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Reflection on the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Times

By Greg Swiderski

The readings for this Sunday:

Isaiah 55:6-9

Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a

Matthew 20:1-16a

Has Christianity failed? More people living in poverty in this country and the radical cleavage between rich and poor seem indisputable evidence asserting "Yes" to this query. When gospel people say that "the poor you will always have with you" I want to gag. Why don't they quote I Timothy 6: "those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains." (NRSV) There is more, much more.

In our Catholic experience do we overwhelm people with guilt so that people who get divorced still believe that they cannot receive communion and find other communities for healing? The gospel says something about putting undo burdens on people.

Is there another even more disturbing example of our collective failure? Is the average gospel disciple petrified about death?

Paul writes from jail to the church of Philippi: "living is Christ and dying is gain." The Message by Eugene Peterson puts verse 21:"Alive I'm Christ's messenger; dead, I'm his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can't lose." We celebrate Easter as the defining event for the baptized.

How many faithful folk refuse to execute their own will as well as a living will with durable power of attorney? Why are so many believers unable to face even these subjects?

Perhaps we need to seriously examine how we face this seemingly final decision.

In John's gospel Jesus, betrayed, denied, abandoned, emasculated, nailed naked before the world, "bowing his head, he handed over his spirit." Was his own inner dignity still there so much so that he could give over the core of his being into the frightening abyss? How?

Several years ago I sat waiting for the light to turn at the 40th Street Bridge. Garrison Keillor spoke with the color and vibrance of the humane person he is. Could, he asked, we compare the moment of conception with the moment of death? Wow, I said to myself. That sounds really strange and yet, appealing.

Conception: sweaty, intimate, erotic, pulsating, vibrant, thrilling, playful: these do not seem like death at least the deaths which I have witnessed. Yet, it completes the circle. God is love. Is God a lover? In the flow of life giving love, is the divine and sacred born? When this journey is complete, do we the baptized in particular truly believe that we return to that holy source?

So, dear reader, what do think you? Is it possible to link the moment of conception (In Korea your age is calculated by the date of conception.) to the moment of handing over? Is the mission of the baptized disciples to live with such astounding joy that we can resonate with another scripture: "O death where is they victory? O death where is thy sting?"

PS In Florida a friend gave his two adult children the bed in which each was conceived. Would you like to sleep and complete your journey in such a bed?