Catechism Links[1]
CCC 210-211: God of mercy and
pietyCCC 588-589: Jesus identifies his compassion to sinners with God’s
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| “Parable Of The Laborers In The Vineyard” By Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn |
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.
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Commentary on Is
55:6-9
This passage
begins with an exhortation to seek the Lord through prayer (call him while
he is near), and to repent from sinful ways, asking for God's forgiveness.
The author captures the perfection of God's thoughts (and of Christ's
actions prophetically), expressing the perfection of God contrasted with the
fallen and sinful nature of mankind. The passage is taken from what is known as
“Deutero-Isaiah,” that part written after the Babylonian exile. Using words
common to the Old Testament (see Amos 5:4, and Psalm 9:11), the prophet exhorts the people to
return to God. The essential paradox of God’s presence is explained: “God is
transcendent yet near enough to help; man is helpless yet expected to act
energetically, the ways of God are exalted yet required of man.”[5]
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R. (18a) 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.
R. 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.
R. 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.
R. The Lord is
near to all who call upon him.
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Commentary on Ps
145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18
CCC: Ps 145:3 300; Ps 145:9 295, 342
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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.
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Commentary on Phil
1:20c-24, 27a
CCC: Phil 1:21 1010, 1698; Phil 1:23 1005, 1011, 1021, 1025; Phil 1:27 1692
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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.”
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Commentary on Mt
20:1-16a
The parable of
the Laborers Hired Late continues the dialogue from Matthew 19:30: “the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
The inference here changes slightly: in Matthew 19:23-30 the Lord referred to those who would follow him into
eternal life, while here he broadens the scope to imply that those called later
to faithful service would receive the same reward as those first called.
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Reflection:
Scripture today gives a
unified call to come to faith in God and Christ. Taken out of context, one might believe the
Gospel parable of the Laborers Called
Late might be seen as an invitation to procrastinate in responding to that
call. After all, why commit to the
difficult path our faith requires if those who turn to an easier path and come
late to faith will receive the same reward as we who strive to follow that path
through most of our lives?
There must be reasons beyond
the promise that comes at the end of the journey. One of these is shown in St. Paul
What is it then that makes
life worth living? It is clearly not the
excesses of the hedonistic goals society seems to embrace. This lifestyle and world-view lead to
spiritual death. If wealth is what is to
be pursued, there will never be enough, and even when great wealth is
accumulated, those who achieve it find it an empty promise, a hollow shell with
no life, no warmth, no peace. No, life
does not find fulfillment in “things.”
Neither does life find
fulfillment in labor, even labor for a worthy cause. Fulfillment comes from an inner peace, and
inner peace comes from the satisfaction of knowing that one is valued, supported,
and protected by God. It comes from
knowing that nothing can take that peace from us while we remain in a lived
relationship with God through Christ.
And when we enjoy that peace, in communion with others similarly
motivated and infused, the resonance of their peace enhances our own.
Looking at those laborers who
came late we see that indeed they will receive a reward for their labor. Placed in the context of faithful service
however, those who have labored long have received the rewards of their labor
in the sense of fulfillment one finds in doing good things well. To put it
another way, who would find their life’s experience better, a person who lived
most of their life as a slave or one who lived their life free?
It is spiritual peace and the
joy that flows from that motivates us to take up the mind of Christ as soon as
we can, and maintain it throughout our lives.
While those who come late may receive the same reward, we who stay on
the path longer derive greater joy in the promise fulfilled.
Pax
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, Published by the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014
[2]
The Picture Used Is “Parable Of The Laborers In The Vineyard” By Rembrandt Harmenszoon
van Rijn
[4]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
[5]
Jerome Biblical Commentary, ©
1968 Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood
Cliffs, N.J., 22:49, pp. 380
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