Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
August 17, 2011
By Colleen O'Sullivan
Jesus told the disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’ So they went off. And he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’ When 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.’ When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’ He 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? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:1-16)
Piety
I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. (Psalm 13:6)
Study
I wonder how long it took human beings to come up with the phrase “it’s not fair.” It must have been early in our history, because jealousy and resentment date back to Cain and Abel’s day. Cain thought God preferred his brother’s sacrifice of a sheep to his own offering of grain. Envy simmered for a while and then suddenly boiled over into hatred, resulting in Cain murdering his brother.
We don’t seem to have changed much over the centuries. We’re still taking our eyes off the Lord and his goodness toward us, checking out everyone else’s grass, often judging it greener than our own and then complaining that “it’s not fair.” Certainly that’s true of the workers in today’s parable. The ones hired in the morning couldn’t believe that those hired toward the end of the day received the same pay they did after they had toiled all day long. Wait a minute, they protested. It’s not fair! If they had stayed focused on their reward from the vineyard owner, they would have been perfectly happy. They were paid what was promised. They had what they needed. But that little jealous streak within them caused them to look around and compare. They couldn’t find it within themselves to rejoice at the good fortune of the others. They couldn’t stop thinking how unfair it was.
Jealousy and resentment are so ugly and so unnecessary. God has love enough for all of us. God gives each of us all the love he has. God is the ultimate parent and those of you who have children know that no matter how many you are blessed with, you never run short on love for any of them. Your heart expands as each one comes along. That’s how God’s love is for us – abundant, overflowing and sufficient.
Personally, I’m glad God isn’t fair, by our definition of the word. I’d rather be showered with God’s love, mercy and forgiveness than treated fairly, or according to what I deserve. I know myself, my sins and faults too well to ever wish God would be “fair.”
Action
Do you ever find yourself jealous of or resentful toward someone else? Spend a little time in prayer reflecting on God’s love for you. Why wish for what you don’t have when you have what really matters?
