Into My Vineyard

September 21, 2008

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Seek the LORD while he may be found, call him while he is near. Isaiah 55:6

Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear news of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind struggling together for the faith of the gospel, not intimidated in any way by your opponents. Philippians 1:27-28

Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? (Or) am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous? Matthew 20:14-15

Piety

The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love. The LORD is good to all, compassionate to every creature. Psalm 145:8-9

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/092108.shtml

Thy Kingdom Come. When we pray the way Jesus taught us, we ask for God’s kingdom to come. Until it does, it is our job to plant seeds like St. Paul through our “fruitful labor.” However, as we see today, fruitful labor for the Lord has a different set of rules than those advanced by our capitalistic system.

As Fr. Mike Hann reminded us in his homily for today, God’s ways are not ordinary. His ways are not our ways. Our ways are not (yet) His ways.

Our ways are to get paid by the hour. Those who work eight hours get paid more than those who work four hours. Some workers get paid a lot (read CEO here) and others get paid a little (read minimum wage here). Some have a golden parachute and others have a social safety net. But that is not the way in God’s kingdom.

Jesus does not mind when you come to the vineyard, he just wants you to come. Early morning, noon or at night, whenever you come there is plenty of work to do. The harvest is great but the laborers are few. One or more joining the workers at any time are most welcome. Their reward is the same.

God is not keeping score like some spiritual Santa Claus making a list and checking it twice to find out who is naughty and who is nice. He only cares about the end of the race. Until then, the invitation is always open…there is no deadline on the RSVP.

Action

Some people are being left out of the vineyard entirely. They need someone to speak up for them. A new organization has formed called VOICE to do just that. V.O.I.C.E. is Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement in Northern Virginia.

Through VOICE, Northern Virginia clergy and lay leaders have been working with the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) over the last three years to create a broad-based, non-partisan, multi-racial, multi-faith, citizens’ power organization, rooted in local congregations and other voluntary associations to make change on social justice issues (affordable housing, immigration, child care, etc.) affecting the lives of low- and middle income residents in 4 Northern Virginia jurisdictions: Prince William, Fairfax, Arlington, and Alexandria.

IAF has several organizations in the Washington/Baltimore Metro. Area: WIN (DC), AIM (MD) and BUILD (MD). These organizations advocated for and helped pass the first living wage law in the United States (Baltimore), won a $25 million dedicated annual fund for affordable housing in Montgomery County, MD, and secured $1 billion for neighborhood investment in Washington, DC. These organizations have also trained thousands of leaders for public action at the local, state, and national level. For more information on the IAF, visit www.industrialareasfoundation.org.

Now a similar effort is underway in Northern Virginia. VOICE leaders will present an action agenda on affordable housing/homelessness, immigration, and health care to NOVA’s political, corporate, civic, and religious leaders at the VOICE Founding Action on October 5, 2008. The meeting will take place at First Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 16622 Dumfries Road (Va. 234), Dumfries VA 22025-1920 (Phone 703-670-1084).

Now is a good time to study these kinds of issues and prayerfully considering supporting VOICE. For example, in Fairfax County, affordable housing and homelessness are key health and human welfare issues. The county government has extensive research on the extent of the problem. Thousands of people remain homeless in a county which is one of the richest in the nation. Yet the problem remains a hidden problem in Fairfax County. Ending homelessness is the right thing to do in one of the wealthiest areas of the United States. And it will cost us less as a taxpayer to permanently house the homeless instead of providing temporary assistance.

A total of 1,813 persons were identified as being homeless on January 25, 2007 according to the 2007 Point in Time Survey done by Fairfax County. Of that total, 730 were single individuals with no children living with them and 1,083 were persons in families. Many homeless adults are employed, but the majority of the people who are homeless have very low annual income. This severely restricts their ability to move out of homelessness and into affordable housing.

(In addition to the individual stories, there is extensive needs assessment data from various government sources on the issues upon which VOICE will speak out. In coming action reflections, I will share some other needs assessment data how the issues which VOICE has adopted for advocacy impact Fairfax County and other areas of the Arlington Diocese.)