Once more this Sunday, as we continue with the excerpts from the Gospel of Matthew, we see that they come to Jesus for the purpose of testing him. They are attempting to find fault in him. They are attempting to find that by which they might discredit him within the community, both the community of occupation, as well as the community of those of the tradition.

I just need to get a quick survey. Where are the lawyers in the room I’ve got Where are the lawyers? So you only have two lawyers and the only two lawyers.

Okay. Because I have a question now, what do the words law and love have to do with each other? So if I may quote the wonderful Tina Turner, What’s love got to do with it? Got to do with it. What’s love? But a second hand emotion? Well, whenever you put the law and love together in a congregation where there may be more than two lawyers, but only two who will self-identify, you can run into problems.

For the past few weeks, we have heard the word enemy a lot. Now enemy is a very interesting word. Enemy implies us against them or him or her against me. Enemy is a very tricky word.

Think for a moment only in terms of food groups. I I’m about to say a holiday and you tell me the food group that comes to your mind. Halloween candy? Absolutely. For some of us, chocolate is a primary food group. Thanksgiving, Christmas thing. Now, I would have said lasagna, but that might be a cultural thing. Easter, 4th of July, Art.

The first reading that we heard from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is often called the Song of the Vineyard. In another way, some authors call it the love song of the Vineyard. Now that strikes me as a little odd in that the owner has fallen in love with the piece of land. A little strange, but hey, who am I?

As a matter of curiosity, how many got caught in the Atlantic County? Did anybody get caught in the Atlantic Antic? Georgia, you got caught. Just curious. When I was growing up and a lad in a Catholic school, we had as one of our teachers, Sister Ruth Murray, the sister Ruth Marie was about that tall, but she was a force of nature.

How many of us had religious women who were this tall and were forces of nature? It is a very Catholic experience. It really in. And Sister Ruth Marie was noted for her expressions. So, for example, she would always say to us, Just tell me the truth. If you tell me the truth, you won’t be in as much trouble.

Before we begin the real homily, so don’t start timing me yet. How many of us agree with the farm workers in today’s gospel? How many of us think they got cheated? Show of hands. How many agree with the ones who worked all day that they got cheated?