Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear friends in Christ

There is something rather unsettling about the parable of the workers in the vineyard. We can understand the men who worked all day. They have laboured from the early morning, endured the heat of the day, and naturally expect that their reward will reflect their work. Yet when those who arrived at the very last hour receive the same payment, they are unhappy. It does not seem fair. And perhaps that is precisely why Our Lord tells us this parable. Because we have a tendency to measure everything by what we think we deserve. We look at what others have received, and we compare it with what we have been given. We look at another person's life, another person's family, another person's success, or even another person's place in the Church, and we quietly ask: What about me? But the vineyard belongs to God. The work is His work. And the reward is not something we earn as a right; it is a gift of His generosity.The workers who came at the eleventh hour remind us that it is never too late to turn to God. Perhaps someone has spent years away from Him. Perhaps they have made mistakes, wasted opportunities, or simply neglected their faith. Yet the Lord continues to call: Go you also into my vineyard. And there is another lesson for those of us who have been in the vineyard for many years. We must never allow our fidelity to become a reason for resentment. We should rejoice when another person discovers the mercy of God, even at the last moment of life.

For in the end, none of us stands before God because we have earned our place. We stand there because He is merciful. The great danger is not that God might be too generous with others. The great danger is that we might fail to recognise how generous He has already been to us. So whatever hour it may be, the invitation remains: “Go you also into my vineyard.” There is still work to be done, there is still time to return, and there is still a place for each one of us in the vineyard of the Lord. 

God bless you!

Msgr Kevin Hale