They don’t deserve the same as we get, do they? we are often covetous and jealous

Entry into God’s kingdom is not gained by our work or action, but by the God's forgiveness.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Ezekiel 34:1-11*

The word of Yahweh 

Came to me in these terms,   “Son of man, speak on my behalf against the shep­herds of Israel! Say to the shepherds on my be­half: Woe to the shepherds of Is­rael who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?  

But you feed on milk and are clothed in wool, and you slaughter the fattest sheep. You have not taken care of the flock,  you have not strengthened the weak, cared for the sick or band­aged the injured.

You have not gone after the sheep that strayed or searched for the one that was lost. Instead you ruled them harsh­ly and were their oppressors.   They have scattered for want of a shepherd and became prey of wild animals.  

 My sheep wander over the mountains and high hills; and when they are scattered through­­out the land, no one bothers about them or looks for them.

 Hear then shepherds, what Yahweh says:   As I live – word of Yahweh, – because my sheep have been the prey of wild animals and become their food for want of shepherds, because the shep­herds have not cared for my sheep, because you shepherds have not bothered about them but fed yourselves and not the flocks, because of that,  hear the word of Yahweh.  This is what Yahweh says: I will ask an ac­count of the shepherds and reclaim my sheep from them.

No longer shall they tend my flock; nor shall there be shepherds who feed themselves. I shall save the flock from their mouths and no longer shall it be food for them.

 Indeed Yahweh says this: I myself will care for my sheep and watch over them.

 

Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5-6

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊       

Matthew 20:1-16

 This story throws light on the kingdom of heaven. A landowner went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the workers a salary of a silver coin for the day, and sent them to his vineyard.

He went out again at about nine in the morning, and seeing others idle in the square,  he said to them: ‘You, too, go to my vineyard and I will pay you what is just.’ So they went.

The owner went out at midday and again at three in the afternoon,  and he did the same.  Finally he went out at the last working hour – it was the eleventh – and he saw others standing there. So he said to them: ‘Why do you stay idle the whole day?’   They answered: ‘Because no one has hired us.’ The master said: ‘Go and work in my vine­yard.’

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager: ‘Call the workers and pay them their wage, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ Those who had come to work at the eleventh hour turned up and were given a denarius each (a silver coin).   

When it was the turn of the first, they thought they would receive more.   But they, too, received a denarius each. So, on receiving it, they began to grumble against the landowner.

 They said: ‘These last hardly worked an hour, yet you have treated them the same as us who have endured the day’s burden and heat.’  The owner said to one of them: ‘Friend, I have not been unjust to you. Did we not agree on a denarius a day?   

So take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last the same as I give to you.  Don’t I have the right to do as I please with my money? Why are you envious when I am kind?’

 So will it be: the last will be first, the first will be last.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

A Greater Justice

This parable does cause heartburn for many who find the act of the landowner unjust. But perhaps he is teaching us a greater justice. Imagine the scenario: here are some workers waiting to be picked up for a job in the market place.

We go out in the morning to choose some from them. Whom do we choose? The young, the fit, and the healthy. The old, the sick, and the handicapped are left out. Hence, when the landowner of the vineyard goes out at the eleventh hour, they are still there, and he chooses them.

Knowing fully well that they have a family to feed and needs to meet, he pays them generously; and pays them first-for, being old, sick, or handicapped, they might take longer time to reach home! Those laborers who worked the whole day received exactly what they had agreed for as well. Jesus leaves us a clue at the beginning as to what to expect in the kingdom – a deeper justice anointed with compassion.