Rev. James A. Wallace, C.Ss.R.

Jan 16 2025

God’s Currency

In a country that has a strong commitment to separation of church and state, it is noteworthy that our money, both bills and coins, is inscribed with the words “In God We Trust.” The history of this motto and its relation to our currency goes back to the Civil War. Changing it has never gotten much support. It serves as a helpful reminder about where our true security lies.

In the Gospel, the Pharisees, along with some supporters of the Roman regime called Herodians, get into the act of trying to trap Jesus into taking a stand that would get him in trouble with either the Roman authorities or his own people. But Jesus, as much the fox as Herod was reputed to be, slips out of their net by noting that there can be different loyalties without a loss of priorities.

Jesus calls on them to produce the idolatrous coin that no devout Jew should carry, since it declared Caesar to be a god. Then he advises them to return to the emperor the coin that bears his image but to return to God what bears God’s image, that is, themselves, made in the image of God.

A new order is revealed when we give God’s image back to God by our words and deeds, showing God’s image to others. When this happens, the motto “In God We Trust” becomes not merely stamped on paper or branded on copper, but encountered in living flesh and blood.

Consider/Discuss

Do you ever reflect on the words stamped on the money in your pocket?
When have you experienced the tension between “repay[ing] to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”?

Responding to the Word

We pray to recognize what it means to be a good citizen, giving to our country what is needed for the support of the common good. And we pray to discern wisely when loyalty to Christ and the building up of the kingdom of God may call for a response that challenges what civil authorities propose.

Jan 16 2025

Come to the Table Worthily

A newspaper columnist expressed his chagrin at friends not responding to his “e-vites” (e-mail invitations), even after repeated requests. He speculated that some might have held off responding in case “something better” came along.

Jesus tells a tale of invited guests refusing to come to a wedding feast for a king’s son. This parable is aimed once again at the religious leaders, confronting them with their refusal to accept him as one sent by God. Matthew’s violent version of the parable differs from Luke’s peaceful one (14:16–24), since it reflects the destruction of Jerusalem that happened decades later. But it reminded both communities that the invitation to the kingdom of God could be refused.

Matthew also includes the expulsion of a man who comes in without a wedding garment. This seems seem a little strange since people had been called in off the streets. It serves as a reminder that showing up is not enough. The grace of being invited to the Lord’s table, then as now, does not excuse us from wearing the appropriate garment—that is, “putting on” Christ.

Every Eucharist tells us that we have a place at the table, and this table prepares us for another table at the end of time, when all peoples will gather and the Lord will move among us, wiping every tear away, and death shall be no more. We are a people of many tables—of the word, the Eucharist, the world, and the kingdom of God.

Consider/Discuss

Do you see yourself as one who has been invited to have a place at many tables?
What does “putting on Christ” mean to you?
How do you think about the end time when all will gather?

Responding to the Word

We pray to respond wholeheartedly to God’s invitation to that final gathering place where rich food and choice wines will be served and our shepherd God, who even now spreads a table before us, will move among us. We can ask the Spirit to help us wear Christ well.

Jan 15 2025

Bearing Fruit: Not Just for Vineyards

God’s relationship with people is at the heart of both the first reading and the Gospel, but there is a difference. In Isaiah, destruction comes to the vineyard; in the Gospel, it comes to those entrusted with the care of the vineyard.

Isaiah’s song highlights the people’s failure—the house of Israel and the people of Judah—to bear fruit, to provide the Lord who has lovingly tended this vineyard with anything more than wild grapes, that is, bloodshed and violence against each other. Because of this, the owner will turn his back on them, no longer giving care but letting it be trampled underfoot, no longer pruning or hoeing, but allowing thorns and briers to take over. This song is demanding conversion. In Jesus’ parable, the focus is on those entrusted with the care of the vineyard. Jesus addresses the chief priests and the elders in Jerusalem, not only criticizing their failure to care for the people adequately, but also their rejection of those God sent to call them to conversion. The parable calls all religious leaders to remember that authority is for service.

Bearing fruit in our lives, being true and honorable, just and pure, lovely and gracious is the fruit God desires from all, as Paul reminds the Philippians. God’s people, but especially their leaders, have a responsibility to bear fruit. No one is let off the hook. God expects a return for love so lavishly given.

Consider/Discuss

Have you ever tended a plant or grown a garden? What did this experience teach you?
What fruitfulness God is asking of you?
Is there anything that prevents you from making a return to God for all that has been given to you?

Responding to the Word

St. Paul calls us to set aside anxiety and to make known to God any requests we have for more fruitful lives. In prayer we will find that “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Jan 15 2025

Doing “Yes”

In The Secret Life of Bees, August, an older black woman, is talking about “the problem with people” to Lily, a younger white woman who has run away from an abusive father. Lily has said that people don’t really know what matters. But August says the deeper problem is that people do know what matters, but don’t choose it.

God tells Ezekiel that virtue’s proof is in choosing to do the right thing. What you choose to do matters. So be careful not to go off the right path at the end of your days. On the other hand, you might be off the right path for years, but end up hopping back on at the very end, and you will have life. It doesn’t sound very fair; nevertheless, it’s where you are when the end comes that counts. And you don’t know when the end will come.

Jesus confronts the religious leaders with a parable. A father asks his two sons to do some work in the vineyard. One talks a good game but never makes it into the field; the other refuses outright, but then goes and does what his father asked. In telling this parable, Jesus compares these leaders unfavorably to the tax collectors and prostitutes. The elders must have been shocked.

“Have in you that same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus,” writes Paul to his beloved Philippians. The attitude he urged on them was giving oneself for the sake of others—even unto death. In this way, we not only speak but also do “Yes.” Choose to live Christ.

Consider/Discuss

Can you think of a time when you said yes to someone’s request but did not carry it out?
Do you think of Jesus as one who emptied himself, even of life, trusting his Father to fill him?
How is God calling you to empty yourself at this time, doing “nothing out of selfishness, but regarding others as more important than yourselves”?

Responding to the Word

In the Our Father we pray that God will not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil. We pray that we will be obedient to the Father’s will to the point of death so that we will be raised into eternal life and join in the song of exaltation, confessing Jesus Christ as Lord.

Jan 15 2025

God as Giver: Generous or Unjust?

If you ever felt you have not gotten what you deserve for all that you have done, or that others have been given more than they deserve for the little that they have done, this Gospel is not going to please you. It is hard not to line up with the grumblers, complaining that those who worked all day should not be given the same as the eleventh-hour crowd. Where’s the justice in this?

Isaiah sets the stage for hearing the Gospel when he calls us to seek and call on God for what we need, especially mercy and forgiveness. But the prophet recognizes that God’s response to this request may baffle us, especially when such overabundant mercy is shown to others.

Jesus is not telling a tale about being fair, or offering a lesson on just wages. He is teaching that God’s rule is marked by generosity, especially to the last and least, the overlooked, the undervalued, the unwanted, those judged as not very capable. This master calls all to do what they can do. For some the work will last longer than for others. But all will be rewarded.

So, be generous as God is generous. We see an example of this in Paul’s willingness to stay working with the early communities. While the Philippians were easy to love, he also ministered to the cantankerous Corinthians and the “stupid” Galatians (Paul’s own words) who were turning away from the gospel he preached to them. Paul heard the call to act differently with these different groups of people.

Consider/Discuss

When are you being asked to be generous rather than “just”? • Is there another way of thinking about justice than how we usually think of it, that is, as getting what we deserve?
Have you known God’s splendid generosity, going beyond anything you have “deserved”?

Responding to the Word

We pray that we might be able to enter into God’s compassion toward those who come later and do less. We pray that we might be able to mirror the generosity of God during the coming week if an opportunity arises.