Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

 

“You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.”

 

Gospel Reading: Matthew: 20:1-16

 

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’ So they went off.  And he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’ When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’ He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

 

Today’s gospel reading presents the power of God’s grace.  Who deserves the rewards of heaven more - the person who worked all their life for God or the person who found God just minutes before their death. Jesus answers this question in the parable about the laborers in the vineyard. First thing in the morning, the owner goes out and gathers a group of laborers and agrees to pay them a day’s salary. These people represent the people who all their life were committed to leading a life of Christ.  Each hour throughout the day, the master hires more laborers. These represent the people who find Jesus Christ and make Christ the center of their life sometime during their life.  At the very end of the day, he still hires more laborers.  These people represent those of us who find Christ at the very end of life, may be even after we find out we have a short time left to live.  For their portion of the work, each of the laborers receives the same pay. The laborers that worked only one hour were paid the same amount as the laborers that had worked 12 hours. Jesus is telling us that God’s grace is not measured in quantity but in the fact that we have allowed God’s grace to fill our soul.  There is no set amount of grace one must earn to enter heaven, one only needs to freely accept God’s grace with humility.

 

As Jesus tells us, some of us may not think that is fair.  The laborers that worked 12 hours complained to the master, “These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.” But the master replied, “My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?” The Kingdom of heaven is our soul.  God does not care when we find him, but only that we find him and let him into our soul. All our labor is equal if it is given to God in heaven. Our God is most generous and most forgiving. Why should we expect anything else from Him? If He is truly compassionate, then the last will receive what He has given the first. We should feel relieved that all the lambs we bring to God will be allowed into the Kingdom of heaven. This is also why we must be forgiving and not dwell on the past. We should only look to the future when we all celebrate at the table of our Lord.

 

A Simple Prayer

 

Lord, I am your servant and your laborer,

May I be worthy to sit at your table.

Give me the strength to bring others to your table.

 

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon