Welcome back to the Redemptorists’ daily reflection series. My name is Father Brian Vaccaro and today is Sunday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time.   

Let us begin +

The Lord be with you. 

R/ And with your spirit.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew.      

Glory to you, O Lord.

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."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

In the parable from the Gospel from today’s liturgy, which I just read, the landowner was totally equal in how he paid the workers. Whether they started at dawn, at 9AM, at midday, or in the afternoon, all of them were paid the same wage. And this is how God treats all people regarding eternal life. All people that make it to heaven get the same reward – eternal life with God. God does not differentiate among those who were life-long faithful followers of God, those who became God’s followers late in life, and those who had a deathbed conversion. 

For human beings, this does not seem fair because we generally judge and treat people using a scale. For example: 

·      People who do a couple of hours of work get paid less than those that work a full day

·      Those who have more education generally get paid more than those who have less education

But this is not how God works because our God is a God of love and mercy. And it is a good thing that our God is not like human beings and does not judge on a scale like we do when it comes to heaven because we are all sinners and, if God judged us on a scale according to our sins, I think that many of us might find ourselves unable to enter heaven. 

But luckily, our loving God has a different standard. If we try to live a good life, if we repent of our sinfulness, if we seek to have a strong relationship with God, and we try to be the people that God has called us to be, regardless of whether we have done this our whole life, or if we started in our 40s, or we started late in life, or if we have a deathbed conversion, all of us can achieve eternal life with God. 

In the parable, the landowner was totally equal in how he paid the workers. In just the same way, God treats all people equally regarding eternal life. So regardless of whether we have been a faithful follower of God for our entire life or if God is calling us now to change our lifestyle and to become His follower, let us strive to be God’s faithful followers each day of our life so that, when we die, eternal life will be ours.

May God bless you!