Lest Blood Be Shed

First Reading: Exodus 16:2-15
Psalm: Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45
Second Reading: Philippians 1:21-30
Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time 

Who are we? What is it that defines us a nation? What is it that defines us as a community? What is it that defines us as a church? What is it that defines us as families and friends?  We are told, especially here in this cosmopolitan city, that whom we are is defined by the things we have and the size of the audience we can attract.  We are taught to flit around like moths going from one glittery signpost to another finding the next best thing in our search of the brightest star in the sky.  We avoid misery and hardship as if they were blights on our character.  We live in a society of self-comfort.  Everywhere we turn we are offered any number of new gadgets to make our lives easier and more comfortable. When the speakers of our elaborate entertainment systems aren't filled with the entertainment of our generations, endless voices try and convince us of a "once in a life time sale," "a new and improved" this or that, "which we can't live without."  Walk down the bath aisle of any store and you will find row upon row of chemicals to increase our comfort as we soak in one of the tinier rooms of our living spaces.  Somewhere it has entered the American psyche that self-gratification is the highest goal to be obtained and it is honorable to obtain it at whatever cost.  Suffering is seen as a burden only carried by those that don't try hard enough or are lazy.  You see tons of new-age self-help books nowadays, and even sometimes preachers, preaching a gospel of prosperity saying,  "if you aren't prosperous, healthy and comfortable you are doing something wrong."

Fortunately for all of us life is a lot messier and complex than simplistic proclamations of American prosperity.  "Why God won't you rid me of this disease?" "Why God won't you produce food for my family to eat?" "Why God won't you cure me from this addiction?" "Why God did you let that woman beat me and break my back and put me in the hospital?"  These questions and many, many more much like them were asked of me every week while I was serving as chaplain at Bellevue Hospital in New York.   Things only got worse as I finished my chaplain's education.  The economy visibly tanked, millions have lost their jobs and livelihood, families are choosing between feeding themselves and healing themselves because they can't afford to do both. The list could go on and does as each one of us has our own personal storms that we are dealing with every day whether it is physical, mental or spiritual.  What defines us as a community?