by Fr. Richard Cipolla
This in the Traditional Roman Mass is Septuagesima Sunday, the first of three Sundays before Lent. These Sundays form a season of preparation for Lent. This season is one of the oldest elements of the Church calendar, which was omitted in the calendar changes after the Second Vatican Council with no explanation except they were omitted for pastoral reasons. What these reasons were was never explained, but my guess it was done to make things simpler for Catholics. That these arbitrary reformers thought that practicing Catholics needed simplicity at a time when Tradition and tradition were being attacked in the Western world shows both misunderstanding and contempt.
These three Sundays are the porch of Lent. The readings are some of the longest of the year and also some of the most difficult parables of Jesus. The gospel for Septuagesima: the parable of the owner of the vineyard and those who worked in the vineyard. The owner hires workers from early in the morning until late in the afternoon. When the time to give each his wages, the owner gives the same wage to all of the workers. Those who started at seven in the morning got the same wage as those who began work at noon and the same wage as those who worked for an hour before dusk. Those who had worked the whole day complain bitterly to the owner about this situation that they see as very unfair.
The owner says: “I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’tI have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”’
Then Jesus’ words: “So the last shall be first and the first shall be last.
How would you like to preach a sermon on that Gospel reading at the present time in the present culture? The New Lectionary put this gospel in late September and is read every three years. So, unlike in the Traditional lectionary, this gospel does not slap us in the face every year just before Lent. And it is a slap in the face, for the purpose of not treating Lent as if it is another Church season that can be gotten through by giving up candy and making a few donations to charities and going to Confession. Because this parable is about the grace of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Grace is never earned. Grace is always a gift, and especially a gift to those we think are undeserving in a multitude of ways.
So how does the Septuagesima season prepare us for Lent? Because Lent is about sin and grace and reaches its climax on Good Friday where grace seems to be denied, where grace seems to be absent. Where darkness and death are seen to have prevailed, to have won the battle?
But also, this pre-Lenten season ends with the final three days before Lent, which are associated with a burst of celebration and feasting. We have all heard of the famous Carnival in Venice before Lent. And we are as Americans very familiar with Carnival in our own New Orleans, a time of merriment with parades featuring people dressed in costume, local music, food and wine. The very world Carnival come from the Latin carnevale, meaning “farewell to meat.”. And this is how the pre-Lenten season ends. It points both to the radical change in time and space initiated by kneeling and receiving ashes and the realization of my sinfulness and the call to repentance in my life: all this leading to standing at the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ. And it also points to the joy of Easter, a joy that goes far beyond having a good time and enjoyment. For it is the joy of knowing that death has been conquered, that I have the sure hope that by faith in Christ I will not die the eternal death of sinbut will have the joy of everlasting life.
