Catechism Links[1]
CCC 210-211: God of mercy and piety
CCC 588-589: Jesus identifies his compassion to sinners with God’s
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| “Parable Of The Laborers In The Vineyard” By Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn |
Commentary:
Commentary on Is 55:6-9
This passage begins with an exhortation to seek the Lord through prayer (call him while he is near), and to repent from sinful ways, asking for God's forgiveness. The author captures the perfection of God's thoughts (and of Christ's actions prophetically), expressing the perfection of God contrasted with the fallen and sinful nature of mankind. The passage is taken from what is known as “Deutero-Isaiah,” that part written after the Babylonian exile. Using words common to the Old Testament (see Amos 5:4, and Psalm 9:11), the prophet exhorts the people to return to God. The essential paradox of God’s presence is explained: “God is transcendent yet near enough to help; man is helpless yet expected to act energetically, the ways of God are exalted yet required of man.”[5]
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R. (18a) The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
Commentary on Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18
Psalm 145 is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving. The psalmist echoes the exhortation in Isaiah 55:6, to seek the Lord actively in the final strophe “The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.”
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Commentary on Phil 1:20c-24, 27a
St. Paul writes to the church at Philippi during his imprisonment somewhere, in danger of death. In these verses he contemplates his own martyrdom. While death is seen as a return to Christ which the Apostle desires, his mission and continued service is seen as being united with Christ’s life on earth. This passage concludes with an exhortation to the Philippians that they might live lives worthy of Christ.
CCC: Phil 1:21 1010, 1698; Phil 1:23 1005, 1011, 1021, 1025; Phil 1:27 1692
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Commentary on Mt 20:1-16a
The parable of the Laborers Hired Late continues the dialogue from Matthew 19:30: “the last will be first, and the first will be last.” The inference here changes slightly: in Matthew 19:23-30 the Lord referred to those who would follow him into eternal life, while here he broadens the scope to imply that those called later to faithful service would receive the same reward as those first called.
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Reflection:
Scripture today gives a unified call to come to faith in God and Christ. Taken out of context, one might believe the Gospel parable of the Laborers Called Late might be seen as an invitation to procrastinate in responding to that call. After all, why commit to the difficult path our faith requires if those who turn to an easier path and come late to faith will receive the same reward as we who strive to follow that path through most of our lives?
There must be reasons beyond the promise that comes at the end of the journey. One of these is shown in St. Paul
What is it then that makes life worth living? It is clearly not the excesses of the hedonistic goals society seems to embrace. This lifestyle and world-view lead to spiritual death. If wealth is what is to be pursued, there will never be enough, and even when great wealth is accumulated, those who achieve it find it an empty promise, a hollow shell with no life, no warmth, no peace. No, life does not find fulfillment in “things.”
Neither does life find fulfillment in labor, even labor for a worthy cause. Fulfillment comes from an inner peace, and inner peace comes from the satisfaction of knowing that one is valued, supported, and protected by God. It comes from knowing that nothing can take that peace from us while we remain in a lived relationship with God through Christ. And when we enjoy that peace, in communion with others similarly motivated and infused, the resonance of their peace enhances our own.
Looking at those laborers who came late we see that indeed they will receive a reward for their labor. Placed in the context of faithful service however, those who have labored long have received the rewards of their labor in the sense of fulfillment one finds in doing good things well. To put it another way, who would find their life’s experience better, a person who lived most of their life as a slave or one who lived their life free?
It is spiritual peace and the joy that flows from that motivates us to take up the mind of Christ as soon as we can, and maintain it throughout our lives. While those who come late may receive the same reward, we who stay on the path longer derive greater joy in the promise fulfilled.
Pax
[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, Published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014
[2] The Picture Used Is “Parable Of The Laborers In The Vineyard” By Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
[5] Jerome Biblical Commentary, © 1968 Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 22:49, pp. 380
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