Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 20, 1-16
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,
he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o’clock,
he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard,
and I will give you what is just.’
So they went off.
And he went out again around noon,
and around three o’clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o’clock,
he found others standing around, and said to them,
‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’
They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’
He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay,
beginning with the last and ending with the first.’
When those who had started about five o’clock came,
each received the usual daily wage.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,
but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
‘These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’
He said to one of them in reply,
‘My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?’
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
The laborers in God’s work
1. The early morning workers. These represent the people who take work and life seriously. Sometimes they can be over-demanding on themselves and others and become perfectionists who might feel dissatisfied because there is always ‘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, or do the housework making sure that everything is spick and span. 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 for God after having experienced a time when they didn’t have Him in their lives. Unlike the perfectionist I mentioned in the first point, the issue here is that some 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. It’s as if they wanted to make up for lost time. 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, through your humble work. Your deeds are worth more than words.
3. The last ones and the payment. The last ones to be hired represent 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 who find God in the last moments of their lives, and this marks a complete change in their life.
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. But God has shown us what our great gain is: Jesus. Yet, those of us who are involved in God’s work might want to have an advantage over others thinking that we are ‘holier’ than others. How many times have we grumbled to God for positions saying things like “look who is a Eucharist minister now!” Let’s stop making excuses and comparing ourselves to others. 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.
Remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you and be with you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
