Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
My dear parishioners,
God is Good!!! All the Time!!! And All the Time!!! God is Good!!!
This passage offers a fitting conclusion to a series of oracles contrasting an ideal servant of the Lord with the lifeless idols the people of Israel so often found very enticing. With the people made wiser by the experience of exile, at last ready to listen to his words, the prophet seizes the opportunity to point them towards the path of life.
The last verse of the previous pericope regarding the rich young man (9:30) and the last verse of the present passage (20:16) gives a strong interpretive hint for reading today’s Gospel. “The last will be first and the first will be last.” Many past and present interpreters have wrestled over the possible meaning of the workers in the vineyard story. Some say it is an allegory about salvation history while others claim it is a literal statement about God’s economics. Whatever else it might mean, a careful reading seems to indicate that the primary theme is God’s extraordinary generosity contrasted with the exploitative practices of many human landowners.
The hiring of day workers. The story is structured around the hiring of day workers to work in the owner’s vineyard. Some workers are hired at dawn, then others at 9:00 a.m., and again at noon, and finally at 5:00 p.m. All agree to work for the acceptable wage of one denarius, the usual daily wage. Thus far, the story depicts the plight of day laborers in a very realistic manner.
The day workers are paid. Here the story begins to take a very interesting twist. The foreman is instructed to pay the day workers in the reverse order in which they were hired. Thus, those hired first will be paid last. They can also see how much all those hired after them received. Those who were hired first worked longer and, therefore, expected to be paid more than those who came later. However, that is not what happens. All the workers received the same pay of one denarius. Those who worked longer complain to the landowner that this is unjust.
‘Are you envious because I am generous?’ Is the landowner really generous? Those who worked all day and received the same amount of money as those who worked only a short period think the landowner is unjust. If you were among those who were hired last but still received the full day’s wages, you would consider the landowner generous, which in this case would override being just. Is the landowner free to do what he wishes with his own money? The economics of the kingdom of heaven differ from those practiced in human kingdoms.
Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org.©2023. All rights reserved
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Aloysius