“Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?”
At first reading of this parable from Matthew’s Gospel, I am sure we all would side with the workers who who worked all daly long and find out that those who were only working for an hour are receiving the same wage as they are.
Why does this particular parable cause us to maybe get a little nervous? Maybe it is because we basically look at life as “good or bad”. If I am hired to do a job, and I agree for a price, and in the meantime someone else come along to do what I am doing, but only works about a third of the time that I do, well, yes, I would expect that I would be paid more than the guy who worked only an hour or two.
Sounds right, no? Well Jesus would then say to us, “You think as a human, and not as God.”I guess that may be an acceptable answer, but we may still feel that we have been cheated.
One commentator said, “God’s boundless grace showing that His rewards are given according to His generosity, not human notion of fairness.”
Generosity, I guess it is a word that we should try to live out in our Christian lives. The author Kristine Armstrong tells us, “I write about the power of trying because I want to be okey with failing. I write about generosity because I battle selfishness. I write about joy because I know sorrow. I write about faith because I almost lost mine, and I know what it is to be broken and in need of redemption. I write about gratitude because I am thankful – for all of it.”
Yes, we have to keep in mind that we think as humans, right and wrong. God looks into the soul and may see someone who truly shared and love in life, and then He may see in another soul who may have taken a different path, but God’s generous love says OK.
We may be very surprised at the seating arraignment at the banquet of heaven and who we may be seated next to.
Peace and All Good,Fr. Vinnie, osf
and theBros and Srs of the
Franciscan House of Prayer.
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