Septuagesima

The time is now.

A simple statement, but loaded with meaning. If this is the eleventh hour, if the time is now, if Judgement is impending, which the Gospel tells us frequently it is, how do we live?

“And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?” (Matt: 20 : 5 KJV). I wish to focus on two aspects of this text today; the sallying forth at the eleventh hour, and the standing idle.

Did the calling of those who stood idle occur before they were standing idle? An interesting question. We here later in the chapter that many are called but few chosen (Matt 20: 16). There is no doubt that those who were labourers in the vineyard were “called” in Matt. 20: 1. Then  they went forth to work for the Gospel; that is the symbolism of the call here, that we who are called of Christ are called to labour in His vineyard. The symbolism of the vineyard is much like that of the harvest time; the poorer grapes are discarded at the judgement, and only the best make wine.

It is clear that the call of those standing idle occurs after they are found in the marketplace in Matt. 20: 5, because they say that no man has called them (hired them) (Matt. 20: 6). This is despite the call going abroad twice in this chapter already; therefore these idlers represent us, the Gentiles, who were last to hear the call of the Gospel.

But we are given a great comfort in this reading; that Christ does sally forth into the marketplace in the eleventh hour to call us to be labourers, the same as those who were earlier called. And we obtain the same reward, of eternal life, regardless of how late we come to labour for the Gospel (Matt. 20: 14).

What of the standing idle? That is a question for you. The sallying forth into the market by God, when He calls us is a comfort; the standing idle is a test. It is a test to see whether we are the earlier called, or those waiting for a call at the eleventh hour. Are we already labouring for the Gospel, that we may win souls to the harvest, or are we standing idle in the marketplace?

If we are awaiting a call, we have it. Christ comes forth, and calls us to the Holy Gospel. We cannot wait. It is the eleventh hour, and time is short for us to join and receive our reward. The call has gone out, have we heard it? For many are called, but few are chosen.

The time is now.

The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

“What manner of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey him!” (Matt. 8: 27 KJV).

What manner of MAN is this?

Jesus of course was truly a man. It says in St. John’s Gospel that Jesus, the word, became human flesh and dwelt among us (John 1: 14). He shared all of our experiences except sin, including our fear. So He knew what the disciples were feeling, when they called out in fear and when he told them to calm (Matt. 8: 26). It can become something that we do not think much about, this whole idea of Christ becoming man.

After a while as Christians, when we know the transcendent Jesus, Jesus as God, Jesus acting through the Holy Spirit we can forget that it was once th other way around. That the Holy Spirit acted through Jesus, who was merely (it seemed) a carpenter from Nazareth.

It is easy to lose track of the fact as we advance on the spiritual life that Jesus was truly a man, because we cannot see it, yet blessed are we if we cannot see Jesus’ incarnation in person, yet still believe it (John 20: 29). Our prayer life will be exceedingly blessed by a sincere awareness, in addition to a dogmatic belief or personal faith, in this reality.

When the disciples called out to Jesus in the storm in St. Matthew’s Gospel, they knew Jesus as a man. They did not know him yet as God, or Messiah. But there was a trust when they called on Jesus as man. Think when we are ill or afraid, of the comfort we derive from having other people, other MEN and women, around us. Yes, it is true that Christ appeared to the disciples in a way that showed he was more than a man, but there was something in the human way he manifested to them that was as comfort as is the appearance of a mother to a sick child.

If we can hold onto the idea of the incarnation, to personally know the reality of Jesus as man, to know his sharing of our experiences and our pains and fears, we will be able to call upon Him in our prayer life in a much deeper way, in the same way we would call on Him, like the disciples, if he were there in front of us as man. And of course we might recall Him as Man especially in the Eucharist. So let us, like the disciples, call not only on Jesus as Christ, but also on Jesus as Man, who knew our pain, that He might be our comfort in prayer in the hour of our need.