25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

 

September 20, 2020 

Readings:

First Reading: Isaiah 55: 6-9

Psalm 145 “The Lord is near to all who call upon him.”

Second Reading: Philippians 1: 20c-24, 27a

Gospel reading according to Matthew 20: 1-16

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Homily: Generous God              

Jesus taught his disciples about God′s Reign-Kingdom of Heaven through a parable.  He said that the Reign-Kingdom of heaven is likened to a landowner who owned land or vineyard and he needed laborers.  He (God) wanted to clean, prune, clear the ground to plant (grapes) in his vineyard.  “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′” (Matthew 20: 1-2).  This landowner went out at dawn to hire laborers.  At the dawn of the human race, God created man and called them Adam and Eve to work in his garden in Paradise. First, Adam and Eve were obedient to the landowner.  They were true stewards of all created things, e.g., animals, plants, trees that bear fruits, birds in the sky and fish that swim in the water, and others.  The entire earth was taken care of and well managed until Satan came and tempted the two to be relaxed and not to obey God′s command.   And sin entered the whole created world.  The animals, plants, trees, birds, fish, insects, etc. little by little, slowly, were unattended, carelessly left behind, declined, and wasted.  The first man and woman, whom the landowner called, were left to its own.

So, the landowner (God) went out to search for laborers who will work in his vineyard (this earth).  “‵Going out about nine o’clock, he 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′” (Matthew 20: 3-5).  God found Moses, who tended the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro in the mountain top in the morning (9 o′clock), when He showed himself in the burning bush. He called Moses to deliver his people, the Israelite, from the slavery in Egypt to the hands of Pharaoh.  Moses followed and obeyed God′s command, he liberated Israelites from slavery and brought out in the land of Egypt.  They journeyed to the Promised Land, to Canaan, but God must tested them their sincerity of hearts and their obedience, so for forty years they wandered in the wilderness, and in Mount Sinai God had proven those who were loyal to him and those who were against him, who made for themselves god or Baal, and because of this many were died of hunger and thirst, sickness, beaten by serpents and other chastisements.  The rest who were faithful to God were purified and cleansed from idols.  But still, there were some who were stubborn and hardheaded Jews, especially when they reached the Promised Land.  Instead of building unity and oneness as people of God they separated themselves and divided themselves among tribes, until they have chosen their kings (from Saul, David, and Solomon up to) to lead them instead of God, whom they called Yahweh!!

The landowner, Jesus said, came out again in the afternoon and looked for laborers in his vineyard, as if the landowner was not satisfied and content with the works of the laborers.  Nababagalan siya.  “‵And he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise′” (Matthew 20: 5).  This time, the landowner found a group of people separated from the rest, He called the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, the Levites, the elders, the whole Sanhedrin, to take care of his sheep and lead them to Him.  At first they were industrious in shepherding the sheep but when wealth, power, authority and subordination of the people Israel came in to the leaders in the Temple, they abused and manipulated the simple, humble, poor men and women of Israel.  They neglected the sheep, they skinned them and used the hair as their clothes or sold them, they killed the fatten calves and ate them.

In the last hour of the day and in the fullness of time, the landowner came out and was still looking for laborers who will work in his vineyard.  This time he found his only begotten Son to labor in his Reign-Kingdom of heaven.  “‵Going out about five o’clock, he 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′” (Matthew 20: 6-7).  Jesus the glory of God and the wisdom of God came in the vineyard to fulfill what the landowner wished to accomplish.  He worked as his Father continued to work and created new things. He performed many miracles, healed the sick and possessed by Satan and his demons, fed the hungry, raised the dead, taught in the synagogues and in the Temple area, and in the end he suffered in the hands of those in power and authority (the elders and leaders in the Temple), crucified in the tree of life, offered his last breath to his Father, for the salvation of all created things, and to bring back the original plan of God as in the beginning and primordial of the time (in Paradise).

The reckoning came, and every laborers whom the landowner called, were summoned one by one from the last to the beginning. “‵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′” (Matthew 20: 8-9).  The foreman (an angel, we may say) whom the landowner (God) tasked to give the wages to the laborers who worked last, and they received the just (means what is due) wage as agreed up between them and the landowner. Walang labis, walang kulang.

On the one hand, Jesus said to his disciples, that those who were called at the beginning of the day, at dawn, were thinking to receive more than the last workers.  “‵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′” (Matthew 20: 10-12).  And, when they received their payment, they got the same amount as those who worked late. They became mad and furious, they cannot accept what they received as equal to those who worked late in the afternoon, for they thought they worked long hours, carried the heavy burden and very hard work, so it was their right and deserve to receive if not to demand higher wages.  They thought that the landowner was unfair and unjust.

But, on the other hand, Jesus presented the landowner as true to what they agreed up, no more, no less.  He never cheated the early comers who agreed “for the usual daily wage.”  “‵He said to one of them in reply, ‵My friend, I am not cheating you.  Did you not agree with me for the daily wage? Take what is yours and go.  What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Are you envious because I am generous′?” (Matthew 20: 13-15).  God is a generous landowner and just.  He is not stingy but lavishly gives what is due according to what He wishes.  Or maybe they have forgotten what they agreed upon between them and the landowner.  What they saw was the recompense received by those who worked late in the afternoon.  They also compared what they received with what others received.  The landowner reminded them of what they agreed upon before they started their works in his vineyard. 

We, too, also deserve what God has given to us.  We should be thankful that in our nothingness and idleness, and in times of need, whether at dawn, about nine o’clock, around noon, and around three o’clock, and about five o’clock he called us to work in his vineyard, the Reign-Kingdom of heaven.  We should think and feel that it is our opportunity to serve God in his mission here on earth, and we are nothing.  Though in the end we expect what He promised, eternal life in his Reign-Kingdom of heaven though we are not worthy to receive such blessing and grace.  “Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last” (Matthew 20: 16). The first called became sinful and disobedient (like Adam and Eve), who were became enemies of God and against him, who made for themselves god or Baal, (like those Israelites whom Moses liberated from slavery in Egypt, and  those who have chosen their kings (from Saul, David, and Solomon up to) to lead them instead of God), those group of people separated from the rest, He called them Pharisees, Sadducees, the scribes, the Levites, the elders, the whole Sanhedrin, who supposed to take care his sheep and lead them to Him, but instead they neglected the sheep, they skinned them and used the hair as their clothes or sold them, they killed the fatten calves and ate them, sila ang nakinabang.  They became the last in the Reign-Kingdom of heaven.  The last called, the anawim of God, those who are simple, humble, ordinary men and women, poor, obedient, loyal; and those who brought back the original plan of God as in the beginning and primordial of the time (in Paradise) (like Jesus Christ, the Apostles and disciples) became first in the Reign-Kingdom of God.