Sunday Readings in Brief 25 A
Isaiah 55:6-9; Ps 145; Philippians 1:20-24.27; Mathew 20:1-6
Generosity vs Jealousy
Dear friends, today is the 25th Sunday of the Ordinary Time. The first reading today is urging us to seek the Lord while he is available. The question we may ask ourselves is if there will come a time when the Lord will not be available. “Seek the Lord, while he is able to be found”. Human beings are religious animals. “We are notoriously religious,” said the late Professor John Mbiti. St. Augustine also reminds us that God created us for himself and that our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.
It is empirically evidence that all that comes to life will one day cease to live. As Christians, and in fact, many other religions believe not only in life after death but also that there will be a day of judgment where each one of us will have to account for his or her life on earth. Jesus elaborates this with a parable of the judgment day in Mathew 25:31-46.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about the three Churches. The first one is the Militant Church, the Church of the believers living on earth marching towards heaven. The second one is the Suffering Church, the Church of those who died in a state of sin and are being purified in Purgatory, and the third one is the Triumphant Church, the Church of the victorious who are already in Heaven after conquering the world through faith and the blood of the lamb and are eternally beholding the glory of God. It is only when we are on earth that we can seek the Lord. When we die we will have no chance to look for him anymore. We will have to accept the consequences of the choices we will have made before death.
In the Gospel passage today, we hear of the story of the envious and jealous laborers who were angry with the generous landowner. This is because he chose to pay all the laborers who worked in his vineyard the wages they had agreed upon despite the time each one of them reported to work. According to one of the first ones to come, the owner of the field was unjust to them. He was supposed to either increase the wage or reduce that of those who came last because it would be unfair for him to treat them equally. Their judgment was that the latecomers did not deserve a full day’s wage. however, from the parable, we know that the laborers who came late had spent the whole day without anyone offering them any job. This landowner made their day when all hope was lost. I do not think that these late laborers expected to get a full day’s wage. They must have been so surprised because of the landowner’s generosity. In principle, the landowner did what was just according to the agreement but in the eyes of the first laborers, and indeed, in our own eyes, it seems that the owner did not do justice to those who came first. This is a common attitude among many people including Christians.
The question here is not about coming first or last but the agreement the owner made with each laborer. God has promised salvation to all who turn from evil and do his will no matter when they choose to. I have a similar experience to that of the jealous laborers in my own mission.
The Maasai people (where I work as a missionary) have one of the most elaborate cultural hierarchy structures I have ever known. A person’s dignity, status, respect, and privileges are proportionate to his or her gender, age, and wealth. Men have about 7 age groups hierarchically structured. Women have about 4. The order of dignity begins with elderly men, those married and wealthy, the married, elderly women, married women, the worriers, and then children. However, sometimes the cattle come before women and children. The lower rank cannot direct, instruct, or command the ones higher than them. This brings a lot of challenges when it comes to Church leadership. Men feel that it is their right to be the leaders of their Faith communities whether baptized one week ago or regardless of whether they practice their faith or not. If women and young men become leaders, they protest in many ways including, stopping going to Church, denying their wives and children permission to go to church, and because they are the owners of all resources, they refuse to give any contributions.
This attitude is not only with the Maasai culture, but also very dominant among various ethnic groupings, races, and economic classes. There are those who feel that because they come from certain ethnic communities, races, economic classes, or countries, are superior or more privileged than others. This attitude is not uncommon even in religious circles. The disappointment for such people is that in the eyes of God, we are all equal. No one can claim any merit before God but rather we depend on his mercy and grace. Death and the mysterious life after death are equalizers for all despite the differences here on Earth.
Dear friends, as we reflect upon the readings today, I invite each one of us to introspect and see if at any moment we consider ourselves more deserving than others. Do I feel jealous when others succeed? Do I envy the progress of others? Do I feel uncomfortable with the achievements of others? However, since many of us like playing the victim, it is good also to note that if we protest discrimination and belittlement that we suffer from others by doing the same to them in return, then we are not in any way different from them, but if anything, we are worse than them. Our goodness should go beyond the weakness of others. The way we treat others in return for how they have treated us is the measure of who we truly are.
Have a blessed Sunday.
Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 