GOSPEL POWER | AUGUST 18, 2021 - Wednesday - 20th Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Jgs 9:6-15 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 21 – Lord, in your strength the king is glad. 

Gospel: Mt 20:1-16 

Jesus told his disciples this parable,  “The kingdom of heaven is like  a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for  his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily  wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine  o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said  to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is  right.’ So they went.  When he went out again about noon and about  three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out  and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are  you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one  has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When  evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call  the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then  going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of  them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they  thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the  usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against  the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you  have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day  and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am  doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily  wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last  the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with  what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So  the last will be first, and the first will be last

Reflection:

Today’s Gospel-parable gives us a glimpse of God’s  concern that all of us should achieve the purpose of our  existence and that no one should live an aimless, senseless  life of idleness. God personally comes to involve us in the great  divine project. Do we see our involvement as a heavy burden, just as  the early workers grudgingly describe it when they receive their wage  at the end of the day? Or do we see it as an undeserved opportunity,  a provision by a generous benefactor? When we finally achieve the  purpose of our earthly existence, will numbers still matter? At the  threshold of eternity, will counting and comparing working hours  and wages make any difference?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you for involving us in the divine project, thus  enabling us to fulfill our life’s purpose. Amen