Imagine receiving a wedding invitation, the couple having made elaborate preparations. Beautiful venue. Enough to eat and drink. Everything has been arranged for a memorable celebration. But something strange happens. Those invited begin to make excuses. Some are too busy with their business. Others simply do not care. What would you think of such guests? Perhaps we would describe them as ungrateful or disrespectful. The matter becomes even stranger. After several invited g

The haunting question in today's first reading asks: “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?” That question carries pain and disappointment. But even more deeply, there is love in that voice. The lover is grieving the lack of reciprocity. Perhaps you have experienced the pain of loving someone deeply: investing yourself in that person, sacrificing for them, praying for them, giving them your time and energy. And then wondering, “What else could I have

Both Philippians 2 and Matthew 21 reveal the distance between what appears on the outside and what is actually happening in the heart. The key may indeed be Paul's phrase in the second reading of this weekend: “Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus.” Hence, the readings contrast attitudes that point to the nature of the human heart. While the parable gives us two imperfect sons, Philippians gives us the true Son. The first son in the gospel says, “I will