I haven't done one of these posts in a while, but I've always loved the Gospel reading for this coming Sunday.
When Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is like . . . ," we know we'll learn a lot by paying attention to how the kingdom is similar to the parable. In this case, while the master (Lord) calls all the laborers, those who labor all day (their whole lives) receive no greater reward than those who enter the vineyard at the very end. Those exhausted laborers are clearly put out by their perceived unjust treatment at the hands of the landowner, and we might agree: something just doesn't seem right.
Some context: I'm no Scripture scholar, but I'd bet that around the time St. Matthew set down his Gospel, the idea of Jesus' imminent return was still pretty common. There were probably many Christians who'd followed the Way for decades - even their whole lives - while others were just entering the community. Perhaps there was quite a bit of jealously among some of the oldsters that these Johnnies-come-lately would receive the same reward. If so, this teaching of Jesus would have been particularly timely for the Church of that day.
Here's what now strikes me reading this parable: when Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is like . . . ," we can also find great insight by focusing on how the kingdom isn't like to the parable. In this case, the dissimilarities are huge.
Consider the wage. In the parable, each laborer receives a denarius, which was a day's wage for a laborer. It certainly wasn't much money, though considered fair, and perhaps easily taken for granted. By contrast, the reward which Christ has purchased for us is to exchange the death we deserve for eternal, abundant life. God gives us His very, infinite Self. What laborer could rightly claim to deserve this, let alone expect more?
It's as if the Lord is saying, "Even if all we were talking about were a pittance, you'd have no room for complaining that I'm generous to others. In truth, my generosity to you is already infinite, and no amount of my sharing it with others could ever diminish it! Your labor ought not be an attempt to earn what is fair, because no amount of toil could wipe away your sin, let alone earn what I give you! Rather, let your works be your loving response to the priceless gift of my love. Instead of being jealous, rejoice that others receive my grace as well!"
Could it be that we, today, often take the Lord's generosity to us for granted, too? I know I'm sometimes tempted to. But I'm also painfully aware of how great my sinfulness has been, and that no amount of my labor could ever wipe it clean.
Thank you, Lord, for your great mercy. May your mercy abound in the lives of others, and may I never grumble against you.
I, too, am fond of that Gospel. And I've viewed that passage as you mention in the beginning. I was hoping to hear about it from that perspective during the homily. Unfortunately (or maybe it's just me) our pastor took another tact and I can't remember what he said.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope he wasn't talking about it the way did at the end of your post. That's another great way to look at it. Thanks for making me think this morning.
You're welcome!
ReplyDeleteBetween you and I, I'm hoping to be selected to our parish pastoral council. I went to an information meeting last night, spent the rest of the night praying, wondering, thinking if this is the right step for me and the church. I believe is is. Thursday night I go in front of the current council. Pray for God's will to be done.
ReplyDeleteI most certainly will.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understand of pastoral councils, they can truly test one's faith! It's an important challenge: to keep a spiritual perspective in the midst of the (sometimes insufficiently prayerful and too businesslike) parish decision-making process. It's so important to have people there who bring the attitude of Christ.
It occurs to me that I went ahead and published your "between you and I" comment before thinking about it. Let me know if you want me to turn the comments off for this post . . .
Not to worry ... I'm not worried about who may read it ... I'm just not going to post it on my blog. (And I always remember that the Internet is basically in the public domain. Just in case I ever run for President of the U.S., I'm careful with what I say!)
ReplyDeleteI would agree with your thoughts about these types of groups. Five of the current 12 members were at the info session. I could sort of tell that the council seems to have the right mentality which is the only reason for wanting to be involved. I've been in a church before (non-catholic, during high school/college) where one man thought he "owned" the church. It led to quite a bit of dischord.
I also think a couple of the candidates last night thought that this group "runs" the parish, even though it was made abundantly clear that this is not the case. It will be interesting to see what happens.
At any rate, I was pleased to see and hear from the people that are advising our pastor.