Reflections of Caritas

Whenever we share a meal with those we love, there is a sense of joy, community and belonging which is experienced by those around the table. Stories are told and new memories are created. We all love to share a good meal in the company of our friends and family.

The same was true at the time of Jesus. We know from the gospels, that Jesus sat and ate with many people. He often ate with those who were ignored, hated and dismissed. Nobody was excluded or dismissed by Jesus; all were invited, welcomed, and included.

In the gospel this Sunday the image and symbol of the meal and banquet are used to let us know how generous God is. The table is set and the food is ready. However, those invited gave various excuses why they could not go to the feast. In response, the king invited and welcomed strangers, good and bad alike. They were the ones who enjoyed the food and wine.

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Dear friends,

The gospel this Sunday uses the image of the vineyard to speak to us about the patience and generosity of God.

Jesus tells chief priest and the elders a parable. The owner of the vineyard sends workers into his vineyard to collect the harvest. However these poor servants do not receive a positive welcome. They are attacked and beaten. The owner then sends more workers into the vineyard. Sadly these workers are treated in much the same way. Lastly, the owner decides to send his son in the hope and belief that they will treat him with respect. Alas, his hope is ill placed; they kill his son. It comes as no surprise to us, that the owner of the vineyard represents God and his son is Jesus Christ. Also very clear in the parable, is that those who killed the servants and the owners son are Scribes, Pharisees and the elders. Imagine their shock and anger when they heard this!

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Dear friends,

We live in the world with moments of conflicts, injury and pain. In this context , Peter's question and Jesus' response speaks to us.

In this gospel text, Jesus takes the teaching of forgiveness to a practical level. Peter asked a theoretical question;  How many times must I forgive my brother?" Jesus answered him in the most practical way, " Seventy seven times". Christ' s response simply reminds us that forgiveness does not have limits. We must forgive all, always and forever. If we are still counting how many times we have forgiven someone, we are not really forgiving them at all, but simply postponing revenge.

So Jesus is telling Peter and us today that there is to be no end to forgiveness.

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Dear friends,

In this week’s Gospel Matthew offers a very contrary picture to the one we had last week. Last week Jesus gave Peter the “keys of the kingdom”. This week Jesus says to Peter “Get behind me Satan!” The same Peter, who recognized and confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, had a popular Jewish belief that the expected Messiah would bring instant glory to Israel in terms of military success, wealth and prosperity. Peter had not yet grasped God’s ways and Christ rebuked him for being an obstacle to his mission. This shows that even though Peter professed that Christ is the Messiah (as God revealed it to him) he had not fully understood the nature of Christ’s mission.

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