The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to be open to living according to the sometimes mysterious plan of God.
The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is an invitation to Grace that declares “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,”
* [55:6–9] The invitation to seek the Lord is motivated by the mercy of a God whose “ways” are completely mysterious.1
Psalm 145 praises the Greatness and the Goodness of God.
* [Psalm 145] A hymn in acrostic form; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Acrostic poems usually do not develop ideas but consist rather of loosely connected statements. The singer invites all to praise God (Ps 145:1–3, 21). The “works of God” make God present and invite human praise (Ps 145:4–7); they climax in a confession (Ps 145:8–9). God’s mighty acts show forth divine kingship (Ps 145:10–20), a major theme in the literature of early Judaism and in Christianity.2
The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians urges acceptance of the progress of the Gospel in whatever form “living is Christ and dying is gain.”
* [1:19–25] Paul earnestly debates his prospects of martyrdom or continued missionary labor. While he may long to depart this life and thus be with Christ (Phil 1:23), his overall and final expectation is that he will be delivered from this imprisonment and continue in the service of the Philippians and of others (Phil 1:19, 25; Phil 2:24). In either case, Christ is central (Phil 1:20–21); if to live means Christ for Paul, death means to be united with Christ in a deeper sense.3
The Gospel of Matthew presents the parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard.
* [20:1–16] This parable is peculiar to Matthew. It is difficult to know whether the evangelist composed it or received it as part of his traditional material and, if the latter is the case, what its original reference was. In its present context its close association with Mt 19:30 suggests that its teaching is the equality of all the disciples in the reward of inheriting eternal life.4
Mark Latta comments that the parable illustrates our own tendency to covet of what others receive from God. Or in another way, we may ask “why am I suffering so much when others have it easier”?
The owner of the vineyard asks those who have worked longest and (presumably) hardest for him, "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?" God's grace, mercy, and forgiveness are God's to give away as He sees fit. The recompense of reward will be given to the believers, but not according to the time of their conversion but indeed according to just their faith. This parable describes the state of the church in the world, and explains that the last shall be first, and the first last—regardless of, or despite the wisdom of man. If God gives grace to others or relief from pain and challenge, it is kindness to them, and no injustice to us. We must have faith that our portion of gifts or challenges are in tune with what God asks of us in our lives as we serve His kingdom. Life can be unfair, and life can be hard. In faith Praise the Lord!5
Don Schwager quotes “Christ our householder,” author unknown, from the 5th century A.D.
"The householder [in Matthew's parable - chapter 20] is Christ, to whom the heavens and the earth are like a single house; the family is as it were the multitude of creatures both angelic and earthly. It is as if he built a three-storied house: hell, heaven and earth, so that those struggling may live upon the earth, those conquered below the earth, those conquering in heaven. We too, set in the middle, should strive not to descend to those who are in hell but ascend to those who are in heaven. And in case perhaps you do not know which one you ought to shun or which one you ought to aspire to, he has given you as it were a little taste of both while you live between light and darkness: night as a taste of hell, daylight as a taste of heaven." (excerpt from an incomplete Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, HOMILY 34)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Isaiah 55:6-9 notes that in this life at least, we won’t always understand God’s ways. They are as far above us as the heavens are to the earth (Isaiah 55:9).
Today’s Gospel illustrates this point exactly. Who would pay the same wage to the laborer who arrived early and the one who arrived an hour before quitting time? Only God can be so generous as to want to care equally for all those who come to him, whether they arrive early or come much later. And that’s why we can be thankful that God’s ways are so far above our own. Look at how the Lord cared for his chosen people over the centuries. Even though there were many occasions when he could have abandoned them, he never did, no matter how far they had strayed. They only had to seek him to find mercy (Isaiah 55:6-7).7
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the invitation to turn back to God from Deutero-Isaiah during the Babylonian exile. Our surrender to the will of God brings loving service to others. Friar Jude reminds us that heaven continues our loving service in Christ.
Jack Mahoney SJ, Emeritus Professor of Moral and Social Theology in the University of London, comments that in the parable of the labourers in the vineyard Jesus simply is choosing a startling secular parallel to illustrate dramatically to his hearers a challenging religious truth: that no one ever deserves God’s love. God’s invitation is offered to all without strings and his acceptance of those who respond, whenever they decide to do so, is totally unmerited by their behaviour.
There is, I am prompted to point out as a moral theologian, another view of justice, one which is not based on deserts like the one we have been examining, but which is based on need; and this different approach to justice might well throw further light on the behaviour of the employer in the parable of the labourers. All the men in the market place were looking for employment, being in the most insecure social position of daily casual labourers, totally dependent on the law of supply and demand. Yet, they had basic needs which had to be satisfied and they had to make a regular living through their work in order to meet their own needs and possibly those of their families. This recognition of human needs being met through labour was the approach taken by Pope Leo XIII at the end of the nineteenth century, when he pointed out in the midst of the laissez-faire industrial revolution the way in which workers were being disregarded and victimised by being underpaid. As he wrote in the first Catholic social encyclical, Rerum novarum: ‘if one man hires out to another his strength or skill, he does so for the purpose of receiving in return what is necessary for the satisfaction of his needs.’ (n. 5)8
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that most Christians have been discouraged from exploring the teachings and practices of other religions, but he believes the loving and universal scope of Jesus Christ provides us with a model of how to recognize and celebrate truth on the many different paths to God.
If we are ready to reclaim the true meaning of “catholic,” which is “universal,” we must concentrate on including—as Jesus clearly did—instead of excluding—which he never did. The only thing Jesus excluded was exclusion itself. After the incarnation of Jesus, humanity could more easily imagine a give-and-take, relational and forgiving God. Christians had a very good model and messenger in Jesus, but many outliers actually came to the “banquet” more easily, as Jesus often says in his parables of the resented and resisted banquet (Matthew 22:1–10; Luke 14:7–24), where “the wedding hall was filled with guests, both good and bad alike” (Matthew 22:10). What are we to do with such divine irresponsibility, such endless largesse, such an unwillingness on God’s part to build walls or create unneeded boundaries? We must be honest and humble about this: many people of other faiths, like Sufi masters, Jewish prophets, many philosophers, and Hindu mystics, have lived in light of the Divine encounter better than many Christians. And why would a God worthy of the name God not care about all of God’s children? (Read Wisdom 11:23–12:2 for a powerful Scripture in this regard.) Does God really have favorites among God’s children? What an unhappy family that would create—and indeed, has created.9
We are invited to be open to accepting the many paths to God and to transforming envy to service to those who need generosity on their journey.
References
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