The generosity of the Landowner
Listening the Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. And kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you will renew the face of the earth.
Lord, by the light of the Holy Spirit you have taught the hearts of your faithful. In the same Spirit help us to relish what is right and always rejoice in your consolation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Listening the Word: Matthew 20:1-16a
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,
he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o'clock,
the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard,
and I will give you what is just.'
So they went off.
And he went out again around noon,
and around three o'clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o'clock,
the landowner found others standing around, and said to them,
'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.'
He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.'
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
'Summon the laborers and give them their pay,
beginning with the last and ending with the first.'
When those who had started about five o'clock came,
each received the usual daily wage.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,
but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
'These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day's burden and the heat.'
He said to one of them in reply,
'My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?'
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last."
Reflection
Do you feel uneasy when hearing the parable of the landowner who gives full salary to the laborer who just worked one hour, the same as the one who worked twelve? Why would someone act like that?
In the parable of the vineyard, we need to understand both the laborers and the owner. The laborers waiting to be hired at the marketplace are people who depend on the demand for work to sustain their families. If there is work, they have money; if there is no work, basic commodities may be at risk. So, being hired becomes a blessing for them because when they come back home, they bring sustenance for their families. The daily wage at the time of Jesus was the denarius, the minimum salary for an unskilled worker, one single silver coin. As difficult as it may seem, we still find people who work by the day, in the port here in Khong Toei, but also in the first world of the USA.
In this context, we find the landowner who goes to find laborers for his vineyard. But as strange as it seems, he did not go only once or twice to the market but five times. He should have been in great need of getting workers as well; he needed as many hands as he could find. The workers were a blessing for this landowner. A blessing because without them, the fruit of his work for one whole year could have been spoiled. If grapes are harvested after the first rain, the whole production could be spoiled, and so, sometimes, the landowners hurried.
Workers and the landowner were a blessing for each other for different reasons. But the landowner stands out for his way of distributing the wages and his insistence on bringing laborers to his vineyard until the last moment. He was not just fair with the people who worked most of the day, but he was also generous to those who arrived later. All of them could go back home with joy and share something with their families. Thanks to the work and commitment of the laborers, the landowner was able to be at ease with his vineyard. The joy of this achievement may have been the reason to be generous with them. But also, it may have been the knowledge of their daily struggle to bring bread to the table.
We give thanks to the owner of the vineyard because of his generosity towards each one of us. We give him thanks because he knows that the only thing we are looking for is true happiness and because he knows he is the only one who can provide it. We ask for the grace to be more sympathetic with the people who are struggling, not only economically, with joblessness or poverty, but also with those without spiritual life, lack of peace, sorrow, and other difficulties. We wait for the moment when they will also receive from God what they need.
Reflection Questions
- Do I sometimes compare what God gives me with what He gives to others, instead of being grateful for His generosity toward me?
- Who are the people around me who are struggling—materially, emotionally, or spiritually—and how can I become a sign of God’s generosity and compassion toward them?
