FROM FATHER MICHAEL... September 18th, 2011
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time:
In today's Gospel of Matthew we hear the parable of the landowner who decides to be generous and pay all of his workers the same daily wage, whether they worked from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m. or from 4 p.m. till 5 p.m. It is the landowner of the vineyard who is being magnificently generous and fair beyond all human under-standing. And in the face of this generosity and maximus fairness, the workers begin to rumble. "Who does he think he is? I worked all day in the heat and the grueling sun, and you. you lazy, good-for-nothing-bum worked only one hour, and now you re-ceived the same payment as I have? ! Where is the fairness? Where is the justice?
The workers who agreed to a fair and just daily wage for their work are now upset as they feel they have been "taken" and should receive a much higher wage for the full days? work. But they worked for what they agreed was a fair, daily wage. Why be mad? Why not rejoice in the other's good fortune?
Why? Because we are human and our understanding and definition of fairness is awfully one sided, tainted, if you will, by our own personal defi-nitions of what is "fair." It does seem unfair that those who did so much less should receive the same amount as the ones who did "all the work." In order to get a good grasp on this we need to look at this form of generosity and fairness through the lens of today?s first reading, Isaiah 55:6-9, which highlights this generos-ity and fairness as one of the many mysteries of God in particu-lar the mystery of His forgiveness. And we all will agree that we truly hope and pray that our God's forgiveness is as broad and generous, as far reaching as possible when we meet Him on the last day.
We all know that the vineyard workers illustrate the work of the Lord and His workers. The Johnnycomelatelies the five O'clock workers are those who hear the call late, but who respond to that call. The wages God gives are his love and for-giveness, which are not in proportion to what we have done, but are given solely from the love and generosity of our Father. As human beings we think, especially as disciples, that those of us who are cradle-Catholics and believers, long-term imitators of Christ, should get "better blessings or even more blessings" and sometimes we might even wonder "how is it fair that I do the „right things? all my life and some "end of life" Catholic or believer now is going to get the same reward as I do?" God is fair and just. He is the source and summit of all forgiveness and bless-ings. While it certainly makes sense to believe and act as Christ wants us to all our life long, our God is joyful when His children hear His call and respond—no matter how long it takes. And we are called to rejoice in that "they finally got it" no matter how it takes for someone to believe and trust in God. It does not make our work or our "wages" any less beneficial to us. It only in-creases the glory which is now given to our Father.
Let us all rejoice in God's generosity and mercy. Let us all be the recipient of His generosity and mercy. God is sempiter-nal, not bound by time or space, nor are His ways defined by our understandings. For His mercy and forgiveness goes beyond ours and are given to all. In the end, the final, real end, that bountiful generosity is a very good thing for all of us. We are not called to bring God into our ways and understanding but rather are called to live our lives in His mysteries. Thanks be to God!
Life isn’t fair, but our God is…and it is His forgiveness that we find so hard to emulate.
Peace,
Father Michael