The Workers in the Vineyard

Today's Reflections 

 

                            

The Workers in the Vineyard

Mt 20:1-16

[Jesus said to his disciples,] ¹“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. ²After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. ³Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’ ⁵So they went off. [And] he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. ⁶Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ ⁷They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’ ⁸When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ ⁹When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. ¹⁰So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. ¹¹And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, ¹²saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’ ¹³He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? ¹⁴Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? ¹⁵[Or] am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ ¹⁶Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

A landowner… went out at dawn to hire laborers. Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a compassionate landowner who hires workers at different times of the day. When the workday ends, he pays all the workers the same amount, much to the dismay of those hired at dawn. The landlord says he is paying everyone the same amount because of his generosity.

We who follow Jesus are equal in God’s eyes. No matter the type of work we do in helping spread the message of love and salvation, no matter how early or how late in life we start doing it, we all stand to inherit eternal life.

On this centenary of the foundation of the Society of Saint Paul,

we are grateful to the Landowner for hiring us to work

as modern apostles bringing the Good News to the world

through the media of social communication. Mi protendo in avanti!