Journey Back to Eden.pdf - St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church Chicago

A TIME TO GO ONPILGRIMAGE 141brother is descriptive of the types of relationships we sometimeshave with one another. We often summon others to a degree ofjustice and virtue greater than that which we ourselves are able toreach. We sometimes hold other people to lofty standards that weourselves cannot meet.There is no resolution given to the elder son’s predicament inthe story either. The father goes out to plead with him and makesan eloquent case, urging him to be sympathetic and compassionate.We are not told whether the elder son follows through or not.Likewise, the question is an open one with us. Yesterday’s compassionthat we showed to anyone; yesterday’s sympathy that we expressed;yesterday’s virtues that we evidenced do not really resolvethe question as to whether or not our lives shall be summed up inthe same way. Our lives cannot be judged as compassionate or lovingor kind unless we willingly take up the same yoke again andagain each and every day.Workers in the VineyardMARCH 29, SUNDAYAbuna Elia and I met today in the garden between Deir elSuriani and Deir Anba Bishoi. There are orange trees growing inthis garden; the scent of the orange blossoms is very sweet justnow, so Abuna Elia wanted to meet there in the shade.We sat and discussed another parable, the story of the workersin the vineyard. Abuna Elia pointed out that the owner of the vineyardcame to the marketplace, the appropriate place to hire workers.He came there early in the morning, in the middle of themorning, and at noon. He came again in mid-afternoon and evenin the late afternoon to hire anyone who was still there. Hecombed through that place again and again and rightly knew thathad anyone been there all day, he would have seen him on one ofhis frequent visits. And yet when he came in the late afternoon, hesaid to those who had come there only lately, “Why have you beenstanding here all day in the hot sun? Go you also to my vineyard” (cf.Matthew 20:6-7).He asked them that question, even though he knew they hadnot been standing there all day. Perhaps they had slept in thatmorning or had lounged about. Perhaps they had had a leisurely