Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading 1: Is 55:6-9
Reading 2: Phil 1:20c-24, 27a
Gospel: Mt 20:1-16a
Our first reading is from that portion of the Book of Isaiah generally referred to as “Deutero-Isaiah” (chapters 40-55) and is believed to have been composed toward the end of the Babylonian Exile, around 540 B.C. Specifically, chapter 55 is entitled “An Invitation to Grace” and begins with: “All you who are thirsty, come to the water…without paying and without cost.” As this is believed to have been written toward the end of the exile the author is essentially reminding the people that it was sin and evil that caused the exile, but that God is also eternally merciful and forgiving and is extending “An Invitation to Grace” if they will “turn to the Lord for mercy.” As the Book of Isaiah is an Old Testament document, it was specifically written to the Jews, but in the Christian tradition, it has a message for us as well.
The message of this chapter is that God’s mercy and salvation are freely extended to all who will turn to God and seek forgiveness by their way of life. In our reading from verses 6-9 the author implores the Jews (and by extension, us) to seek God before it is too late, and to seek His mercy and forgiveness by abandoning wicked ways and thoughts, knowing that God sees all and knows all, and so our sinful thoughts cannot be hidden from God. Therefore, the author’s message to us in this reading is that God’s grace is freely offered to all who will accept the offer and will turn to Him with humility and sincerity of heart. That message will be found in the “Golden Thread” as we will see in our gospel passage.
In contrast, our second reading from the Letter to the Philippians is not directed to the Jews but to one of the Gentile communities founded by St. Paul. St. Paul, who was the Apostle to the Gentiles, tells us that he would rather die and be with Christ, but that God has determined that he should “remain in the flesh” for the benefit of the Gentile Christian communities he has founded. But that benefit will be realized only if they (and we) “conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.”
Our gospel passage from chapter 20 of Matthew is entitled “The Workers in the Vineyard” and is a parable used by Jesus to teach several important lessons. First of all, this parable is not strictly hypothetical. Day laborers did gather in the marketplace each morning hoping for work and if they weren’t hired, their families suffered as the daily wage was barely enough to feed the family for one day. We see the compassion of the landowner (who represents God in this parable) who hired those late in the day who were unable to find work and gave them a full day’s pay so their families wouldn’t suffer. And if we understand that the “day’s pay” in this parable is not an amount of money but is God’s grace, then we see that God dispenses His grace lavishly on all who will accept that grace, weather they come to faith early in life or late.
We could also see this parable as a lesson for all of us who have been Christian (and specifically Catholic Christian) all of our lives and may tend to feel we have an advantage in our quest for salvation over those who turn to faith late in life. God doesn’t care when we turn to him as long as we do so with true devotion and humility.
As the apostles and many others who followed Jesus in his ministry were Jews, this could also be a lesson for Jewish Christians. There was great hostility between Jew and Gentile at the time of Jesus and, as many of the future Christian communities that will be formed through the work of St. Paul will be Gentile in nature, that hostile attitude could be carried into those communities. The Jews rightfully believed themselves to be “The Chosen People.” Therefore, many early Jewish Christians believed that if Gentiles wanted to become Christian, they had to first become Jews and follow Jewish law. This parable tells them that the reward of Christianity is salvation – it doesn’t get any better than that – and that reward comes through faith. It doesn’t matter from whom or when that faith comes about, the reward is the same. The Jews were the first to receive the gospel message through the apostles, but the majority of them have, as yet, refused to accept the message. They will eventually accept the gospel and chapter 11 of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans explains how that will come about. So, the Jews, who were the first but have rejected, will be the last; but the Gentiles who were the last to receive the gospel were the first to accept it. “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.”
The message of our readings this week is that what we receive from God is grace, and that grace is not a reward based on how long we have tried to live a Christian life, it is a God-given power to continue the quest for that lifestyle with sincere devotion and humility before God. Those who turn to God late in life, but do so with devotion and humility (for example the Jews), will be just as welcomed by God as those who have tried to be faithful for a lifetime. Remember the account of the “Good Thief” in chapter 23 of the Gospel of Luke who was being crucified along with Jesus and with another thief. The other thief mocked Jesus and said that, if Jesus was the Messiah, he should save himself and the thieves. But the “Good Thief” admitted that he was being justly punished for his sins and asked Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom. He was sorry for his sins and heard Jesus say to him: “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
The “Golden Thread?” God sees all things and knows the secrets of our hearts. If we turn to God with contrition in our hearts and with confession on our lips for the sins we have committed, and if we firmly intend to amend our ways, God will hear our prayer and know our intentions to reform so that we may receive the grace of redemption. It is never too late to turn to God, until we draw our last breath. The following may help:
The Act of Contrition: “Oh my God, I am heartily sorry that I have offended thee and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell but even more because they have offended thee, my God, who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.”
