HOW SMALL-MINDED WE ARE!

TWENTY FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

HOW SMALL-MINDED WE ARE!

Matthew 20, 1-16

José Antonio Pagola translated by Re. Fr. Valentine de Souza SJ

Re. Fr. Valentine de Souza SJ

Jesus had told his disciples clearly: “Seek the kingdom of God and his justice.” For him it was the most important thing. However, they did not see him seeking that justice of God in keeping the laws and traditions of Israel as other teachers did. He even gave them a serious warning on one occasion: “If your justice is not greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of God.” How did Jesus understand the justice of God?




The parable he told them left them bewildered. The owner of a vineyard went over and over again to the town square to hire workers. He did not want to see anyone unemployed. The first group worked hard for twelve hours. The last to arrive worked only sixty minutes.

At the end of the day, however, the owner ordered all to be given one denarius: no family would be left without dinner that night. The decision surprised everyone. How do you evaluate the behavior of this man who offers equal recompense for such unequal work? Isn’t the protest of those who have worked the whole day reasonable?

These workers receive the denarius agreed upon, but on seeing the last to arrive treated so generously, they feel entitled to demand more. They do not accept being considered equal. This is their complaint: “You have made them equal to us.” The owner of the vineyard answers the spokesperson of the group with these words: “Are you envious because I am generous?” This sentence contains the main teaching of the parable.

According to Jesus, there is a way of viewing life that is bad, unfortunate, and harmful, for it prevents us from understanding the goodness of God and rejoicing at his infinite mercy towards all. We refuse to believe that the justice of God consists in treating us with a love that transcends all our reckoning.

This is the Good News revealed by Jesus we would never have suspected and which we so much needed to hear. Let no one come before God with merits or acquired rights. We are all welcomed and saved not by our efforts but by his unfathomable mercy.

Jesus was concerned that his disciples were of a mind incapable of believing in that Goodness. On one occasion he said this to them: “If your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” We Christians have forgotten it. What light would fill the Church if we only dared to believe in the goodness of God without reducing it to our unfortunate small-minded dimensions. What joy would flood the hearts of believers. How ardently we would follow Jesus!

Spread the news of a Good God.

Source: URL of José Antonio Pagola's Buenas Noticias Web site: 

http://sanvicentemartirdeabando.org

Website for Spanish original and translations: www.eclesalia.net

Jose Antonio Pagola, vgentza@euskalnet.net , San Sebastian, Guipuzcoa, Spain.

English Translation by (Valentine) Vally de Souza S.J. vallydesouza@jesuits.net, Mandal, Gujarat , India.

Konknni Translation by Vasco do Rego S.J., vdorego@gmail.com, Jesuit House, P.B.112, Panaji, Goa.