TWENTY FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Reading I: Isaiah 55:6‑9
Reading II: Philippians 1:20c‑24, 27a     
Gospel: Matthew 20:1‑16  

1.       As I read the Scriptures today three familiar family scenes came to mind. First as young children when we received dessert or a piece of cake, no matter what the size, there was always someone who said, “he got a bigger piece.”

Secondly, a “bigger slice” seemed to take away from the sweetness or pleasure of what we were eating, not because something went sour, but “justice/equality” seemed to be the extra sweetness that was missing. And so the bottom line was, “it’s not fair, he got the bigger share”

Thirdly, “he got a bigger piece” always had to do with something we liked or wanted. No one ever complained “the other’s share was bigger and we should have an equal share” - when it came to extra chores or punishment.

          As a corollary: here in the comfort and safety of our houses, with plenty of fresh and clean water to drink, I did not hear anyone say, “it is not fair that New Orleans got hit by the hurricanes and so many people died, but nothing happened to us.”  No one complained to God as the workers in the vineyard: they grumbled against the landowner, “you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.”

2.       And so we have, we have Isaiah reminding us "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord."   Isaiah is introduced here to emphasize the Gospel’s message. We cannot read it from a human perspective, but rather from the perspective of God. It is not the story of the Workers in the Vineyard who did not get a fair share. But rather the story of the Landowner who was outrageously generous. It also makes us look at all we have received and realize that it is not the portions we receive, but the Giver who continues to give.

3.       It challenges us to take another look at what we have.  

We look on creation as something that belongs to us, and we have a right to it.

We look on God as someone who is duty bound to keep this universe, to keep our planet, and to keep us especially safe and sound so that we can live on this earth.

We do not believe that we have been made in the image and likeness of God, rather we have created a God according to our standards and expectations.

We expect God to live up to our needs and our design of God. And hence we hear over and over again, “How can you believe in a loving God when all these disasters, these earthquakes, these hurricanes, these tsumanis take place?”

 As Fr. John Kavanaugh would say, “some people think God is a projection of humanity's wish.” And hence we need to hear from Isaiah, “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord."

4.         From a human point of view, and in a society that loves to sue and litigate at the drop of a hat, this parable is a disaster in human relations and human resources. Why waste time on a bunch of lay-abouts who do nothing. They should be working  the usual Nine to Five. The  whole parable from the human point of view,

becomes a matter of labour relationships,

becomes a matter of fair play,

becomes a matter of justice and equal rights.

And the moment we think of it like that we end up totally lost, confused, bewildered and angry just like the labourers in the Vineyard.

5.         From a Divine point of view, we have a God who is outrageously generous and who has no conception of measures or mathematics.

 when the wine ran short at Cana, he gave them an extra 180 gallons of wine

 when 5000 were hungry, he gave them so much food that 12 baskets were filled with the left overs !

 and when it comes to forgiveness, the traditional seven times is not enough, it has to be seventy times that amount.

6.         For us as Christians, this is not a parable some 2000 years ago, it so applicable to us even now, especially each Easter, Christmas and especially Good Friday. On those days, our manner of thinking is so much like the labourers in the Vineyard rather than like the Landowner. The church is filled with people who, for whatever reason, come only rarely to church. They have filled up all the pews, and the regular parishioners are left standing in the aisles or worse still out in the parking lot.

We grumble against the parish priest, “you have made them equal to us, who bore the burden of coming to church each Sunday - and put in our collection envelopes.”

            I often think that many of these would come each Sunday to pray with us, if they saw the Kindness and Generosity of the God in this parable in the way we treat them.  What if, men and women who come regularly to church Sunday after Sunday, would on occasions like Good Friday and Easter, and Christmas, actually get up and give their seats to those who rarely came to church. The “rare church comers” might say, “hey this is a cool place to pray and they have really neat people here.”

Most of us grew up in families where the rule was when guests arrived, “family holds back” - it is a call to be as Generous as the Landowner. God bless you all..

American appendix: goes in after #3.

Every day, millions of American schoolchildren pledge their allegiance to "one nation under God". Now

if this is the God that is merely a concoction of our imagination.

If this “god” is an idol or false god which I use for my own ends. 

If this “god” is  an excuse when I need to cut the “Gordian Knot” that represents the difficult, the intractable and often the insolvable problem. I would agree with a well-known atheist Michael Newdow, who represented  three unnamed parents who brought the case against making this pledge.