Posted by Word Alive — Fr. Bel San Luis, SVD / September 24, 2023
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – A
The gospel in this 25th Sunday relates about the envious workers. In Christ’s parable, the workers who were hired in the morning complained and protested that they were paid the same wage as those hired in the afternoon. “A gross injustice,” they grumbled.
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Legally, there’s no injustice because the deal was covered by a personal contract. There was mutual agreement between the workers and landowner on the wage. “Did we not agree on a one-day wage?” (Mt 20,13). The parable shows the owner to be both just and generous. He is just to the first workers, and generous to those who were hired later.
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Yet, like the first workers, we have every reason to feel uncomfortable about the whole arrangement. In business, one doesn’t work out this way, otherwise he would be courting strikes and unrests among his regular employees.
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What Christ is saying, in effect, is that God is kind, merciful and generous. He has the right and prerogative to do what he wants. As enunciated in the first reading of today’s Mass, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55,9).
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This applies to talents and gifts we have received from God. For instance, there are students who are gifted with different intelligence and talents. The differences are vividly seen as the new school year began. Someone quipped, “In this world there are brilliant minds, some are average minds, and others…never mind!”
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It’s not only extraordinary intelligence is a gift but also sports skills, leadership acumen, musical abilities, and other talents. Does God have favorites? The parable of the landowner and the workers who were not given the equal wage teaches that God does give different gifts to everyone.
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Despite the inequalities, everybody gets sufficient abilities to work with. It is not how extraordinary one has that matters in God’s eyes, but HOW one uses them.
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A businessman who rose from rags-to-riches, once said, “I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth so I worked hard to put one there.” Ask yourself: Do I use my talents for the good of people or only for my own selfish enjoyment? Worst, do I use my intelligence and skill to enrich myself through illegal means?
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Do I know how to give thanks to God and SHARE its fruits with the less fortunate? In the words of an unknow writer, “What you are is God’s gift to you; what you become is your gift to God.”
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THE LIGHTER SIDE. Once a professor, known for his sarcastic remarks, picked on a spiritless student. “Jun, where were you when God was distributing brains?” The whole class laughed. Regaining his composure, Jun countered, “Sir, didn’t you know? Magkatabi lang tayo!” (We were just beside each other!). Everybody roared in retaliation. Lesson: Don’t look down on your less gifted brethren. It will bounce back on you.
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Today, National Seafarer’ and Migrants’ Sunday, our attention is focused on millions of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who have sought greener pastures abroad. However, not a few suffer maltreatment, injustices, and even brutal murders as in the case of Jullebee Ranara whose mangled corpse was buried in the desert by her murderer. The Kuwait juvenile justice court convicted the killer recently.
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Another serious problem among Filipino migrants is due to the long separation of married couples. A spouse working abroad, for instance, can succumb to infidelity. The spouse who’s left behind could also fall to the same predicament.
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One wonders if the dollars earned abroad are worth it when one’s family is in shambles. To paraphrase the Lord’s words: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his family.”
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We thank our OFWs for the enormous contributions they are rendering to our country. But, let’s pray fervently that God will help them surmount the moral and family problems they are encountering in their pursuit for a better life.
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