Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
Praise be Jesus and Mary.
We see that the first reading in the Gospel
compare the people of God to a vineyard,
and God, of course, is the vine dresser,
the one who cares for it.
The prophet...
Excuse me.
The prophet Isaiah...
Isaiah, in the first reading,
calls God his friend.
He says,
Let me now sing of my friend,
my friend's song concerning his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
So, of course, this friend of the prophet,
he's talking about God who has his vineyard.
And later on, the prophet explains to us,
The vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel.
So it's the people of God
that he's talking about,
as being this vineyard,
who he tends and cares for.
It says,
He spaded it, cleared it of stones,
and planted the choicest vines.
Within it, he built a watchtower,
et cetera, et cetera.
All this care that he had for the vineyard
so that it would produce fruit.
And this is the care that God had
over the house of Israel
so that it would produce fruit.
The care he had by giving them the law,
establishing the covenant,
sending them the prophets, et cetera,
giving them the promised land.
He gave all these things to them
that they would produce fruit.
That is, live according to his law.
Live in justice and peace,
and God would bless them even more.
But instead, it says,
He looked for judgment,
but see bloodshed.
For judgment,
but see justice,
but hark the outcry.
The house of Israel had abandoned God's laws,
hadn't been faithful to the covenant.
And then God says,
What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I had not done?
God had given everything necessary
to live an upright and holy life.
So it was the fault of the chosen people
for not giving them the right to live.
So it was the fault of the chosen people
for not giving them the right to live.
So it was the fault of the chosen people
for not giving them the right to live.
Corresponding to all of those graces,
gifts, and benefits
that God had bestowed upon them.
And so then, what's the result?
There's the just punishment of God.
He said,
Now I will let you know
what I mean to do with my vineyard.
Take away its hedge.
Give it to grazing.
That is, remove that hedge
that protects the vineyard
from the beasts.
And let the beasts come in
and graze upon it.
Break through its wall.
Let it be trampled.
Yes, I will make it a ruin.
It shall not be pruned or hoed,
but overgrown with thorns and briars.
That is, life will become very difficult
for the house of Israel.
They will be attacked by their enemies
and overcome, subdued,
and reduced to ruin.
And all of this, of course,
with the intention
of bringing about their conversion,
of bringing them back,
to fidelity to God's covenant.
Now we can say that
the same thing,
this is basically the same scenario
that you read over and over again
in the Old Testament.
And it continues
in the new and eternal covenant
established in Christ's blood.
If we aren't faithful to our Lord,
He will remove His protection from us.
And I want to particularly apply this
to our nation today.
To our nation.
To our nation today.
And with this horrible reality of abortion.
We see, especially with the elections coming up.
It says,
He looked for judgment,
but see bloodshed.
He looked for judgment.
That is, upright, correct judgment.
From who?
Our judges.
Our Supreme Court.
We expect to find justice and truth
coming from them.
But instead,
what do we find?
Bloodshed.
Under sanction of law.
You know, now,
the most conservative estimates
are 2,800 abortions every day.
This is nothing less than
murder under the cover of law.
Every day.
He looked for judgment,
but see bloodshed.
For justice,
but hark the outcry.
Looking for justice,
but instead,
God finds nothing but injustice.
What greater injustice is there
that is towards those who are most defenseless
and helpless.
Who have the right of our protection
and the right to life.
But instead,
outcry and abomination.
And see, if we do our part,
you know, if we observe God's laws,
and even just the natural law,
that is respectful,
respect for human life,
the dignity of human life,
God will bless us.
But if not,
God will take away its hedge
and give it over to grazing.
That is,
he will take away his protection
and the blessings that he had already bestowed
on our nation.
It's tough to deny that our nation
has been blessed.
That is, with material blessings.
There's no doubt about it.
But what are we seeing now?
We're now running into economic difficulty,
aren't we?
And the reason is because
the plan of men
is all in vain.
It's all in vain
if God does not watch over it.
What does the Psalm say?
That in vain does the watchman keep vigil
if God does not watch over the city.
In vain.
In vain are our efforts,
to fix the economy
by our own human ways
if we aren't going to observe
God's commandments,
especially the fifth commandment,
thou shall not kill.
It is all in vain
because God has supreme
and ultimate governance
over all of the nations upon the earth.
And this is constantly
what we hear now
as, of course,
we approach the elections.
From our bishops
continually reminding us
about the key
and most important issue to consider.
And that is
the issue of life,
human life,
from conception
until natural death.
This is the key issue.
Again, we have a communication
from our own bishop,
Michael Cody,
in his most recent letter to the diocese
in the four-county Catholic.
And what does he say?
He just repeats
what his brother bishops
have been saying all along.
As you prepare to cast
your national and state election vote
next month,
weigh each candidate
relative to a true commitment
to charity.
Please keep in mind
that charity,
as an act of respect for life
and dignity,
starts at conception.
We are called
to put our faith into action
and care for the poor
and most vulnerable.
We must carefully consider
the position each candidate takes
regarding respect for life
and the advancement
of charity and peace
in our society.
In the entire letter,
he just has this small paragraph
regarding the upcoming elections.
And notice that
the only issue he makes mention of
is that for respect for life.
You know,
we talk about proportional reasons
to vote for a different candidate
if he isn't pro-life.
Again,
what at the moment
could possibly be proportional
to 2,800 deaths every day?
And this is why our bishop
mentions no other issue.
He doesn't talk about the war.
He doesn't talk about economics.
He talks about respect for life.
So let us heed the voice
of our bishops
and heed the warnings
that sacred scripture provides us with
regarding God's justice
and his blessings and protection.
Praise be Jesus and Mary.
Amen.
Amen.