Reading I: Is. 55:6-9
Psalm: 145
Reading II: Philippians
1: 20c-24, 27a
Gospel: Mt. 20:1-16a
Sometimes when people read the Parable of the Landowner and His Workers, they consider the actions of the owner to be unjust. It doesn’t seem fair that those who worked all day should receive the same pay as those who come later in the day.
The parable is teaching us how God deals with us. He is more generous than justice would require. He sees our situations and limitations and knows our needs. Perhaps, the man who arrived later may have had a large family. With a small wage, he may not have been able to feed his family. Maybe it wasn’t his fault that he arrived later. Maybe God judges need rather than details.
We have seen Jesus showing the mercy of God over and over in the Scriptures. All He asks of us is to pass it on to our fellow humans and even to ourselves. Sometimes, forgiving ourselves can seem even more difficult than forgiving others. In an attempt to understand why, I prayed and did some research.
The bad feelings can come from many different sources. At times, there is a real harm done to another, and sometimes it is an imagined offense or derived from a sense of inadequacy.
Here are some suggestions for handling the situation:
1. Admit the harm done without exaggerating or minimizing it.
2. Recall your state of mind at the time of the offense.
3. Acknowledge realistically your part in the hurt and that there may have been things not under your control.
4. Dialogue with the person, whether living in person or by doing something like writing a letter to one who has passed, or is inaccessible.
5. Pray - placing them into the Hands of the merciful Lord
6. Cast your real or imagined guilt into the burning Heart of Jesus.
This morning I attended the funeral of one of our Sisters. She
chose the following poem for the back of her memorial card.
It is a wonderful final message for us all...it is this week’s inspiration
for reflection.
The Weaver
My life is but a weaving
Between my Lord and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He worketh steadily.
Of times He weaveth sorrow.
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
and I the underside.
Not till the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
in the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.
Spanish Translation of Reflection Above...
Nuestro Generoso Señor
A veces, cuando la gente lee la Parábola del terrateniente y sus trabajadores, consideran que las acciones del dueño son injustas.
No parece justo que los que trabajaron todo el día deben recibir el mismo sueldo que los que vienen más tarde en el día.
No parece justo que los que trabajaron todo el día deben recibir el mismo sueldo que los que vienen más tarde en el día.
La parábola nos enseña cómo Dios trata con nosotros. Es más generoso de lo que la justicia exigiría. Ve nuestras situaciones y limitaciones y conoce nuestras necesidades. Tal vez, el hombre que llegó más tarde puede haber tenido una familia numerosa. Con un pequeño salario, no pudo haber podido alimentar a su familia. Tal vez no era su culpa que llegara más tarde. Tal vez Dios juzgue más que
los detalles.
los detalles.
Hemos visto a Jesús mostrando la misericordia de Dios una y otra vez en las Escrituras. Todo lo que nos pide es transmitirlo a nuestros semejantes humanos e incluso a nosotros mismos. A veces, perdonarnos a nosotros mismos puede parecer aún más difícil que perdonar a otros. En un intento de entender por qué, oré y hice algunas investigaciones.
Los malos sentimientos pueden venir de muchas fuentes diferentes.
A veces, hay un daño real hecho a otro, ya veces es una ofensa imaginada o derivada de un sentido de la inadecuación.
A veces, hay un daño real hecho a otro, ya veces es una ofensa imaginada o derivada de un sentido de la inadecuación.
Estas son algunas sugerencias para manejar la situación:
1. Admitir el daño hecho sin exagerar o minimizarlo.
2. Recuerde su estado de ánimo en el momento del delito.
3. Reconozca de manera realista su parte en el daño y que puede haber habido cosas que no están bajo su control.
4. Diálogo con la persona, ya sea viviendo en persona o haciendo algo como escribir una carta a alguien que ha pasado, o es inaccesible.
5. Orar: ponerlos en las manos del misericordioso Señor
6. Echa tu culpa real o imaginada en el corazón ardiente de Jesús.
Ella eligió el siguiente poema para el reverso de su tarjeta conmemorativa. Es un maravilloso mensaje final para todos nosotros ... es la inspiración de esta semana para la reflexión.
El Tejedor
Mi vida es solo un tejido
Entre mi Señor y yo.
No puedo elegir los colores
Trabaja constantemente.
De vez en cuando él trae tristeza.
Y yo en el orgullo tonto
Olvida que vea lo alto
y yo la parte inferior.
No hasta que el telar quede en silencio
Y los transbordadores dejan de volar
Dios desenrolla el lienzo
Y explica la razón por la cual.
Los hilos oscuros son tan necesarios
en la hábil mano del tejedor
Como los hilos de oro y plata
En el patrón que ha planeado.
This past week I accompanied my son to a medical appointment he had at a center city hospital. As we made our way down one of the long city blocks we noticed a line, with well over one-hundred people, outside a Philadelphia health clinic. It was only 9:00 am on a very hot and humid Thursday morning. After our appointment we went in search of a café to have lunch. All along the streets were weary-looking individuals with signs asking for help. Most signs read, “hungry and homeless.” This was not our first exposure to such situations; we volunteered for years at a soup kitchen where the poor and homeless, drug addicts, alcoholics, and prostitutes gathered and waited in a long line anticipating their turn to sit down and be served a meal. Even on my weekday drive to work there are homeless and otherwise beat individuals begging for financial assistance. I mention all of this because today’s gospel seems to focus on people in need.
ReplyDeleteWe might ask what kind of people are the last to find jobs and hired only when there’s no other labor available. In an article entitled, “Justice comes in the Evening,” author Matthew Skinner writes, “Nothing suggests that those characters in the parable are irresponsible or lazy. More likely, they are unwanted.” He asks, “Who spends the whole day waiting to be hired but doesn’t find success until the end of the day? In Jesus’ time, these would be the weak, infirmed, and disabled. Maybe the elderly, too, and other targets of discrimination...” Today, we would also include the unemployed, the underemployed, those who are addicted and struggling to stay clean and undocumented immigrants, to name a few.
Had I not been so powerfully reminded of the plight of those living on the fringe of society, waiting for respite, I might have sided with the full day workers – understanding their resentment and questioning the landowner’s logic regarding wages paid. Of course the landowner in the parable is God and, as Skinner states, “So excessive is God’s propensity to give and care, it violates our instincts about fairness. Such justice looks rash – even though the landowner does give the complaining workers exactly what he promised them.”
Throughout his ministry Jesus’ words and actions spoke of God’s justice and concern for the poor and outcast. This gospel also addresses a message made in another parable that the last will be first and the first will be last. God rewards his people in ways that do not necessarily match what we regard as conventional but we do see that His agreement with each group is fair and generous. An important lesson for me is that I should be grateful for the gifts and blessings that I have and not compare them to what someone else has. When I compare I tend to get into judging fairness. What an insult to God who has given me so much.
Lastly, the characters in the story responded to the opportunity to work in the Lord’s vineyard when the invitation was made to them. I find myself pondering if I am responding to opportunities to serve – am I even noticing them? Is my response to those less fortunate equitable compared to my blessings? Are there action steps I could take to help alleviate the burdens of those in need?
For now I pray that God will bring justice to those who suffer poverty, injustice or oppression and that He will have mercy on us all.
Pat C., ASBS
Sr. Therese Mary wrote: Yes, regarding the "Parable of the Landowner and His Workers," it seems obvious that the owner deserved praise rather than blame when he paid that later arrival a full dau's wages. He must have been a kindhearted man. (The reactions of the other workers,of course, belong in a different category.) Many different interpretations of this have appeared through the years. Much to my surprise and approval, once a fifth-grade child suggested that the payroll man just didn't have any more money to give the regular workers. Well whatever the details of the story might have been, we are definitely certain
ReplyDeleteabout one basic fact. As you mentioned, Sister, our Lord is more generous than Justice would require." How grateful we are!
Pat C, thank you for the wonderful reminder that the later workers were probably made up of what we consider the "non-desirables", those who have impairments or disabilities or those who were marginalized by life’s circumstances. It puts a whole different perspective and brings great sense to this parable. It also reminds me of one of my favorite quotes which comes from the wise Benjamin Franklin...“Who is Rich? He who rejoices in his portion.” I think that embodies the attitude you have adopted and suggest we all embrace...that we should be grateful for our own gifts and blessings rather than comparing those to what others have.
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