The orations and scripture readings offer direction in our preparations. The Collect of today’s Mass gives us a very important first step: “Graciously hear, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the prayers of Thy people, that we, who are justly afflicted for our sins, may for the glory of Thy Name be mercifully delivered.”
The first step toward Lenten conversion, or any conversion for that matter, always consists in humbly recognizing that we are sinners in need conversion. The lukewarm must recognize the need to grow in fervor, the fervent must recognize the need to reach for perfection; the perfection must recognize the need to strive to attain heroic virtue.
In the Epistle, St. Paul, gives us another important principle. He urges us to seek conversion with the effort of the most disciplined athlete: “run as to win”. Whatever conversion we seek during this upcoming Lent, we are going to need discipline. It’s not going to be an easy Lent, for those seeking to get the most out of Lent, it never is. St. Paul had already heard news of some backsliders in Corinth, those who had reverted to the sins of their former way of life. And so Paul is urging those who remain to get ready for the long haul—the long race. To train and develop the virtues that will sustain them in the Christian life.
St. Paul was also encouraging the Corinthian Christian to aim for greatness. To borrow another sports analogy: to not be benchwarmers but Hall of Famers, not to settle for mediocrity, but to aim for real moral and spiritual greatness. So aim for spiritual greatness this Lent.
But then, In the Septuagesima Gospel, the Lord, seems to say the opposite of St. Paul. Rather than striving to be first, he says, “The last will be first, and the first will be last.” He seems to be suggesting that no matter how hard we work for his kingdom under the brutal sun in his vineyards, we’ll get no advantage at all over those who, like the Good Thief, steal the prize at the end.
But the Lord is not contradicting his apostle at all…or should we say, the Apostle is not contradicting His Lord. Rather, the Gospel IS a summons to strive with all of our might with the time that we’ve been given. Some are hired by the Lord to work in his vineyard in the morning of life; Catholics from infancy must run as to win. Some hear the Lord calling them in their 20s or 30s, and must also run as to win. Some hear the Lord calling them, as the sun of their earthly life is setting, and must run as to win.
Wherever we are in life, Septuagesima Sunday is a summons to prepare well for the upcoming Lenten season. Over the next 17 days, we do well to identify those parts of the vineyards of our lives were some wild vines have sprouted and need to be trimmed back. Now is the time to begin to come up with a Lenten program of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. What will my Lenten prayer consist of? What will is the Holy Spirit calling me to fast from? Where can I give of my time, talent, and treasure in efforts to alleviate the suffering of others? What are the virtues that need to be trained? And what will the regiment consist of? What do I need to be delivered of? For the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians.
Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing. No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert.
The continuation of the Gospel according to St. Matthew
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples this parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’ So they went off. [And] he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’ When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, “These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’ He said to one of them in reply, “My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? [Or] am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
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