25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel Reflection

Matthew 20:1-16

Listening to Jesus’ parable we might be tempted to take sides with the labourers who complained to their employer because they had worked a whole day but received the same as those who had worked only an hour. Of course, that would be to miss the real point or message of this parable Jesus uses to teach us about spiritual things. In other words, it was not Our Lord’s intention here to give lessons about just wages, though the amount of one denarius for a day’s labour was, in fact, just payment in his times. Rather, Jesus instructs us about the great mercy of God that extends itself to all, even to those who come to Him close to their last hour. The denarius may be understood as God’s grace. God is  always willing to give his grace to one who approaches him, even if he has not served him throughout much of life. We may possibly take this analogy one step further and see the denarius as the very possession of God in eternal life. All who are saved receive the beatific vision – that is they see and experience God and his love “face to face.” There will be, however, variations in the rewards of heaven depending not so much on the time of one’s service as on the depth of one’s love and faithfulness.

Equally the denarius may stand for membership in the Church. Jesus came not only to save the Jews, his own people by blood and the ones who had been known as God’s people throughout centuries. He came to call all peoples into his Church, even if they had previously followed false gods and false religions. Jesus was aware that many among his own nation would eventually object to the Gentiles (or foreigners) being placed on an equal footing with themselves. Remember the parable of the prodigal son? The other son resented his father’s merciful pardon and generous welcoming home.

However the denarius is understood, what always emerges from a consideration of this parable is God’s gracious love, his boundless mercy. Also evident at all times is the smallness of heart one may succumb to in making comparisons and seeing unfairness where there is none. It is the age old failing we call envy. In the parable the envy or resentment was a common sort, centred on the fact that other groups of workers received as much even if they had worked less. But the envy that Jesus is really addressing is that which arises from comparing one’s own spiritual situation with that of others. Many of Jesus’ co-religionists were proud in a self-satisfied sort of way of their religious background and they carried out their customs with regularity but little heart-felt devotion. In contrast to these there were men and women with a sinful or pagan past, like Zacchaeus or the centurion in Capharnaum, who embraced a new life of faith and virtue with holy desires to excel. These may be seen as workers of the eleventh hour, who make up with eagerness what they lacked in long term practice.

We can put this into the context of the present when we compare the somewhat routine practice of many Christians who may have never stopped going to church of a Sunday, with converts who are ambitious to make up for wasted or ill used time. Just a few years ago, a Hollywood scriptwriter with a messy past who had achieved fame and fortune with successful but morally objectionable films, underwent a dramatic conversion. Since then he has not only patched up his life but has passed on his experience in a couple of books and a lively website to help others find God. Here then is a present day worker of the eleventh hour who may end up more than making up for the sins of the past. Hopefully, no one will envy the fact that he found God and that the way to heaven was still open to him. May we, if we have always more or less practised our Catholic faith, not be satisfied with simply going through the motions, but rather always try to grow in our love for God and the spiritual good of others around us.