25th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Reflection: Seeking God helps us understand God
By SISTER MARY McGLONE
When I was a kid, Mom used to sing this ditty to me: “Mother, Mother, may I go out to swim? Yes, my darling daughter. Hang your clothes on a hickory limb, but don’t go near the water.”
(Would it have been different had I been a boy? Perhaps, “Yes, my beloved son. Take off your clothes and dive right in, I want you to have fun.”)
That time is long past. Now I can swim when I want and instead find myself bamboozled by Isaiah who tells us, “Seek while God can be found!” and quotes God as saying, “My thoughts are not your thoughts … as high as the heavens are above the Earth, so high are my ways above yours.”
What are we to do? Where are we to seek God? And ultimately, why?
Responding to, if not exactly answering, this question, we have today’s parable of the landowner and the day laborers who got paid equally, no matter how long they worked. Except for the prodigal son, few parables disturb people more than this one. It’s not fair. Who wants a kingdom of heaven that runs on this sort of rule?
Really, what’s the point of spending oneself all day if people who only work an hour get the same reward? It reminds me of the story of Constantine. They say that in the year 312, Constantine had a vision of a cross and the phrase, “In this sign, conquer.” After winning a key battle under the sign of Christ, he and another emperor issued the Edict of Milan, legalizing Christianity. While Constantine claimed to believe in Christianity, he realized that its moral demands would have hindered his style — activities such as the murder of his wife and son — so he waited to be baptized until he was on his deathbed. Forgiveness of sin and a straight path to heaven! Was he following the moral of this week’s parable?
One line in the parable of the vineyard workers suggests a key to understanding it. Replying to the disgruntled folks who “bore the day’s burden and the heat,” the owner asked, “Are you envious because I am generous?”
Let’s take a look at the workers’ envy. What did they want from the owner? It seems they had no concern about the vineyard itself, only the salary. Like hired shepherds, they were contract workers, they had no stake in the produce; any job would have been the same to them as long as they received the payment they thought they deserved.
This is not to say that the latecomers (and Constantine?) were any more sincerely committed to the owner and the crop. The generous proprietor might not have even expected their loyalty. He focused at least as much on the good of the workers as on the work itself. None of the workers had more need of a wage than others; the families of those who had waited all day to be hired would be just as hungry as the families of those who worked all that time. The owner gave all of them what they needed to survive.
Taking this one step further, we might ask who among the workers might have cared as much about the landowner as he cared for them? A worker who is identified with the owner shares his care for the vineyard. For that person, the work itself is a reward and the pay is just one dimension of belonging to a group with a shared project. A worker who shares the owner’s motivation becomes one with the owner.
This thinking may help lead us to a better understanding of the God whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are far above ours. Sometimes we look at religion as a transactional affair: If we do good, we’ll get rewarded, if not, we’ll be punished. Thus, like Constantine, we shoot for the best we can get with the least disturbance to other priorities.
Jesus said that this parable was about the kingdom of heaven — a realm that doesn’t operate as a transactional system. This parable introduces us to an owner who cares for both workers and the vineyard, an owner criticized primarily for his generosity. This is the sort of owner that one can trust to look out for the common good. This owner seeks others who will share his priorities, who can catch some of his spirit. In Paul’s words, he looks for people who will live for something more than themselves.
Isaiah left us asking how to find God. Jesus’ parable of the owner and workers suggests that getting caught up in God’s work will reveal who God is and draw us into the joy of living generously. That’s more than fair.
First Reading
(Isaiah 55: 6-9)
Seek the LORD while he may be found,
call him while he is near.
Let the scoundrel forsake his way,
and the wicked his thoughts;
let him turn to the LORD for mercy;
to our God, who is generous in forgiving.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so high are my ways above your ways
and my thoughts above your thoughts.
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 145: 2-3,8-9.17-18)
The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
Second Reading
(Philippians 1: 20c-24, 27a)
Brothers and sisters:
Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.
If I go on living in the flesh,
that means fruitful labor for me.
And I do not know which I shall choose.
I am caught between the two.
I long to depart this life and be with Christ,
for that is far better.
Yet that I remain in the flesh
Is more necessary for your benefit.
Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Gospel
(Matthew 20: 1-16A)
Jesus told his 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,
the landowner 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,
the landowner 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.”
