Dear Friends,
Every three years, this rather puzzling Gospel of the workers in the vineyard is read on the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Some workers put in longer hours than others. All got paid equally. The good guys lose again! Right? Unfair!?
Our interpretation depends on what we know about the reasons this parable was included in the Gospel of Matthew and its possible value in our lives.
The audience for this parable is, in the first place, the Pharisees pressing Jesus with their narrow attitudes. They complained that he treated sinners too well. Jesus welcomed them, dined with them, helped them. The generosity of God’s love infuriated the Pharisees.
Forty years later, Matthew’s community was dealing with the influx of Gentiles into their community. Matthew’s community is composed mainly of Jewish people who had embraced Christ in faith and could not fathom how these Gentiles – foreigners, pagans, unbelievers, outsiders – could be on equal footing with themselves – God’s chosen people. Thus, Matthew is using this story of God’s graciousness to address the smallness of the community’s thinking.
This parable is not about labor relations or hourly wages, though it might seem so. It is rather about God’s generosity, which, in our own lives, we emulate by being generous as well.
All generosity is unfair. It is God’s choice when, where and how to be generous. That’s so hard to accept, yet don’t we do the same?
How about parents who treat their children as individuals? At times, one child may have a singular need. When attention is given to the one, other children in the family may grumble and probably do, but the parents make their choice according to their own vision.
A modern-day version of this story can be found in the actions of Pope Francis, whose constant theme song is God’s merciful love and care. Some years ago, Pope Francis presided at the marriage of 20 couples. Later, it became known that some of the couples had been living together and one of the couples had a child. You can imagine the response. Some rejoiced, others – the modern-day Pharisees – were furious. Pope Francis and these couples had not followed the rules.
Today’s first reading from Isaiah gives us an important clue for understanding Jesus’ thinking. It was a passage Jesus knew well and had depended on in His words and actions: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways. As high as the heavens are above the earth. So high are my ways above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts.”
So, when we take the opportunity to include others in our communities and neighborhoods, we are on fertile ground to do so. The word “exclusion” is not part of God’s vocabulary.
~ Sister Joan Sobala
