Ooopppsss…I didn’t mean it to be that scary. But, really, Judgment day is coming near for me. Four more days before start of board exams! It will take up 2 weekends. August 21 and 22 (A Sunday and a Monday) and then August 28 and 29. I think I’ve made use of my time properly and reviewed the right materials but, still, I’m quite nervous. Because everything boils down to this…it’s now or never.?
Earlier this evening, my parents and I attended a mass at the Shrine of the
It was my first time there, since the new church was built. I should have taken pictures so I could post it here. But I guess I was just in a solemn mood that I forgot documenting the time I stayed there. The presiding priest was young and his name I didn’t bother to know because I wasn’t interested at first. And so the mass started. I wasn’t really paying attention until the start of the homily, when the priest stepped out of the podium and walked into the center of the elevated platform. This I haven’t seen for a while. Most priests that I’ve seen say homily behind the podium. This seemed to me a sign of wanting to put a barrier between the people and his place. So this move of the young priest piqued me and I shifted in my seat a little to try to listen more to what he’s got to say about the gospel.
The gospel is a tale of a vineyard owner who went out to the center of his town to look for workers for his vineyard. First time that he went out, he recruited several bystanders to work in his vineyard for 1 dinar in a day. And the bystanders agreed to this arrangement and went to his vineyard. Again in the middle of the day and a couple more times in the afternoon, the owner went out to the center of the town to look for more workers. At the end of the day, he called them so that he could give them their wages, from the last recruited to the first. He gave the last recruits 1 dinar. Upon seeing this, the first recruits expected that they would receive a little more, since they worked the whole day. To their disappointment, they also received 1 dinar. And so they asked the owner why they were given the same wage as those who worked only for a few hours. The owner told them that they should just receive their wages and go, since it was what they have agreed upon. He also told them, as the owner of the vineyard, he has the right to do whatever he wish with his money and property.
And there the young priest stood, out in the open. He began his homily saying that the gospel, at first, would seem unfair to the first recruits. Same wage for those who worked for a day and for those who worked only for a few hours? The owner should have made some adjustments, the common person would say. That’s what I thought too, I said quietly. But here comes in the wisdom that I never expected. The priest said that to appreciate this gospel, we must see it in the context of the time it was written.
Now, that got me more interested. It’s rare nowadays (in my experience) for a priest to explain a gospel in this context. Most homilies I heard from priests were all about the morals taught by the reading, without explaining the other details in the story as well. And so, during those times, I’ve always been left pondering why would God teach it like that and that I heard those things already from my Christian Living classes from grade school to high school.
So, to bring a new light to this story, the priest talked to us about how these bystanders were actually “contract” workers during that time. In the center of the town, they would congregate there everyday, waiting for people to give them work for the day. And so, one could say that their work is not very stable. Everyday, such workers are not assured of a daily earning. One dinar, during that time, was the approximate amount of money that could buy all the necessities for the day. So, one dinar was the minimum wage at that time. So, it would be natural for the owner to give these workers 1 dinar for a day’s work. The priest explained that the owner went out several times during the day to look for more workers simply because he sees that there’s still much work to be done and with not enough workers. He saw these bystanders, not having been given work even if the day is almost about to end, would not have any money to bring home to their families. And, so, out of his good heart, he hired them and gave them wages enough to buy their simple needs. And so he told the first recruits not to envy his kindness.
It was the simplicity of his sermon that struck me. He talked of some more personal stories relating to his experiences as a child growing up in a farm. He spoke of an incident about self-righteousness involving regular female church-goers (the “manangs”). Most of the priests I’ve heard would always just rephrase the gospel (so, just actually repeating it and the homily would be over in about 5 minutes). Or some would just preach about other things, not quite related to the gospel. Perhaps it would be enough for those who go to church just to be able to say they’ve heard mass. But for someone like me, a college graduate, someone who had the chance to study bible exegesis as part of our curriculum, it was just not enough. I wanted more. And I honestly think that it would be fair to teach the gospel in its context because most people would take it in black and white.
After a few more minutes, the mass ended. Still I didn’t know his name. I should have asked for it. However, he changed my attitude toward hearing mass. I realized that there are still some good priests left and that they maybe able to help me seek enlightenment especially in these dark days. Moreover, he is a young priest. Perhaps with not much experience yet as a shepherd of the Christian community, it did not hinder him from giving a good sermon, even better than those given by “veteran” priests.
Maybe after my board exams I’d go back to this church and hear him say mass again. I’m already looking forward to it.
