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?

So the number seven.

How many of you came up with a few things that involve the number seven? Very good. Some of you did. Who came up with seven days of creation – good. How many of you came up with seven days of the week? Pretty obvious. How many of you came up with the seven deadly sins? How many of you came up with the seven virtues that go along with the deadly sins?

How many of us in the community this morning were taught by religious sisters or brothers or priests? How many of us had a good Catholic education? Are there sort of iffy, good, questionable? How many of us think that nuns and brothers and priests absolutely always get along, that they never have a conflict at all?

Well, that’s the way it should be, right? Everybody who lives in community should always get along, goes for everybody. Well, I have a little confession to make. Don’t get too excited. Not a big deal. But I don’t like poetry because usually I just don’t want to spend the time trying to figure out what the poet was talking about.