Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 09-24-17, Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 09-24-17 | Revised New American Bible

[Salvation]

Last Hired, First in Line?

Pastor’s Column

25^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

September 24, 2017

“Thus the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

                                                                   Matthew 20:16      

 I was employed in the airline industry for over a decade before entering the seminary, and like many industries, job seniority--your hire date--is very important! After I had been interviewed and had taken a very difficult math exam, I waited anxiously to hear if the company would hire me. Later, they did call, and offered me one of three start dates that were spaced two weeks apart (we were sent in three groups to Dallas for six weeks of computer language training). I chose the second of the three start dates, not realizing that everyone in that first group got first choice in shift selections for the next ten years! Almost everything there was affected because I chose the later date.

When the Benedictine Monks at Mount Angel queue up for Mass, they do so according to what the Monks call “statio,” which is short for “station.” The day of your first vows after novitiate will determine your seniority, your place in line, sometimes at table and many other ramifications--until death! It doesn’t matter how old you are or how important you were at the time of vows--just the date you began your new life as a Monk.

Priests are often called to the bed of the dying, some of whom have been away from the sacraments all their lives, who make a good confession and immediately join the ranks of the saved (sometimes after living lives that were hardly edifying). I have done a number of deathbed baptisms, for example. Should we be jealous because these people are saved at the last minute, while others of us have been working in God’s vineyard all our lives?

Jesus makes it very clear that our ranking in heaven will be very different than it is here. At first glance, it seems the height of injustice for God to pay a man who sat at the canteen all day waiting to get hired, a man who worked only an hour, the same as one who slaved all day in 100 degree weather! But the point is simply this: none of us deserves eternal life; none of us can “earn” it. The “pay” we receive at the end of life is so out of proportion to anything we can ever do for God that it isn’t even worth comparing the two.

Fortunately for us, God calls us at every stage of life: childhood, young adulthood, the prime of life, our senior years, even on our deathbed. In fact, he calls us every day! God is so generous and loves us so much, he can’t wait to forgive us. What then is the reward for those who have worked for Christ all their lives? They will have more to share with him in heaven forever. Every moment is important for our eternity and our spiritual wealth in the next life. The “pay” for following Christ is eternal life, but our “rank” in heaven is determined by our relationship with him and others over the course of our lives.

                                                                        Father Gary

[Salvation]

Reflections from Scott Hahn

Readings
Isaiah 55:6-9
Psalm145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18
Philippians 1:20-24, 27
Matthew 20:1-16

The house of Israel is the vine of God – who planted and watered it, preparing the Israelites to bear fruits of righteousness (see Isaiah 5:7; 27:2-5). Israel failed to yield good fruits and the Lord allowed His vineyard, Israel’s kingdom, to be overrun by conquerors (see Psalm 80:9-20). But God promised that one day He would replant His vineyard and its shoots would blossom to the ends of the earth (see Amos 9:15; Hosea 14:5-10).

This is the biblical backdrop to Jesus’ parable of salvation history in today’s Gospel. The landowner is God. The vineyard is the kingdom. The workers hired at dawn are the Israelites, to whom He first offered His covenant. Those hired later in the day are the Gentiles, the non-Israelites, who, until the coming of Christ, were strangers to the covenants of promise (see Ephesians 2:11-13). In the Lord’s great generosity, the same wages, the same blessings promised to the first-called, the Israelites, will be paid to those called last, the rest of the nations.

This provokes grumbling in today’s parable. Doesn’t the complaint of those first laborers sound like that of the older brother in Jesus’ prodigal son parable (see Luke 15:29-30)? God’s ways, however, are far from our ways, as we hear in today’s First Reading. And today’s readings should caution us against the temptation to resent God’s lavish mercy.

Like the Gentiles, many will be allowed to enter the kingdom late – after having spent most of their days idling in sin.

But even these can call upon Him and find Him near, as we sing in today’s Pslam. We should rejoice that God has compassion on all whom He has created. This should console us, too, especially if we have loved ones who remain far from the vineyard.

Our task is to continue laboring in His vineyard. As Paul says in today’s Epistle, let us conduct ourselves worthily, struggling to bring all men and women to the praise of His name.

[Salvation]

25th Sunday - It's never too late

"Are you envious because I am generous?"

Is 55: 6-9

Phil 1: 20C – 24, 27A

Mt 20: 1-16

The Word:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092417.cfm

I have a clear memory of working in a large hospital on the house keeping staff one summer in my early Seminary days   My shift began about 7:00 a.m. and we worked until about 3 or so.  The work was labor intensive.  Basically cleaning hospital rooms after a patient was discharged, washing the walls if necessary, the floor, the bed before fresh clean linens were placed on it and the bathroom. Then, in some areas, it even went to the hallways.  I remember being surprised that in some cases the walls were very dirty and the change after cleaning was obvious.  Yet, I never questioned the other workers, mostly African-American, and just did my work.  Yet, the pay for us was the same: minimum wage plus ten cents more ($1.75/hour).  Yes that was the wage in the early 1970's! You were grateful to have work yet it convinced me that I wanted to make more of my life.  

This Sunday Jesus shares a somewhat unsettling parable from Matthew about laborers in the vineyard and a landowner who, in response to the grumbling of ungrateful workers, queries: “Are you envious because I am generous?” That’s an interesting question. 

We don’t normally equate envy with generosity.  However, we may feel because you have the resources to be generous I might feel envy. Yet, why would I be envious because you are a generous person?  I could easily be generous myself. I might be envious because you are rich and I am not.  Or jealous because you have a beautiful voice and I can barely carry a tune. You have outstanding athletic prowess and the ball never goes where I want it to in golf. You’re handsome or beautiful and I’m just an average Joe. You walk into a room and everyone is glad to see you.  I walk in and just blend silently into the crowd.

These are the sorts of things we usually equate with envy. The larger discussion about “Be grateful for what you have rather than sad about what you do not have” is valid here but why would I be envious of your generosity.  That’s a choice that any of us can make: to share or not to share. That is the question!

Why were the workers in the vineyard today envious? If we look between the lines, as we must do in the teachings of Jesus’ parables, we see their grumbling is far more about what they perceived as unjust payment for work done or not done rather than envy about a generous landowner.  Still, the point of the workers is a good one on surface but they measure only through the eyes of what they felt they deserved, a measured justice.

In ancient times, unlike today, it was believed that all things had limits.  We Americans feel there’s always more where that came from: food, oil, jobs, and money, whatever.  Yet, everything in the ancient Mediterranean world was believed limited including work. There is only so much of anything to go around so there is not more where that came from.

So one would need to be invited to work rather than to apply for a job.  Once invited, as the landowner did five times in today’s Gospel, a wage was agreed on and one could not assume that more would be given since there is only a limited amount to be shared. Yet, work done is work rewarded.

So, the real “envy” in today’s Gospel is of those who were invited at the eleventh hour as we say and who were paid the same as those “who bore the day’s burden and the heat.” We can hear them cry, “This isn’t fair!”

Yet, the parable today is not about fair working practices but about what “The kingdom of heaven is like.” God operates in a different manner; on a higher plane than we limited humans. The kingdom of heaven is about a God who calls everyone to his vineyard (kingdom) and wants all to share in abundance regardless about when they were invited.  The kingdom of heaven, the parable teaches us, is about a God who is generous and hospitable.  About a God who invites then rewards. It is about a God who always has more where that came from and is never limited in his generosity. Pope Francis once reminded us that God never tires of forgiving it is we who tire of asking for it. 

This parable is not the only time we hear about God’s bigheartedness.  The parable of the prodigal son (Lk 15: 11-32) with the envious elder brother comes to mind. That elder brother, the obedient son, upon seeing his father’s forgiveness and the party thrown for his reckless wasteful brother, is furious with envy: “That son of yours!” he complains to his Father. He can hardly bring himself to admit, “That brother of mine.”

But, here the Father who is God is overwhelmingly generous because the value he holds for the person is greater than the bad choices he has made: “He was dead and has come back to life.” The elder son has suffered no injustice.  The Father reminds him: “Everything I have is yours” but the jealous son feels it’s unfair.

When we come to God in prayer, in need of forgiveness, in gratitude or with any request we come before a God who has our best interest at heart. So these parables can bring before us a different vantage point. The workers who labored all day most likely readily stood in the front of the line to receive what they felt would be generous pay – more than they had agreed upon.  The elder son confronted his father and may have pushed his way into the party revelers to make a beeline for his Dad. As I stand in front no one else behind me matters. It’s all for me – or so I may assume and expect.  “I’m entitled to this!”

Yet, the parables challenge our perception of God’s “fairness” and ask us to take a look from the end of the line.  God’s mercy, forgiveness and generosity are available to everyone no matter where I stand.  God’s generosity, mercy, forgiveness and love are not a buffet line or potluck dinner – when it’s gone its gone. There will be just enough for me by the time I reach the front.  With God, there is always more.

It certainly creates a different perspective of how I view my fellow human being.  No matter what language I speak or my economic level or the home I live in or color of my skin or my past wayward life all that come to the Lord with sincerity and seek his will share in his abundance. Yet, it does include not taking advantage of a generous God but a call to personal conversion – a new way of life in line with the Gospel. We don’t just take take from God; we must also share with others after the example of his extravagant generosity.

The more we see others ahead of us receiving what God gives the more we may see our own shortcoming and imitate the mercy which God himself shows. As Isaiah reminds us today when the Lord speaks: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts . . .”

This is the point of the parable for us.  The reception of the Holy Eucharist during each Mass is to receive this person who is lavishly generous.  As the crowd walks forward do you think about who it is who is giving himself to you? About who and what you will receive?  How can we be envious of that?  What a gift; what a generous God and what a call to personal conversion.  

Graciously raise up, O Lord,

those you renew with this Sacrament,

that we may come to possess your redemption

both in mystery and in the manner of our life.

Through Christ our Lord.

(Prayer after Communion)

[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

September 24, 2017 – The Idle Apostle?

24 Sep 2017

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Father Barry O’Toole, LC

Matthew 20:1-16a

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, 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.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord, you are the author of life and the giver of all that is good. You are the Prince of Peace and my mainstay. You are my healer and the cure itself. I need you, and I need to give you. I love you and commit myself to you entirely, knowing you could never let me down or deceive me. Thank you for giving me your very self.

Petition: Lord Jesus, help me to work in your vineyard alongside you.

1. The Call to Work in the Vineyard: The landowner needs workers for his vineyard. Going out to the marketplace, where there are all kinds of people, he invites all the workers he can find. We are all invited to be apostles in the Lord’s vineyard. Some might think they don’t have enough talent, others that they are just too young to be able to do anything for Christ, and still others that the task is just too much for them. But Christ doesn’t ask for excuses; he asks for workers, generosity and good will. He will take care of the rest. He doesn’t call the prepared; he prepares the called. He is the one who produces the fruits, not us. What a joy and privilege to be called by the Lord to be a worker in his vineyard, especially when we fulfill our task out of love.

2. Turning the Tables: We complain so easily about the problems we see around us: the lack of values, the violence, the evil people do…. Then in our prayer we say to God, “Look at the world. Why don’t you do something about it?” If we were to listen a little more closely to God in prayer, we would probably hear him reply, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” Perhaps we never knew there was something we could do. Perhaps we never had the courage to face the situation and address the matter seriously. Idleness is the one thing the Lord cannot understand. “You also go into the vineyard.” Some are called early; some are called later. It doesn’t matter when, what does matter is to respond the moment we are called.

3. The Surprising Salary: Go ahead and ask the question…. Peter did, in the passage just prior to this parable (Matthew 19:27-30): What can I expect from this? Christ is the best bargain in the marketplace. He promises us the full wage, even if we were called at the last hour. Whatever we “sacrifice” for him, he promises us 100% in this life plus eternal life. So really, the sky is the limit. We have to ask ourselves: What am I willing to give Christ? A few meager dollars, a few fleeting moments of my day, only my “leftover” time? Christ never obliges; he only invites. It is important never to forget that by helping God to save souls we save our own. This is the way to build up a treasure in heaven.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, today I hear your call more clearly than ever. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work in your vineyard. For you I am willing to do anything. I know there will be moments of difficulty and weakness. Give me your grace and strength, and then ask of me what you please. Make me your apostle.

Resolution: I will give as much of today as possible to God by living each moment and activity with intensity and purity of intention. I will offer it all to God out of love.

[Salvation]

The Generosity of God

Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.

“But that’s not fair!”

Most parents have heard this phrase umpteen times. The notion of fairness, also known as justice, is wired into us. It makes us aware that each of us has certain rights that need to be respected.

But it also means that we each have duties. If others have the right to be paid for their work, those who benefit from that work have the duty to pay them. If others have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we have the duty not to let our pursuit of happiness infringe on their rights.

But we have to widen our perspective a bit. God, the creator of all, is responsible for all the blessings we enjoy. Life in this world was given to each of us as an undeserved, free gift. We have unequal physical talents, features, and abilities, plus diverse spiritual and intellectual gifts as well. They vary a lot from person to person, but what they all have in common is that they come as free gifts from God who didn’t have to create any of us.

This is the background necessary to fully understand a parable that at first shocks our sensibilities. Matthew 20:1-16 records a story of an employer who hires workmen to harvest grapes. He hires members of the crew at various times of the day, so that at the end of the day, some have only worked a few hours while others have worked all day long. There’s grumbling when everyone is paid the same standard day’s wage, regardless of how long they worked. To add insult to injury, those who started last got paid first. “No fair!”

Wait a minute. The master paid those who worked all day exactly what he promised them. He just decided to be generous and pay everybody, even the latecomers, a full day’s wage. Justice does not preclude generosity.

The Pharisees thought that they had always done the will of God and deserved more than the rest, especially the rabble Jesus appeared to favor–including tax collectors and sinners. It roiled them to think that these Johnny-come-latelies would sit alongside them in the Kingdom of God.

Truth be told, neither they, nor any of us, are really like the folks who consistently did the will of the Master, working uninterruptedly at the assigned task. Our assigned job is to love the Lord our God with ALL our heart, ALL our soul, and ALL of our strength (Deut 6:4-5) every day of our life. This is only fair since we owe God absolutely everything. But we’ve all unfairly walked off the job at various moments–thumbing our noses at him through our disobedience, pride, and selfishness. Some have gone AWOL longer than others, and the sins of some are more spectacular than those of others. But the bottom line is that, in terms of strict justice, God does not owe any of us anything except, perhaps, punishment.

But in his extraordinary generosity, the Lord has offered us a deal–if we will accept his beloved Son in faith as Savior and Lord, and through the power of the Spirit seek to do His will, and if we will repent each time we fail, he will give us what we do not deserve–friendship with Him here that opens out to eternal glory hereafter. The first takers for this offer have typically been those most aware of their need for mercy. And this is why the last have usually been first when it comes to the Kingdom of God.

Seems fair to me!

This is offered as a reflection upon the readings for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, liturgical cycle A (Isaiah 55 6-9, Psalm 145, Phil 1:20-24, 27; Matthew 20:1-16). It appears here with the permission of the author.

[Salvation]

Scripture Speaks: “The First Will Be Last”

Gayle Somers

Jesus tells a parable that poses an interesting question: Would we ever grumble about God’s generosity?

Gospel (Read Mt 20:1-16a)

In the verses preceding today’s Gospel, Jesus told the disciples “it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 19:23). A “rich young man” had just gone away “sorrowful” from Jesus, because he could not detach from his possessions to follow Him. When the disciples hear that even the rich, thought to be especially blessed by God, would have a hard time entering heaven, they ask, “Who, then, can be saved?” (Mt 19:25) Jesus gives them an answer that He further elaborates in today’s reading: “With men, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible” (Mt 19:26).

In our parable, Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to a scene in which a landowner hires helpers to work in his vineyard. The landowner goes out early to the marketplace, where workers congregated, to look for laborers. He was not obligated to do this, of course. The vineyard belonged to him; he could have kept it a family affair, using only family members to do the work. Instead, he reaches outside his family to those who would otherwise be “idle”—waiting for something meaningful to happen. He enters an “agreement” (or “covenant”) with some laborers for the pay they will receive for their work, and off they go. The landowner keeps returning to the marketplace, however, during all the “hours” of the day (Jews divided the time between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm into several “hours”), finding those who were “idle” and promising to give them “whatever is right” for their labor. We have to wonder why he did this. Was it for himself, or for the laborers? Was he concerned that he needed more workers to get the work done, or was he concerned that men would be “idle” all day if he didn’t keep hiring them?

Finally, at the eleventh hour, he goes out again. Realistically, these laborers would only be able to put in an hour’s work, at most, because Jewish law required that a laborer be paid at sundown (see Deut. 24:14-15). By the time we get to this point in the parable, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the landowner simply wants to empty the marketplace of anyone still standing around, still waiting for something to happen.

When it comes time to pay the workers, payment begins with the last ones hired. This is so contrary to what any of us would expect that it helps us identify the thrust of the parable right away. Had the landowner paid the longest, hardest-working men first, they would not have witnessed what they considered to be an injustice. Jesus uses this inverted order to call our attention to the point He is making. The first laborers grumble when they discover that they are paid exactly the same as the latecomers, who hardly worked at all. Can we blame them? Would our reaction have been different? The landowner reminds the grumblers that they have not been cheated. They had agreed on the “usual daily wage.” No injustice has been committed. The landowner also reminds them that he is “free to do as I wish with my own money.” The fact is, any wage coming to any of the laborers depended entirely on the grace and generosity of the landowner. Apart from him repeatedly seeking laborers in the marketplace, none of them would have had anything meaningful to do. They would all still have been waiting for something to happen. We might be able to phrase it this way: “With men, no wages are possible, but with a landowner looking for workers, all things are possible.” That being the case, are the grumblers really justified in being envious of the landowner’s generosity? It was this very generosity that gave them work in the first place. Had they understood this at the start of the day, they would not have been surprised at how the day ended.

Jesus concludes the story with a familiar saying: “The last will be first, and the first will be last.” The Church has traditionally understood this as a parable foreshadowing the generosity of God to include the Gentiles in His covenant, at the “eleventh hour” in salvation history, blessing them with the same blessing first promised long ago to His Chosen People, the Jews. In this, Jesus is warning His disciples (then and now) not to think of God’s blessings as a matter of record-keeping. God’s generosity cannot be measured. All of us, the “worthy” and the “unworthy,” are utterly dependent on it. When we see others with greater spiritual gifts than we have ourselves, do we rejoice in God’s generosity, or are we envious? And, at the end of time, if we see God’s mercy extended to those whom we are sure don’t deserve it (we might even be picking those folks out now), will we look as small and stunted as the grumbling laborers in the parable? These are questions worth asking.

Possible response: Heavenly Father, help me to rejoice over Your generosity wherever it appears.

First Reading (Read Isa 55:6-9)

These verses from Isaiah are a perfect preparation for our Gospel reading, because they speak about God’s generosity (“generous in forgiving”) and about how differentGod’s way is from ours. Recall the shock we felt in reading the parable and hearing that “the last will be first and the first will be last.” Here, God tells us, through Isaiah, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are My ways above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts.” This difference between God’s way and ours is what keeps life interesting. If we take it seriously, we might often be surprised by how He works, but we surely won’t become grumblers.

Possible response: Heavenly Father, forgive me for the times I have not wanted to be surprised by the difference between Your way and mine.

Psalm (Read Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18)

The psalmist tells us that God’s “greatness is unsearchable.” That is exactly what both Isaiah and Jesus seek to tell us in our other readings. Our imaginations are not vivid enough to be able to predict how God’s goodness and mercy will break out in His creation: “The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all His works.” Perhaps the most treasured characteristic of His immeasurable and unimaginable kindness is the one we will repeat in the responsorial: “The LORD is near to all who call upon Him.”

In the end, isn’t this what matters most to us on our journey home to heaven?

Possible response: The psalm is, itself, a response to our other readings. Read it again prayerfully to make it your own.

Second Reading (Read Phil 1:20c-24, 27a)

In this reading, St. Paul is an example of one who is completely at peace with whatever God does with him. We would have liked the first group of laborers in the Gospel parable to be able to say that about the landowner. How does a person get to that place of peace with God and confidence in whatever He does, no matter how different His ways are from ours? “For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.” St. Paul understood that in becoming a servant of Christ, he had gained everything. Even death, which we naturally fear and dread, posed no worry for him. Death (which St. Paul faced on a nearly daily basis) would simply be the door through which he would walk into the loving arms of Jesus. When we have this kind of relationship with the Lord, when He is everything to us, then we are truly free. Knowing the power of His love and kindness, nothing can disturb us, nothing can turn us into grumblers. All that should matter to us is to conduct ourselves “in a way worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” Then, truly, “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.”

Possible response: Lord Jesus, please teach me to trust You and to be at peace in all the events of my life.

[Salvation]

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All Issues > Volume 33, Issue 5

<< Sunday, September 24, 2017 >>

25th Sunday Ordinary Time

Isaiah 55:6-9
Philippians 1:20-24, 27
View Readings

Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18
Matthew 20:1-16
Similar Reflections

NOT FAIR? THANK GOD!

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord." �Isaiah 55:8

So often people think or say: "The Lord's way is not fair!" (Ez 18:25) The laborers in the vineyard who worked all day were saying, in essence, the same thing. Seemingly, God treats the weak, sinful, marginalized, forgotten ones better than He treats the ones who faithfully serve Him. While the Lord lovingly pursues the lost, late ones, He goes so far as to leave the faithful ones seemingly alone "in the wasteland" (Lk 15:4).

As today's first reading reveals, God's ways are not our ways (Is 55:9). All praise and glory be to God that His ways are not human ways! Praise the Lord that "His ways are not fair" in the sight of humanity. Human history is littered with the refuse of sin, greed, injustice, and misery, which are the wages of human ways. The Lord's ways, on the contrary, are not limited to being "fair." His way is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, of great kindness (Ex 34:6; Ps 103:8).

God is perfectly just. But, as Pope Emeritus Benedict taught, God's love turns Himself against His justice (God Is Love, 10). His generosity trumps fairness (see Mt 20:15). Now we have a choice. We can rejoice in the unbounded mercy and generosity of God. Or, we can grumble that the Lord is not "fair." Let us "seek the Lord" and His overflowing mercy "while He may be found" (Is 55:6). Let us learn to be overflowing in love and mercy as He is. Let us gladly work for Him, and rejoice when He extends His mercy to others.

Prayer: Father, I dedicate my life to making known Your mercy.

Promise: "For, to me, 'life' means Christ." �Phil 1:21

Praise: Praise You, Jesus, risen Truth, Love, Life, and Head of the Church. Alleluia!

[Salvation]