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Gospel Reading for August 21, 2024 – Matthew 20: 1-16
NO ONE IS ENTITLED
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.”
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With God, everyone is equal. We cannot say that we are the biggest benefactors in Church, or we have been volunteers in Church for a long time, or that a lot of our time is given to the salvific mission of Christ, or that we have always been good so we should be receiving more graces than others. With God, NO ONE IS ENTITLED. As Jesus said in Matthew 5: 45: “. . . He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” God is a good parent who loves all his children equally, whether they are good or bad. The love he gives is very powerful, and can transform the children who are not good.
Lord God, the best we can do is, THANK YOU for all you have given and done for us!
