Word to the Wise
Wednesday, August 17, 2016 - Wednesday in the 20th Week in Ordinary Time
[Ezek 34:1-11 and Matt 20:1-16]"These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day's burden and the heat." [Matthew]
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2016 ST. HYACINTH OF POLAND, O.P.
The parable of the laborers in the vineyard and the complaint about pay, along with the parable of the Dishonest Steward [Luke 16:1-19], run against the grain of American sensitivities about honesty and fairness and "a level playing ground." The expression "equal pay for equal work" could come into play with the parable in today's gospel scripture. In our American labor scene, the workers who worked longer might have a cause of action under the Fair Labor Practices Act. But, as is often the case, Jesus' parable requires us to take more than one point of view. From the viewpoint of the workers who came earliest, more hours meant more pay. From the viewpoint of the owner it is a matter of the original agreement: "the usual daily wage." With later workers the owner says: "I will give you what is just." And to the last workers, he simply says, "You too go into my vineyard." At the end, everyone receives "the usual daily wage." Hence, the complaint!
The parable touches on two things. The first is the question of fairness as just illustrated. The second is the issue of wealth and resentment at being among the unwealthy, or at least at the way the wealthy owner used his wealth. However, if we take a "God's eye" view of this parable, we humans need to understand who we are dealing with! Inevitably we will find ourselves in situations where we compare our situation with someone else's whom we consider to be less worthy or whom we consider ourselves to be just as worthy of consideration. God seems to be "unfair." It is an old complaint that we can find in the psalms and elsewhere in the scriptures. The parable today is a challenge to be grateful for what God gives us and not resentful of what God seems to give others. It is not easy to avoid this feeling, but in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus' teaching gets under our skin and finds these faults and lays them open to healing. AMEN
config
view
logs
4096.0 KB
91 ms
4
