This Sunday’s Gospel invites us to ask ourselves some hard questions about how effectively we are applying the values of our faith tradition to our social obligations, especially in promoting peace and justice for all people.

This Sunday’s liturgy reminds us that we are being asked to do more than just “show up” at the banquet to which we have been invited.

The call to ministry is nothing more than to serve and to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of those entrusted to our care.

May we have the grace to open our minds and hearts, so that we can freely respond to what is being asked of us as we continue to live out our call to discipleship.

The landowner’s search for more and more laborers, regardless of the late hour, speaks to us of the way God continues to seek out and invite more and more “laborers” for his vineyard.

If God has been so generous in calling us—and forgiving us—despite our unworthiness, surely, we can also be generous in forgiving others.

It isn’t enough to simply talk about reconciliation and healing, we must do the hard work of forgiving, which, for disciples of Jesus, is just one aspect of taking up one’s cross and imitating Jesus himself.

Peter’s faith is more than intellectual knowledge; it is his relationship with Jesus. When he confesses that Jesus is the Christ, Peter is speaking out of his own deep, loving, and personal knowledge of who Jesus is.

The encounter with Jesus and the Canaanite woman marks pivotal moment in the story of our salvation, in large part because it opened up a space for us within the community of believers. 

For each of us, regardless of our unique vocation, to invitation to “Come”—to leave the safety of the boat—is there. But with that invitation is the promise that God will not allow the storms to overwhelm us.

The Kingdom is a reality—a gift—that is revealed to those who are attentive and searching.

This Memorial is an opportunity for us to reflect on our own place within the unfolding story of salvation and to become more mindful on the impact of our decisions, our failings, and our faith for those who will come after us.

God’s mercy provides each of us with that time and space which allows for conversion and renewal, so that we can truly come to that abundance of life promised to each of us.

Saint Camillus offers a prophetic witness to the Church today, challenging each of us to also take a long, honest look at the world around us and to respond to what we see with a spirit of solidarity and sacrifice.

God scatters the seed whether we’re ready, paying attention, or willing to receive the seed at all. This is part of God’s gracious self-giving. God is always speaking to us and the seed is always being sown. 

Jesus opens his heart to embrace the heaviness that we carry in ours; he doesn’t take away our cross, but he labors with us. And this is how burdens become light: because he carries them with us.

We can never stop listening or learning. And so, in a sense, in this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is asking us, “How well are you listening?” and “Who are you listening to?”

If God cares so much for tiny bird, how much more is God concerned for the disciples? How much more is God, who hears the cry of the poor, concerned for us?

Our task is simple: to share good news—to proclaim Christ—by sharing with the world what we ourselves have seen and come to believe.

The Eucharist is an act of communion and we are brought into the life of Christ and the Church, as we are brought out of ourselves.