25th Week in Ordinary Time
24th September 2023 (Sunday) Readings and Reflection
Psalter: Week 1
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Isaiah 55:6-9
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18 (R. 18a)
R/. The Lord is close to all who call him
Second Reading: Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a
Brethren: Christ will be honoured in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. Open our hearts, O Lord, that we may listen to the words of your Son.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel : Matthew 20:1-16
At that time: Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market–place, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the labourers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 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 a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Highlight: Put on God’s mindset!
Guidlines: As true followers of Christ, we are called to put on a new mindset, that is, God’s own, in contrast to the world’s mindset{alertSuccess}
1. What a difference between God and man! God Himself declares this in the clearest terms: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways, says Yahweh. For as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts” (Is 55. 8-9).
2. The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Mt 20. 1-16) clearly illustrates this contrast between the divine mindset and the worldly mindset. God’s mindset is reflected in the mindset of the owner:
3. He pays all the workers in his vineyard, equally, with a denarius each (vv. 9-11), irrespective of the differences in their arrival time and duration of their work – some, early in the morning (v. 1), some, at nine (v. 3), some, at midday (v. 4), some, at three in the noon (v. 4), and some others, at the last hour (v. 6).
4. Obviously, it would be blamed as an unreasonable act of injustice, because how can those who worked so long and hard through the day, and those who hardly worked toward the end, be put on the same plane and be treated equally?
5. This is the typical ordinary human mentality, represented by the early workers: they begin to grumble against the landowner. They said: ‘These last hardly worked an hour, yet you have treated them the same as us who have endured the day’s burden and heat’ “(vv. 10-12).
6. In fact, this will be the perspective and way of thinking and arguing of most of us. And this looks perfectly reasonable and valid. But in truth, this is only selfishness in disguise and a shallow justice.
7. It is because they are bothered only about their right and gain and not the need and good of others. Often fighting for self-interests and individual gains, gets tagged as justice issues. One fails to be sensitive to sense and serve the needs of others.
8. The landowner was in no way unjust to anybody (v. 13: “Friend, I have not been unjust to you. Did we not agree on a denarius a day? So take what is yours and go.”). Plainly speaking, what injustice is done to the earlier workers in the gospel, when the owner gives equally to the last ones as well? The landowner was not unconcerned about the hard work of the earlier workers. He was just towards them. He gave them what was agreed upon.
9. His generosity is his freedom (v. 14-15: “I want to give to the last as I give to you. Don’t I have the right to do as I please with my money?). he was concerned about the need of the last workers. His calculation is not in terms of an ordinary proportion between one’s work and the payment; rather in terms of divine proportion between need and payment.
10. The problem is not his generosity but the jealousy of others (v. 15: “Why are you envious when I am kind?). This is the typical human mentality. Human jealousy often puts brakes on the duty of charity, and also on God’s generosity.
11. Often the generosity shown to others and their subsequent well-being and progress is very much resented. It is not because some injustice is done to us, or we are deprived of our due. It is only because of self-oriented growth and happiness, which cannot rejoice over the good of others.
12. But in contrast, God thinks of the need, and not the merit of the person. His mercy and generosity go beyond what man deserves. This is the free and abundant benevolence of God, which cannot be conditioned by human factors.
13. No one can claim grace and salvation on the merit of his efforts and capacities. Grace is not an acquisition, but is God’s gift. In the light of this parable, a disciple is then called to put on the mind of God and grow more in the spirit of humility, surrender, fraternal sensitivity and generosity.
Practice: Jealousy is destructive, both of the self and of others, while generosity is constructive. The more we think of our duties and not rights, the more we feel concerned about what others need rather than what is our due, there is true justice and charity, and that is the new mindset, of God himself {alertSuccess}