Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 20, 1-16

Jesus said to his disciples, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

The laborers in God’s work.

1. The early morning workers. These refer to the people who take work and life much too seriously. Sometimes they can be demanding on themselves and others. They are usually perfectionists who are dissatisfied and unhappy because there is ‘something missing.’ Be careful! You don’t want to end up being obsessed with work and thereby neglecting life itself; for example, instead of spending time with friends and family, you come home and continue to work, making sure that everything is prepared for the following day. Perhaps you are also a perfectionist at work – over meticulous. Be careful with that as well! No one will say you are irresponsible, but they might think and say, “How annoying he is!” Let me remind you that if you’re involved in God’s work, you work for God, and those with you work for God as well – not for you. Your ‘co-workers’ in Christian life are your brothers and sisters, not your employees.
2. Those hired at mid-morning and mid-afternoon. These refer to those who find God at a certain point in their lives – in their adolescence, their youth, or even as adults – and they set out to work after having experienced a time when they didn’t have God in their lives. They could have been drug or alcohol abusers or people who simply lived without God. Unlike the perfectionist in the first point, these people seem to want to rush life. They might be the people who have found the Lord at a recent retreat and have experienced a sudden change because they have found their way, but then they demand that everyone around them should undergo that change as well. They’ve had a conversion experience at a retreat and once at home, they demand that the family say grace before meals, pray the Rosary together, and go to Church every Sunday. Be careful. Just because you have found Jesus, it doesn’t mean you can impose Him on others. Instead, help others find Jesus through your example. Your deeds are worth more than words.
3. The last ones to be hired and the payment given to all of them. The last ones are those who have found God at a difficult moment in their lives and because of that they become involved in God’s work. There are people that find God in the last moments of their lives, and this meeting marks a complete change. Even then, God shows us our great gain: Jesus. At the end of today’s reading, we see that they all get the same wage. This made the workers jealous. Even today, among those who are trying to do the work of God there is jealousy. Those of us who are involved in God’s work can want to have an advantage over others thinking that the ‘holier’ you are the better you are. How many times do we grumble to God for positions saying things like “look who is a Eucharist minister now!” Let’s stop making excuses and comparing ourselves to others. Instead, let’s work for the Kingdom of God and save souls. Our goal is not to gain positions or posts, our goal is to go to heaven.

God bless you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Don’t forget: Heaven is Our Goal!