DOES  GENEROSITY  HAVE BOUNDARIES? 

[I like to write stories for these Young People’s Masses. So for my homily today I read Jesus’ story which we just heard about the man with the vineyard that grew grapes and made great wine. I read it 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 times – trying to come up with a way of telling the story in a metaphor – other than a vineyard – the image that appears in today’s first reading from Isaiah 5:1-7 and today’s gospel Matthew 21:33-43. An “Uh oh!” sound hit me as I realized – besides coming up with a different metaphor - this is a very difficult message to tackle. Jesus’ story is a tough story – with a tough ending – and I’m supposed to have young people in mind. Still I wanted to try – so here goes – here comes a story entitled, “Does Generosity Have Boundaries?”]

Once upon a time a man and a woman had one son – and their son was like every other son – a nice kid – at least -  that’s what his mom and dad thought – and they told him so  – and each time he knew how to say back to them, “I love you too – mom, dad.”

Mom and dad wished they had other kids – but they only had this one son.

They thanked God for him and for the love they had for each other – as well as for their health and so many everyday blessings.

Life went on – work, weekdays, weekends, vacations, school – eating, sleeping – coughs and colds – flu shots – visiting cousins – their parents – friends.

They had normal gadgets and gizmos – “What’s a gizmo?” their son often asked. Yet - year after year after year -  they still used a paper calendar in their kitchen –– as well as magnets with notices and reminders on their kitchen refrigerator door.

Sometimes they envied other families – spotting bigger families in church or restaurants – or at baseball, football or basketball games. They both came from larger families – so they wondered and worried at times – about their son – being an only child.

So they loved it when their son brought other kids over to play in their back yard or house – or when their son was invited to play with other kids at their homes.

Life goes on. Sometimes there are surprises – like roads aren’t always straight – they have curves – and streets have around the corners.

Surprise – a big, big surprise – happened when this mom and dad hit the lottery. They hit the lottery big time. They were the only winners – with the right numbers - in that particular Powerball lottery. They won 221 million dollars. After taxes it was 164 million dollars.

Surprise. They didn’t move to a bigger house. They were happy with the house and neighborhood they were in.

Surprise. Another surprise…. One day – this mom - got an interesting idea. Behind their house there were no houses. But there were 10 empty lots – so they bought all 10 lots. On this land they had built a little league field – which could also serve as a football field. Then thinking winter and January and cold and snow - they had a big building put up. It had an indoor basketball court – plus a swimming pool – plus pool tables – plus ping pong tables -  plus a bowling alley – with 6 lanes - and with all their money - they were able to hire lifeguards, referees, and bowling alley attendants – cleaner uppers – etc. etc. etc.  And,  well, obviously, all the kids in the neighborhood could use the facilities – free of charge.

Well the kids loved this mom and dad – as well as this kid who was an only child kid. Kids and their parents aren’t stupid. They knew a good deal when they were getting a great deal.

And having money – lots of money -  – didn’t go to their head – or change their personalities. They were sort of quiet people – but also thought to be nice neighbors – before and after hitting the lottery.

And so – their son and all the neighbor kids - used this great sports complex 7 days a week – 365 days a year. Hey, it was free of charge.

Surprise – there was one little thing – there’s always at least one thing – and this one thing embarrassed their son from time to time: they named the sports complex after him – their only son.

Time moved on.

Their son – their only son – graduated from high school – went off to college – far, far away. His choice surprised the – but they told him – it’s your life. Go for it.

Since his mom and dad loved to see kids having the time of their life in their sports complex – they kept it going all through the years. It became part of the neighborhood and part of the town.

After college their son met a great gal – at his job – in another city.

They got married – and had 6 kids – 3 girls and 3 boys.

And mom and dad – always wanting to have had a big family themselves - were super happy to see their son and daughter-in-law so happy – having such a nice big family.

Now every story – well most stories have at times a negative twist or an ugly turn – like coming around a curb or corner – or over a hill - and traffic is stopped  - because of an accident.

One Thanksgiving – when their son and daughter-in-law – came to see mom and dad with all their kids– two of their girls went over to the gym – to play basketball.

Ug – ugly – boo - bummer – the kids there not knowing who the strangers were - wouldn’t let them into any games. They weren’t locals and they didn’t want new comers hoarding in on their good deal.

The two girls waited their turn – but the locals still wouldn’t let them into a game.

The same thing happened when they tried to bowl - play pool – or play ping pong.

So without saying anything – or who they were - they went back to their grandma and grandpa’s house.

Seeing their faces, grandpa said, “What happened?”

Not wanting to disappoint their grandparents, they said, “Nothing grandma. Nothing grandpa….”

They knew how proud their grandparents were of the Sport’s Complex – named after their father. They had overheard from time to time – how someone upon hearing that this couple had won the lottery  - would ask, “What did you do with the money?” And they would answer, ‘Oh we invested some of it – and we had built a great sports complex just behind our house – so kids could have a chance to play sports – all year round.”

Then they would add, “Oh – okay, we named the Sports Complex – after our son  – our only son.”

Next:  grandma and grandpa – pushed – to try to find out why their two granddaughters seemed a bit agitated and disappointed – after coming back from the field of dreams just on the other side of their backyard.

One of their granddaughters finally said that the kids over there didn’t like them and wouldn’t let them into any games.

“Whoa!” grandpa said.

Then he added, “Okay, go back over there and this time bring your other sister and your three brothers. I’m sure they will respect all of you – if you go as a family.”

Then he said,  “I’m sure they’ll get the message that if our family hadn’t had all this built and attended to – all these years – they wouldn’t have such a great sporting paradise for themselves. Fair is fair!”

All six went over – and went to the edge of the basketball court – waiting their turn for the next game.

The same thing happened again – this time even worse.

Rejections happen.

It’s not just poor people who get looked down on; it’s rich people as well – at times.

Sometimes when folks get something for nothing – they don’t respect it – as much as if – they had to raise money and pay for it  themselves.

The 6 then went to the ping pong and pool tables as well. Still no luck – no respect. Nobody stopped to say, “Hey kids. It’s your turn to play.”

So all 6 came back home to grandma’s and grandpa’s – kind of dejected and kind of depressed.

Grandpa – was really disappointed.

So he went to his son – and told him what had happened.

Then he asked his son to go over and talk to any parents over in the Sports Complex – and explain what their kids did to his kids.

He went over. He looked around. He spotted about 7 different small groups of adults - parents – here and there - around the different places in the complex.

Without pushing who he was – and what his name was – he told them what happened to his kids – and how disappointed and hurt they were – in not being given a turn to play.

They said, “Mister. Whoever you are. Kids are kids. They don’t know who your kids are. And they were there before your kids were there.”

It was then that he said, “My mom and dad built this place years ago for all the kids around here – so fair is fair. They built it so every kid could get a chance to enjoy playing together. I know I did when I lived around here.”

A man said, “Wait a minute. In reality – this is our place. We never see your mom and dad over here – so what’s your gripe? Just because you have money – if your parents hadn’t won the lottery – you’d be like the rest of us – so show us some respect.”

At that he walked away and went back home to his mom and dad and told them what had happened.

Does generosity and goodness have boundaries?

At that his mom and dad – became silent.

After his son and daughter-in-law and family left – his mom and dad became even more silent.

Then they made a decision. “We’ll move. We’ll sell the whole kit and caboodle – and move on.” Their son once asked, “What’s a caboodle?” and neither mom or dad really knew what a caboodle was.

Well, that’s what they did. They sold the whole kit and caboodle for millions and moved on. The land the sports complex was on had become prime real estate – and from time to time developers came to them with offers. This time they accepted a great offer.

And they moved to another state – closer to their son and daughter-in-law and their kids.

They added – “We’ll do this again in another place – but this time – we’ll hope – things will work about better – because we’ll be over there volunteering more with the kids. This next time we’ll be more involved.

Happy ending to this story? For some, “No”.

Happy ending to this story?   For some “Yes”.

Generosity sometimes has boundaries – sometimes it doesn’t.