Announcing:
Saint Mary's Press winner for the week of September 12, 2011!

Congratulations to Joan Sundstrom!

Joan will receive a copy of Great People of the Bible Student Book and Catechist Guide, a $28.90 value.

Bring Salvation History to Life! Parish leaders have been requesting a Catholic Bible study curriculum for middle school students, created specifically to fit their parish schedules.  Saint Mary’s Press is pleased to respond to this need with the Great People of the Bible parish curriculum.

The Great People of the Bible curriculum offers:

- A student book that is found in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a supplemental curriculum resource, and the only Bible curriculum for middle school students with this approval

- Twenty-five, one hour sessions designed to fit a typical parish calendar

- A catechist guide that offers easy-to-follow session outlines for the volunteer catechist

- Flexible options for the Catechist to complete student activities in class or use as family learning assignments in the home

- One student book that covers both the Old and New Testament and that supports the ABC’s of biblical literacy

- Engaging student activities, now with expanded background content, based on the ever popular Student Activity Workbooks for Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics

Great People of the Bible
ISBN: 978-0-88489-690-6, paper, 56 pages

World Youth Day

Last month young people from around the world gathered in Madrid, Spain, for World Youth Day. I have asked Robert Feduccia, who attended World Youth Day, to write a brief reflection on his experience. Robert is a former editor for Saint Mary’s Press who now works for Oregon Catholic Press overseeing their Spirit and Song division. In addition to this reflection, you can go to the Spirit and Song Web site to view four video reflections filmed by Robert in Madrid during World Youth Day. I pray you find this reflection enlightening and thoughtful, and as always, I pray that God will continue to bless you and your ministry.

Peace,
Steven McGlaun

World Youth Day Reflection
by Robert Feduccia

In 2008 I was at a meeting with youth ministry leaders from the United States, Canada, and Ireland. Just a few months prior to this gathering, the bishops of Ireland had promulgated their national document on youth ministry. This was a landmark event for the Church in Ireland because it represented a coming of age for youth ministry efforts on the Emerald Isle. Because such attention to youth ministry was new for them, the writers of the document looked to us in North America for guideposts. They found a guidepost in the 1997 document on youth ministry from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Renewing the Vision: A Framework for Catholic Youth Ministry.

This document contains eight components for effective youth ministry. Evangelization, catechesis, community building, pastoral care, prayer and worship, justice and service, advocacy, and leadership development have been deemed the essentials for doing ministry for, with, to, and by young people in the United States. The Irish maintained all eight of these in their version of the document; however, they did not simply recycle the U.S. version. They made it their own by adding a ninth component: pilgrimage.

When I heard about that, I knew that I was missing something. I was looking ahead to World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, and I knew that it was supposed to be a pilgrimage, but I knew that the full impact of pilgrimage was beyond my experience.

I have just returned from Madrid, Spain—my second World Youth Day. This was my second pilgrimage, and through this experience I have come to recognize why the Church in Ireland included this as their ninth component. Pilgrimage is a microcosm of the Christian life.

We can begin by looking at the challenges of the experience. World Youth Day is hard. Let no one be fooled. If one goes to World Youth Day thinking that they go as a tourist, one will be quickly corrected. It is not comfortable. It is crowded. Your desire to go and eat on your own, see sights on your own, set a schedule that pleases you, and move about as you please will hit the reality that you are part of a group, a body, and you must move in harmony with them to make any progress at all. Just as the Christian life can be hard, it is made easier by recognizing that we move through it together as the Body of Christ.

The lack of comfort can press upon the pilgrims and become the focus of the event. It can eclipse the encounters with grace. Prayer is constant. Morning prayer, evening prayer, and adoration fill the days. The Sacraments are close. There is daily Eucharist, and priests willing to offer forgiveness through the ministry of the Church’s Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation are readily available at every gathering. The Church is there. Believers in the Risen Lord Jesus from Bulgaria, the Canary Islands, the Grenadines, Italy, Peru, Japan, Brazil, Taiwan, Canada, Angola, Iraq, Kenya, South Africa, New Zealand, India, and Sweden are gathered. Flags wave from nations pole to pole as if to say, “This is my home and I believe in the faith that has come to us through the Apostles.” Just as prayer and the Sacraments nourish those on the pilgrimage of World Youth Day, prayer and the Sacraments are there to nourish and support us as we strive to live a Christian life.

It is important to note that the Holy Father attends World Youth Day. I have become aware of a shift, however, in what I see as the connection between the Holy Father and World Youth Day. During Blessed John Paul II’s papacy, it seemed as though he said, “I am going to a city and I invite the youth of the world to come with me.” Now it seems that the Catholic youth of the world have gathered and Pope Benedict XVI says, “I must join those who have gathered in the name of Jesus.”

World Youth Day is a microcosm of the Church and it is a microcosm of life. The experience is super-charged with the presence of God. The grace of this event, an event that might well be the most important in the Church today, could easily be missed if one focuses on the hardship or unmet expectations. But a real encounter with the living God awaits those who give themselves to the experience of pilgrimage.

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Being Church and Prayer Service
From Understanding Catholic Christianity Teaching Manual

Being Church
This activity is intended to give the students a sense that the church is people caring for one another and does not consist primarily of buildings or tasks.

1. Divide the class into small groups of six to eight people. Give each small group a 1-pound box of spaghetti, a bag of marshmallows, and some old newspaper to work on. Explain that the task is for each group to create the highest, strongest, most beautiful structure that it can, using only spaghetti and marshmallows. Emphasize that the structure must be freestanding. Give them no other instructions, but note that they have 10 minutes to complete their task.

2. Be firm with the time limit, pressing the groups to work quickly. Occasionally mention how much time remains. While the students are working, watch each group carefully, observing how they build rather than what they build. Note the level of cooperation exhibited by each group. Observe how well the students listen to and encourage one another. Note leaders who stand out in each group. Make note of, but do not comment on, those students who sit back and do nothing.

3. When time is up, ask the groups to move away from their creations. Judge the structures and decide which one you think best fits the criteria. Proclaim the small group that created the best structure the winner.

4. Let the structures remain standing while you ask the following questions and any others you can think of that are appropriate:
- How did the group get started? Who or what got the group going?
- Was only one structure in process at all times, or did different people start structures on their own?
- Did everyone in the group participate? If not, what did the nonparticipants do?
- What roles did individuals play in the group? Who was the leader? the idea person? the workers? the timekeeper? the spy? the communicator?
[Add whatever roles you think are pertinent.]
- What was the most important element in getting the task done? What elements held your group back?
- What does this exercise have to do with being church?

5. Give each group at least three strips of blank paper and some markers.
Tell the students to think of characteristics evident in a faithful community of people who are followers of Jesus Christ. They are to complete the sentence
“Being church means . . .” Encourage them to think about the group discussion that they just had and, in particular, their answer to your last question.
Instruct them to write each characteristic on a separate strip of paper. These strips will be used in the following prayer service. If you choose not to do the prayer service, you might lead a discussion on what the students have written on their strips of paper.

6. Call for one volunteer from each group to help you set up for the prayer service while the others are working.

Prayer Service: Being Church
This prayer service should proceed directly from the previous activity.

1. Ask the student volunteers to bring all the spaghetti and marshmallow creations close together in a central prayer space. This might best be accomplished by gently pulling the structures on the newspapers so as not to collapse the creations. Direct the students to use the extra spaghetti and marshmallows to join the structures together in some way. If you wish, add to the space some of the symbols that are familiar in Catholic prayer and worship: a lighted candle, bread and a cup of wine (or grape juice), a Bible, a large bowl of water, oil, and so on. You may want to include some of the symbols used in prayer services from earlier chapters, such as the large rock (chapter 1). Also include a basket large enough to hold the strips of paper the students have written on.

2. Gather the students around the prayer space. Ask them to bring the strips of paper with their characteristics of a faithful Christian community.

3. The class has likely been very active up to this point and may carry that enthusiasm into the prayer time. Take note of that mood, and comment that being church does not only mean taking time to pray and reflect as individuals and as a group. It also means being active, having fun, working, and solving problems together, just as they have been doing.

Call their attention to the unified structure; some may have noticed that it is joined together. Ask if anyone knows what the larger structure has to do with being church. If needed, offer these thoughts:
- The unified structure is a symbol of the universal Catholic church, which consists of many smaller units such as dioceses, parishes, and even small groups like this class. But we are united with all other Catholics in two ways.
- First of all, we all look to Rome, and in particular to the pope, for leadership and guidance. Second, we are united with other Catholics and with all other Christians in our commitment to Jesus Christ and to making his vision of the Reign of God a reality in our world. That vision is what being faithful followers of Jesus Christ—or being church— is all about.

4. Play some reflective music to promote a calm mood, light the candle, and begin the prayer with the sign of the cross. Call the students’ attention to the variety of symbols collected in the prayer space. Remind them of the meaning behind some of the symbols, particularly those used in earlier services. Tell them that they, the students, are the most important symbol in this prayer. They symbolize the future, and they hold within themselves a vision of what this world and what this church can be.

Ask the students to prepare to share with the rest of the class what is written on their strips of paper. Tell them to repeat the sentence starter “Being church means . . .” each time and then read what is on their strip of paper.
After each person finishes, he or she should put the paper in the basket in the prayer space. Continue until every statement has been read. Some characteristics may be repeated. That only emphasizes the importance of that particular quality of being church.

5. Pick up the Bible from the prayer space. Tell the group that in Paul’s
Letter to the Romans, he did exactly as they have done. He wrote down his thoughts on what being church means. Then read aloud Rom. 12:9–21.

6. Close by reciting the Lord’s Prayer as a class. Ask the students to pay special attention to the part that prays especially for the establishment of God’s Reign: “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” If you think the students will be open to it, suggest that they join hands while praying.

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 18, 2011
Matthew 20:1-16a

Opening Prayer
Jesus, we pray with a grateful heart for the outpouring of God's love and mercy in our lives. May we embrace this generous gift and show the same love and mercy toward all the people we meet. Amen.

Context Connection
The parable of the landowner, in this Sunday's Gospel, begins immediately after verse 19:30, "But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first." The essence of this verse is restated at the end of the parable, verse 20:16, "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." As we read the parable, Matthew wants us to remember that God's justice is gracious and full of mercy. As Christians we are called to live out this justice in our daily lives.

The parable compares the Kingdom of heaven to the landowner who hires laborers for the vineyard. The landowner agrees to pay the first group hired the "usual daily wage" (20:2), which was one denarius. A few hours later, at nine o'clock, the landowner hires more laborers, telling them that he will pay them "whatever is right" (20:4). The landowner does the very same thing each time he hires more laborers, which he does at noon, at three o'clock, and at five o'clock. "When evening came" (20:8), which would have been about six o'clock, the landowner began to pay everyone who had worked for him that day. At this time and place it was customary to pay workers daily, not weekly. He began with the laborers that he hired last and ended with the ones he had hired first. Everyone received the same amount, which was the usual wage for a day's worth of work. When it came to the group that was hired in the early morning, they gave the landowner an earful, "they grumbled against the landowner, saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat" (20:11-12). The landowner replied by addressing one of them, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?" (20:13). The laborers could not argue with him; they were paid what he had promised. The landlord had been just, and he goes on to ask, "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?" (20:15).

The parable reveals something of the last judgment. God's justice will be fair and generous, and those who loved and served their neighbors as themselves will benefit. Whether a person lived an unselfish life matters; what doesn't matter is when he or she began to live such a life. It is not our place to make comparisons, to try to determine who deserves what. We must always trust in the generous mercy of God. In short, the laborers in the parable said yes and went to work. How long they spent on the job wasn't important.

Tradition Connection
Jesus's main message is that everyone is called to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Everyone! Through Baptism we are committed to Christ. With the gift of his grace, we labor together with our fellow Christians to strengthen and build up the Kingdom of heaven. That Kingdom is open to all peoples. God invites everyone to come inside.

Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations.1 To enter it, one must first accept Jesus' word:
The word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field; those who hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its own power, the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest.2 (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 543)
Jesus often spoke about the Kingdom of heaven belonging to the poor and lowly, those who are meek of heart and righteous before God.

The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to "preach good news to the poor";3 he declares them blessed, for "theirs is the kingdom of heaven."4 To them--the "little ones"--the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the learned.5 Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst, and privation.6 Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering his kingdom.7 (Catechism, paragraph 544)
In his ministry on earth, Jesus showed to his followers the boundless mercy of God and the desire of God that all people be saved. The challenge to the Christian community is not to judge others but rather to be about building the Kingdom of heaven here and now.

Wisdom Connection
Matthew points out that the landowner and the laborers hired early on understand justice quite differently. God's justice is based on the relationship between God and human beings. It is based on their response to God's continuous call and invitation. It is a justice that has its foundation in compassion and love, which makes it different from human justice. How often do we as Americans, indeed how often do members of any society, associate justice with compassion and love? Because the parable reveals something of the final judgment, it reveals something of salvation: all who labor in the vineyard of God's Kingdom will receive "the usual daily wage," which is eternal life, salvation. The Kingdom of heaven has room for more and more workers. God's invitation is constant and the reward consistent. Everyone is invited and everyone is paid in full. There is no such thing as half-salvation. The parable also reminds us that God's love for us doesn't depend on anything we have done, but on our value as children of God. We have infinite value because we were created by God. This parable powerfully expresses the equality of all human beings before God. Our God is never constrained by human logic or justice, for God is generous and forgiving.

Acknowledgments
The scriptural quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition. Copyright © 1993 and 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

The quotations labeled Catechism are from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America. Copyright © 1994 by the United States Catholic Conference, Inc.--Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.

The Lord's Prayer is taken from Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers. Copyright © 1988 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Inc., Washington, DC. All rights reserved.

Endnotes Cited in Quotations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
1. Cf. Matthew 8:11; 10:5-7; 28:19.
2. Lumen gentium 5; cf. Mark 4:14,26-29; Luke 12:32.
3. Luke 4:18; cf. 7:22.
4. Matthew 5:3.
5. Cf. Matthew 11:25.
6. Cf. Matthew 21:18; Mark 2:23-26; John 4:6-7; 19:28; Luke 9:58.
7. Cf. Matthew 25:31-46.

Saint John Chrysostom

September 13 is the memorial for Saint John Chrysostom.

Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 451, Saint John Chrysostom was renowned as an orator and preacher. He was twice exiled from the diocese for which he was the archbishop because he called for change in the practices of the nobles and fellow bishops. In his preaching he advocated for, among other things, the sharing of wealth with the poor and the reform of the clergy. He is recognized as the patron saint for preachers, lecturers, and orators.

For more information on Saint John Chrysostom, go to http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-john-chrysostom/.