Ez 36: 1-11Ps 23
Mt 20: 1-16
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Reflection:
Today's Gospel shows the generosity of God to his people. The story about the workers in the vineyard indirectly say this. God gives us according to what we need. The master who hired laborers in the story is not unjust but rather, he gives out or compensate according to his desire. In the same way, God gratuitous grace is give to all according to what our need. And God could never be labeled unjust. Justice belongs to him, how can he be called unjust?
The whole Roman Catholic Church is also commemorating the Queenship of our Blessed Mother, Mary. God was so generous so as to share his only begotten Son for the remission of our sins. And for this to happen, he needed to enter into human historicity in a natural manner. This necessitated the Father to choose a woman to give her humanity to the Divine. This is the greatest mystery of humanity; a God assuming human flesh to die for humankind. Thus, Mary played a very important role in the story of Christ's incarnation.
With Mary's "fiat" God was able to walk in our midst physically. And with the sending of the Archangel Gabriel to the young girl kneeling in prayer, God's generosity overflowed from all eternity. That is why it is but then proper for us to give the Mother of God, Θεοτοκος, the highest honor, hyperdulia, but not worship.
God's generosity knows no bound. All we need to do is to go to him and be sorry for the wrong things we have done. And let us ask the intercession of our Blessed Mother to help us in approaching her Son.
In God's loving mercy, we trust...
Mt 20: 1-16
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Reflection:
Today's Gospel shows the generosity of God to his people. The story about the workers in the vineyard indirectly say this. God gives us according to what we need. The master who hired laborers in the story is not unjust but rather, he gives out or compensate according to his desire. In the same way, God gratuitous grace is give to all according to what our need. And God could never be labeled unjust. Justice belongs to him, how can he be called unjust?
The whole Roman Catholic Church is also commemorating the Queenship of our Blessed Mother, Mary. God was so generous so as to share his only begotten Son for the remission of our sins. And for this to happen, he needed to enter into human historicity in a natural manner. This necessitated the Father to choose a woman to give her humanity to the Divine. This is the greatest mystery of humanity; a God assuming human flesh to die for humankind. Thus, Mary played a very important role in the story of Christ's incarnation.
With Mary's "fiat" God was able to walk in our midst physically. And with the sending of the Archangel Gabriel to the young girl kneeling in prayer, God's generosity overflowed from all eternity. That is why it is but then proper for us to give the Mother of God, Θεοτοκος, the highest honor, hyperdulia, but not worship.
God's generosity knows no bound. All we need to do is to go to him and be sorry for the wrong things we have done. And let us ask the intercession of our Blessed Mother to help us in approaching her Son.
In God's loving mercy, we trust...
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