News - October 2023 RSS Feed

We are reminded in today’s Gospel what Jesus considered to be the greatest commandments: “Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Let us strive to live by these two commandments every day.

Today is WORLD MISSION SUNDAY, celebrated by Catholics throughout the world. We celebrate this day by remembering our baptismal call to bring the Gospel to all! The second collection today for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith supports the work and witness of the Mission Church, as it provides for priests, religious sisters and brothers, and lay leaders who offer the Lord’s mercy and concrete help to the most vulnerable communities in the Pope’s missions.

Today we hear Jesus tell the story of a king who invites everyone he can find to a feast for his son. Today and every Sunday everyone is invited here to a feast where we receive God’s Son. Many Sundays we take this invitation for granted or see it only as an obligation. Let this be an opportunity to be reminded that the Eucharist is a feast, that God’s son offers Himself for us each time, and that this is just a foretaste of the heavenly banquet to come.

Like the last few Sundays, the readings today speak of a vineyard. It is an excellent time of the year to contemplate a vineyard — vines heavy with grapes waiting to be harvested. However, when Jesus speaks in parables, each element stands for something else. The vineyard we are invited to contemplate today is not just a large field planted with vines, but our very home in the Lord. The fruit it produces is not just grapes or wine, but the kingdom of God made manifest in our world.