Sunday, September 21, 2014

Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 20:1-16
IT MAY NOT BE TRUE IN OTHER PROFESSIONS, BUT IN MY CAREER AS A DOCTOR INVOLVED IN TEACHING AND RESEARCH, IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT MOST OF US WERE ALWAYS COMPARING OURSELVES TO OTHERS. EVEN THOSE PHYSICIANS WHO WERE AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME – PROFESSORS IN IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS, DIRECTORS OF CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE, PEOPLE WHO RAN DEPARTMENTS – THEY ALSO WERE ALWAYS LOOKING OVER THEIR SHOULDERS, FEARING THAT SOMEONE YOUNGER OR SMARTER OR MORE ENERGETIC WOULD SOONER OR LATER PASS THEM UP. MANY SO CALLED ACADEMIC PHYSICIANS LEAVE TO GO INTO PRIVATE PRACTICE BECAUSE THIS RAT RACE EVENTUALLY BECOMES TIRESOME. I THINK A LOT OF PROFESSIONALS, LAWYERS, DOCTORS, ACCOUNTANTS, MILITARY OFFICERS, EVEN CLERGY – LIKE TO PRACTICE IN ISOLATION BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE TO COMPARE THEMSELVES TO ANYONE ELSE – ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS ATTRACT ENOUGH CLIENTS OR PATIENTS OR CONGREGANTS SO THAT THEY CAN CONTINUE PRACTICING THEIR PROFESSION.
WHY DO INTELLIGENT PEOPLE HAVE RAT RACES? IT HAS TO DO WITH HAPPINESS. THERE ARE FOUR LEVELS OF HAPPINESS. THE FIRST COMES WITH SIMPLE BODILY PLEASURE. HOWEVER, AS SOON AS THE EXPERIENCE IS OVER, THE HAPPINESS IS GONE. THE SECOND HAS TO DO WITH PSYCHIC GRATIFICATION. THAT'S WHAT THE RAT RACE IS ALL ABOUT. IF WE CAN SEE OURSELVES AS BETTER THAN OUR PEERS, THERE IS A SORT OF HAPPINESS, BUT IT IS DIMMED BY THE POSSIBILITY THAT THERE ARE THOSE WHO ARE BETTER THAN US AT OUR PROFESSION. WE KEEP TRYING TO IMPROVE AND RISE IN THE RANKS SO THAT WE WILL BE HAPPY – BUT PSYCHIC HAPPINESS ALWAYS ENDS SOONER OR LATER.
THE THIRD LEVEL OF HAPPINESS HAS TO DO WITH ALTRUISM. WE FIND SATISFACTION IN EASING THE SUFFERING OF OTHERS, OR MEETING THEIR NEEDS IN SOME WAY. THIS IS A MORE LASTING HAPPINESS, BUT PEOPLE WHO FIND HAPPINESS IN A LIFE OF ALTRUISM ARE IN DANGER OF BEING DISCOURAGED – TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO DON'T SAY THANK YOU, TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO SEEM NOT TO APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORTS; OR TOO MANY FAILURES ON YOUR PART – THE DEDICATED DOCTOR WHO HAS A RUN OF UNSUCCESSFUL OPERATIONS; THE ALTRUISTIC LAWYER WHO KEEPS LOSING CASES, THE CLERGYMAN WHO LABORS OVER HIS CONGREGATION AND AFTER YEARS SEES NO REAL CHANGE.
THE FOURTH LEVEL IS ALTRUISM, BUT NOT FOR THE SAKE OF THE PEOPLE BEING SERVED, BUT BECAUSE OF A CONNECTION WITH THE GENEROSITY OF GOD HIMSELF. THIS HAPPINESS IS LASTING, AND THE PERSON WHO SEEKS HIS HAPPINESS IN THIS AREA KNOWS THAT WHETHER HE IS SUCCESSFUL OR NOT, WHAT IS BEING DONE FOR GOD IS NEVER LOST.
THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO INTERPRET THIS PARABLE, AS IS TRUE FOR SO MANY OF THE PARABLES OF JESUS. I CAN'T HELP BUT FEEL SOME SYMPATHY FOR THE PEOPLE WHO BORE THE DAY'S BURDEN AND THE HEAT. THEY MUST HAVE FELT DEVALUED, DISRESPECTED. THERE WERE TWO WAYS TO MAKE THEM FEEL BETTER; EITHER GIVE THEM LOTS MORE MONEY THAN A DAY'S WAGE, OR GIVE THOSE WHO STARTED WORKING LATE IN THE DAY A LOT LESS MONEY. EITHER WAY WOULD HAVE MADE THOSE WHO BORE THE BRUNT OF THE DAY FEEL BETTER. AND WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO BEGAN WORK LATE IN THE DAY – DID THEY FEEL A LITTLE SHAME? I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE. I WOULD HAVE KEPT THE MONEY BUT MY SENSE OF FAIRNESS WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOCKED. AND MAYBE THAT'S WHAT JESUS IS AFTER; HE WANTS EVERYONE TO PUT HIMSELF OR HERSELF IN THIS PARABLE – HOW DO YOU REACT TO THE GENEROSITY OF THE OWNER OF THE VINEYARD?
IN THE MOVIE “PHILOMENA”, A WOMAN OF THAT NAME GIVES BIRTH TO A CHILD CONCEIVED OUT OF WEDLOCK. THIS TAKES PLACE IN A CONVENT WHERE THE NUNS ARRANGE FOR THESE CHILDREN TO BE ADOPTED. THE MOVIE IS ABOUT THE WOMAN'S SEARCH FOR HER CHILD MANY YEARS LATER, WITH THE HELP OF A REPORTER. BUT THERE IS ONE SCENE THAT STAYED WITH ME. WHEN THE WOMAN VISITS THE CONVENT SHE MEETS SISTER HILDEGARDE, AN ELDERLY NUN WHO HAD BEEN THERE WHEN THE BABY HAD BEEN TAKEN FROM HIS MOTHER AND GIVEN TO ADOPTED PARENTS. AT THE TIME OF THE FIRST VISIT, SISTER HIDEGARDE SAYS THAT ALL THE RECORDS OF THOSE ADOPTIONS HAVE BEEN LOST. LATER, PHILOMENA AND THE REPORTER DISCOVER THAT HER SON HAD RETURNED TO THE CONVENT SEVERAL MONTHS BEFORE, LOOKING FOR HIS MOTHER. WHEN THE REPORTER CONFRONTS SISTER HILDEGARDE AND ACCUSES HER OF COVERING UP, SHE REPLIES THAT PHILOMENA DOES NOT DESERVE TO KNOW HER SON BECAUSE SHE HAD GIVEN IN TO CARNAL DESIRES – WHEREAS SISTER HILDEGARDE HAD GIVEN UP EVERYTHING – A FAMILY, POSSESSIONS, EARTHLY PLEASURES, SO THAT SHE COULD GO TO HEAVEN. IN THE SCENE, THE SISTER COMES ACROSS AS A BITTER OLD WOMAN BEING EATEN UP BY ENVY. SHE COULD WELL HAVE SAID, “I HAVE BORN THE DAY'S BURDEN AND THE HEAT” AND HOW CAN YOU ALLOW THIS WOMAN WHO HAS GIVEN UP NOTHING, TO BE REWARDED? SISTER HILDEGARDE, DESPITE HER VOCATION AND HER LIFE OF WORKING WITH UNWED MOTHERS AND THEIR CHILDREN, IS STUCK IN THE SECOND LEVEL, AND HER HAPPINESS SUCH AS IT IS, IS RELATED TO HER LIFE OF SELF-DENIAL, NOT HER ALTRUISM.
THERE WAS ONCE A GOOD MAN WHO SPENT HIS WHOLE LIFE AND FORTUNE DOING GOOD. WHEN HE DIED, GOD SHOWED HIM A BEAUTIFUL MANSION IN HEAVEN – IT'S ALL YOURS, SAID GOD. AND ANYTHING YOU NEED TO MAKE YOU HAPPY, YOU'LL FIND IT IN THAT MANSION. THAT'S YOUR REWARD FOR ALL THE GOOD YOU DID ON EARTH. THE MAN WAS OVERJOYED. A FEW DAYS LATER HE SAW GOD SHOWING AN IDENTICAL MANSION TO ONE OF HIS NEIGHBORS, WHO WAS KNOWN TO DRINK TOO MUCH, WHO CHEATED IN HIS BUSINESS, WHOSE CHILDREN WOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH HIM BECAUSE HE'D BEEN SUCH A LOUSY FATHER. THE MAN ASKED GOD HOW COME THAT MAN WAS GETTING A MANSION THAT HAD EVERYTHING IN IT TO MAKE HIM HAPPY? GOD REPLIED, “WELL, ONCE HE DROPPED SOME CHANGE IN THE CUP OF A BLIND BEGGAR. AND THERE WAS A TIME WHEN HE GAVE SOME OLD CLOTHES TO THE SALVATION ARMY. AND THERE WERE A FEW OTHER THINGS, I THINK...” THE GOOD MAN SMILED AND SAID, “HOW WONDERFUL!”

IF YOU SYMPATHIZE WITH THE MEN WHO BORE THE DAY'S BURDEN AND THE HEAT, AS I DO, YOU AND I AND SISTER HILDEGARDE HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON. BUT IF YOU CAN SAY, AND I'M TRYING TO SAY, ABOUT THE MEN WHO ONLY WORKED AN HOUR, “HOW WONDERFUL THAT YOU ALSO RECEIVED A DAYS WAGE!” THEN YOU BEGIN TO KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.