OUR PIETY. A short reflection:

The world of religion has been buzzing lately. The biggest example of this was the grief of the French people when Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire, and their dedicating almost $2 billion to its restoration. Not only was the restoration glorious and widely celebrated; even more there were reports of many young people in France returning to the practice of their faith or joining the Church. We have seen something analogous here in the United States: many more people interested in joining the Church and our campus ministries flooded with young people.

Of course we need to salute all of this. For many years sociologists have talked about the end of religion as the world would grow gradually more secular. But that’s clearly not the way it’s working. The desire to know God and relate to God seem quite strong.

I ask myself: what would Jesus think of all of this? One part of him would rejoice, of course, because nothing showed the fruit of his mission than people coming to relate to his Father. But another part of him would say “Ahem.” Because there was a strong part of Jesus’ teaching that involved skepticism about religious practice.

We have seen it in the various parables we’ve reflected on over the past few Sundays, from servants who would not forgive to workers who thought they deserved more. Today Jesus puts it bluntly before us: we have one son who says “yes” but does not do the Father’s will; we have another son who says “no” but then does it.

What does the first son represent? Those who parade their religious credentials, carry their bibles, wear their medals, but show now signs of true discipleship in their lives. Religion is an exterior identity; they make sure religion asks little of them. If we think religion is all about being pious, Jesus is saying to us: “Think again.”

On the other hand. we have the son who seems to show little reverence but, in the end, does what his Father wants. This son is teaching us a hard lesson: faith is not about the pieties of our culture. Faith is about showing God’s love in a world that does not know that love.

What do we think God’s will is? In the Gospel of Matthew, it is clear: near the beginning, we have the Beatitudes urging us to justice, peace, and reconciliation. Near the end, we have the parable about the sheep who enter heaven because they fed the poor, clothed the naked, and visited the sick and imprisoned. Jesus is skeptical about piety which does not result in a transformation of the way we treat others.

The problem is not religion itself, of course. No, the real problem is not understanding what our very religion is saying to us and calling us to be. Jesus is saying to us: it is one thing to be pious, but it is something much more authentic to live the generous love that he showed us.

09/18/2026

This week's newsletter from the Paulist Fathers:

Online Sessions Next Week for Diocesan Staff, Parish Leaders, and Priests + Hear "The New Colossus" on Liberty Island + Paulists on the Scriptures + More!

09/18/2026

JESUS' PARABLE THIS WEEK DRIVES MODEREN PEOPLE CRAZY. WHAT DO WE MAKE OF IT? A short reflection:

For all the talk we hear today, would we really like equality? Just imagine if we all looked the same, wore the same dress or suit, lived in public housing, and made the same amount of money. No, we say: we want to be different from others. We are happy when our cars are a little bigger, when we can show off our dimples or blue eyes, when we can stand out by the way we dress, and when we can show off how much money we have, if we have it.

Maybe this is why the parable Jesus tells his disciples irritates us so much. Our idea of justice is this: if someone works harder, they deserve a little more. Isn’t this the great American dream. Come to the US, start at the bottom, work your way up, and let everyone know how much we have achieved. So, when Jesus gives the same wage to people who worked all day and those who only worked an hour, it just doesn’t seem fair.

Buy there are two points which are essential to today’s parable: one is a warning for us not to be smug; the other is a demonstration of the abundant generosity of God.

Smug . . . it’s a disease any of us could have. It falsely tells us that we worked for everything we have, that we are competent or expert, and therefore we should get more applause. Jesus often accused religious leaders of smugness; today he’s warning his own disciples. As St. Paul saw so clearly, everything we have and everything we have achieved has come to us as a gift from God. Who are we to think that we do not need God’s grace?

And generosity . . . some of the workers are enraged that other workers, who labored only an hour, are getting the same as they are. They resent God’s goodness to people they consider inferior or less deserving. “Are you resentful because I am generous?” the owner asks the workers. And the answer is “yes.” We are fine when God is generous to us, but we do not want the same for someone else. What does that say about us?

Jesus is giving his disciples an insight into the way God’s love works. After all, there is only one reward that any of us really want—a share in the joyful love of God. God love doesn’t work so that he can give half his love to some, and a third of his love to others. God’s love comes as an astonishing gift to anyone who has it. What is the sign we have God’s love? Our desire that others experience that love as well.

The story is not that God’s love is limited and it has to be conserved. No, the story is that God’s love is not limited and our experience of that love grows as more people realize that they are offered that love as well.

It’s certainly true that some people experience the joy of faith more than others. The ones who experience the joy of faith most of all realize that the more people can accept that love, the more all of us can share in its abundance.

09/14/2026

Touching Base aims to give a space to Catholics who are looking for an opportunity to reconnect with their faith after some time away from the church. Led by Fr. Frank DeSiano, we'll explore how Catholicism can enrich our lives through discussion, sharing, and inquiring.

We'll meet weekly in the Parish Center starting on Thursday, September 24th at 7:30 PM. Want to join us? Reach out to [email protected].

09/11/2026

RECONCILIATON AND JUDGMENT. KEY THEMES FOR SUNDAY'S GOSPEL. CAN DOLLY PARTON HELP? a short reflection:

Is Dolly Parton a saint? Although it may sound strange when put that way, the weeks of adulation given her after her death make the question quite viable. What was there about her than made her so admired? Many of the comments come down to this crucial point: she did not foster or further divisions. She respected everyone. She gave us a picture of ourselves as Americans without the divisions and conflicts that we use to define each other.

Rare, indeed, are the images of peace and unity today. We always want to know “what side” someone is on. Can we have a world where everyone is on the same side? Can we have a world with our grudges put aside?

This is the image that Jesus unfolds for his disciples in our Gospel today. He uses the powerful parable about the man, once forgiven, who then refuses to forgive his neighbor. In effect, Jesus tells his disciples that if they knew the vastness of God’s mercy, they would extend that mercy to everyone. How blind can when we cannot see how much we have been forgiven?

Jesus pushes us to revise our ideas about justice. That word often seems to mean that we get even with someone else, that we take an eye for an eye, that we get to abuse people who have abused us. We Christians have often extended this idea into our pictures of eternal life and the final judgment: God is going to come and spread the punishment around. God is going to put all my enemies in hell!

But the Gospel today hints at another, very different image of the final judgment. When Jesus comes in judgment, revealing the fullness of God’s love and the joy of the Holy Spirit, will Jesus see himself in us? Will he see the ways we have incarnated his vision of compassion and mercy in our own lives? In this sense, God’s judgment is always happening: at every moment of our existence, we are invited to make the vision of Jesus our own. God does not have to condemn people because they will have already condemned themselves by their failure to forgive and to discover love.

Certain people in our culture reflect God’s nature more readily than others. I suspect that’s why Dolly Parton is getting all the accolades now. What about us? Are we ready to treat others with the magnitude of love God has already shown us? Are we ready to contribute to the vision of life that Jesus gave us?

09/10/2026

This week's newsletter from the Paulist Fathers:

Deacons Pod on Collective Grief + Fr. Chris on "The Freedom to Respond" + Fr. Mark-David on What We Owe + More!

09/04/2026

This week's newsletter from the Paulist Fathers:

This week's edition of our "Things To Know" newsletter:

https://mailchi.mp/paulist/ellis

08/30/2026

This week's newsletter from the Paulist Fathers:

Meet Paulist Novices Erick Tatro and Robert Howley + Remembering Dolly Parton + Kathryn Muensterman on Deacons Pod + More!