There is one other thing we must do. We must hear and heed the messengers God sends to us workers in the vineyard. For we, too, need to be converted throughout our lives.

The news of the Vatican's proposal to renew its controversial deal with China filled the Catholic media in the past week. As the Vatican attempted to normalize the Church's life in communist China, Christians continued to face restrictions on practicing their faith elsewhere in Asia.

The test of Christian faith is not merely whether or not we are in church on Sunday. Going to church is the renewing of our "yes" to the call of God. But, do we follow through on the promise?

Developments in Asia this week show how governments are directly or indirectly moving against religious minorities including Christians. Religious freedom is threatened by attacks, murders and draconian laws in several parts of the region.

Just as the parables of Jesus show the love of God in stories about lost coins, vineyards and generous landowners, the followers of Jesus must make the events of everyday life point to God's loving presence among us.

The Covid-19 pandemic has tightened its grip on India, where daily some 90,000 people are now infected. The contagion is weakening in most Asian nations, but its socio-economic impact on the poor has increased.

Violence is unjustified, but it remains one of the tragedies of our sin-marred, sin-deformed world that it too often takes violence to end or control worse violence. Resort to violence cannot, of course, be for the sake of pride, selfishness, or any other aim than an honest pursuit of justice, as Father William Grimm, who lives in Japan says, for without justice there can be no peace.

The way out of the paradox is to realize that forgiving and being forgiven is not a parade of activities that happen in order – God forgives, then I forgive, then God forgives. God’s forgiving me and my forgiving others go on together.

The feast of Mother Teresa, who toiled for the poor, passed off quietly this week as Asia’s poor continued to suffer from floods, the coronavirus pandemic and oppressive regimes. Christian communities across Asia also confronted stories of discrimination, oppression and corruption.

The Lord's command to confront sin in ourselves and others is never easy to fulfill. It is even harder, perhaps, to be the object of that confrontation, whether as individuals or as societies. So, what are we to do?