Weekend Reflections for 9/18/20

You and I are called to be "conduits of grace" for our families.  Therefore, one of the greatest gifts we can give our family is to go on retreat ourselves.  This is not because we are giving them a break from our presence, but because we are allowing ourselves to be cleansed and strengthened in grace, so as to be more effective conduits of grace for those we love.

     When Jesus looks on us, he sees our family too which surrounds us. In Sunday's Gospel, Jesus tells a marvelous parable about a generous landowner who gives a full daily wage to all workers, and the same amount to those family providers who are able to work only the last hour of the day.  The landowner, representing God the Father, sees not simply the individual worker and how much work has been accomplished by that one person, but the family behind the worker.  This is a truly Catholic vision.  And so the landowner in the parable generously accounts for family size and gives those workers also a full day's wage--for they've been seeking work vigorously the whole day and surely need it at home!

     There are still a few places around the world, including the Vatican, where one is paid according to family size also.  God measures out his grace to our families similarly.  The more you and I allow ourselves to be cleansed and strengthened in grace, regularly separating ourselves from daily tasks for a one-on-one with the Lord, the more our families benefit.  May we, for the sake of our families, be strengthened in our spiritual practices, that God may bless abundantly our loved ones through us.  Spirituality indeed has never been and never will be a one-on-one proposition.

-Fr. Anthony Wieck, SJ