Sep 15, 2014
Readings
Isaiah 55:6-9
Psalm145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18
Philippians 1:20-24, 27
Matthew 20:1-16
The house of Israel is the vine of God - who planted and watered
it, preparing the Israelites to bear fruits of righteousness (see
Isaiah 5:7;
27:2-5).
Israel failed to yield good fruits and the Lord allowed His
vineyard, Israel's kingdom, to be overrun by conquerors (see
Psalm 80:9-20). But God promised that one
day He would replant His vineyard and its shoots would blossom to
the ends of the earth (see Amos 9:15; Hosea 14:5-10).
This is the biblical backdrop to Jesus' parable of salvation
history in today's Gospel. The landowner is God. The vineyard is
the kingdom. The workers hired at dawn are the Israelites, to whom
He first offered His covenant. Those hired later in the day are the
Gentiles, the non-Israelites, who, until the coming of Christ, were
strangers to the covenants of promise (see
Ephesians 2:11-13). In the Lord's great generosity, the
same wages, the same blessings promised to the first-called, the
Israelites, will be paid to those called last, the rest of the
nations.
This provokes grumbling in today's parable. Doesn't the complaint
of those first laborers sound like that of the older brother in
Jesus' prodigal son parable (see Luke 15:29-30)? God's ways, however, are
far from our ways, as we hear in today's First Reading. And today's
readings should caution us against the temptation to resent God's
lavish mercy.
Like the Gentiles, many will be allowed to enter the kingdom late -
after having spent most of their days idling in sin.
But even these can call upon Him and find Him near, as we sing in
today's Pslam. We should rejoice that God has compassion on all
whom He has created. This should console us, too, especially if we
have loved ones who remain far from the vineyard.
Our task is to continue laboring in His vineyard. As Paul says in
today's Epistle, let us conduct ourselves worthily, struggling to
bring all men and women to the praise of His name.