Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 55:6-9; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians 1:20-24,27; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 20:1-16
What a powerful parable we are given for pondering this Sunday! Think about it: if I work longer than others, I should get paid more. Isn’t that right reasoning and only fair? Well, not exactly, when we are considering the ways of God.
In the labor force, yes, more money is normally awarded to those who work longer, but in the realm of God’s Kingdom, it’s not about “time card punching,” but about serving without counting the cost or expecting a “fair wage.”
In the end, those who work for God are promised fulfillment that is appropriate to each person. I recall that Saint Therese of Lisieux, the great 19th century Carmelite nun, in her explanation of what it means to be rewarded by God, took the analogy of a thimble, a cup and a bucket. Fill each of them to the brim with water and tell me, she said, which is “fuller.”
In fact, the thimble, the cup and the bucket, by virtue of being “full to the brim,” are incapable of holding more, which is what it will be like for the rewards in heaven or those who do good. The rich don’t get more, the poor don’t get less; those who lived many years on earth and those only briefly, will all be “filled” with the knowledge and love of God “to the brim,” in complete satisfaction and joy.
This Sunday’s first reading, from the great Prophet Isaiah, writing some 500 years before the birth of Christ, is a call for a change of heart, to trust in God’s goodness and the power of God to pardon and bless.
Turning away from evil deeds in crucial for a happy life, Isaiah preached. In addition, the prophet’s hearers are encouraged to “seek the Lord while he may be found,” that is, while we are still to be found among the living! We do our best, and in spite of all failures, God remains present and always ready to forgive.
In this Sunday’s second Mass reading, Saint Paul, in his letter to the Church of Philippi, writes from confinement in prison. Paul is actually happy with the circumstances, strange as that might sound, because he has turned the occasion into an opportunity to make Christ better known.
Whether he go on living or should die, it doesn’t matter to Paul. Why? Because Christ alone gives Paul’s life its meaning. He hungers to go on living for Christ, bur if life be cut short, he won’t be disappointed. This harkens back to the theme at the beginning of this reflection. God’s rewards are sufficient for each. As such, death can only mean “gain” for Paul, who in departing this world will be with Christ for ever.
Whatever may be the outcome for Paul and his forthcoming trial, whether he gets freedom or death, he hopes for one thing only, namely, that Christ be honored by the life Paul lives. And to his hearers, Paul emphatically says: “Conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the Gospel of Christ.”
Returning to the Gospel for this Sunday, a few more things are worth pointing out. The words of Jesus at the conclusion of the parable are important to bear in mind, that “many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Evident here is a “reversal of fortune,” something that occurs in other places in the Bible as well. With God, things be turned “upside down,” and no one can stop that from happening.
In God’s eyes, there is no small or great, first or last, since all are equal in God’s sight, whose free and gracious love everyone is eligible to receive. In a sense, Saint Matthew’s message is: Step right up and receive more than you can ever imagine or hope for, when dealing with God Who is Love!
The key words of the landowner in today’s parable, whom we are to understand as being God and who hires workers, are these: “I am free to do as I please with my money, am I not?”
And furthermore: “Are you envious because I am generous?” A more literal translation of that phrase is this: “Is your eye evil because I am good?” There’s a punchline if there ever was one!
Overall the parable for this Sunday emphasizes the gratuity of God’s gifts and God’s unbounded generosity.
“Why do you stand about idle all the day?”, the owner of the estate asks in the parable, understood to mean that all who follow Christ should be engaged in working for the Kingdom and not standing around idle, looking for something to do!
In the parable, the answer of the potential workers, “No one has hired us,” should be far from our lips. We have been “hired,” called by God and a lazy man’s excuse won’t do in our situation either.
As Isaiah the Prophet indicates, the ways of God may be beyond our comprehension, but God’s love and generosity and love are cause for adoring admiration at all times!
Abbot Christian Leisy, OSB