Gospel Matthew 20:1–16

By Father Emmanuel Mbuk, MSP

“Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Dear friends in Christ, in today’s gospel, Jesus likened the Kingdom of God to a landowner who hired labourers to work in his vineyard. All the workers did not get employed or engaged at the same time; yet at the end of the day, they were all paid evenly – a flat rate.

The last arrivals were attended to first, while the first arrivals were the last to be paid. The first arrivals had high hopes and expectations to be paid more but to their greatest disappointment, they were paid exactly what was negotiated and agreed upon from the onset.

Was the Workers’ Complaint Justifiable?

Dissatisfied with this treatment, they complained bitterly against the landowner and challenged him for the apparently unfair treatment. Although the emphasis to be deduced from this parable is the graciousness, mercy and generousity of God towards everyone, but realistically speaking and from a human point of view, their complaint was a justifiable one.

Everyone searches for a job that pays better and has better emolument package, covering insurance, retirement benefits and even a good take-home pay after tax deductions. In the school setting, students are well prepared for the labour market through activities like career counselling and career day exhibitions.

Is God’s Generosity Fair?

However, the parable in today’s gospel tells us the following:

1. God’s love is not given using the human yardstick of reward or measuring one’s self-worth. Sometimes, we feel that we deserve more than others by comparing ourselves with them. We feel jealous when someone has a better opportunity than we do. We feel jealous when someone is complimented and we are not, especially if we feel we have done more or put in more time, skill, energy and even resources than others. Among the students, there is a subtle kind of competition and jealousy when a friend has better grades than the other; when a fellow student is more talented in music/instruments, arts, or more skilful in sports. Some people can even be more jealous because others make friends easily or have more friends than they do. These are the subtle ways we complain against God for being generous with His gifts to others.
   
2. Today’s gospel equally tells us that just as the workers were engaged at various intervals of the day, with God, salvation is open to all. It is never too late to begin again, even if we were baptised as infants or as adults. Maybe someone here is feeling guilty or living in regrets over past mistakes, or maybe we may feel that we are not good enough in the sight of God, or maybe someone had not been practicing his/her faith and had left the Church for many years, I say to you brace up, cheer up, God is offering you a new/fresh opportunity. Embrace it because salvation is a gift and not a reward or remuneration like the salary that workers earn.

Let us, therefore, make use of the various graces God has given us and the numerous opportunities that He has blessed us with.

May the Lord grant us the grace of having a cheerful heart, a heart that does not compare, compete or complain.

Homily by

Father Emmanuel Mbuk, MSP