From the Gospel according to Matthew 20:1-16
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. Going out about nine o’clock, the landowner 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. And he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o’clock,
the landowner 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.’ 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. 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.’ He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
the landowner 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.’ 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. 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.’ He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
The Same Wage
Today the Lord shows us that He is always going out to seek us. He wants us to know Him and to work for Him. The hour does not matter, dear husbands and wives; He calls us to live our marriage as He intended it to be, and He does not care what time we discovered this calling. He simply invites us to live it.Some He calls at the first hour, in their youth; others in the middle of the day, when they have already travelled part of the journey; others in the afternoon, in their maturity; and still others at the very end, in their final years. The hour of the calling does not matter. He sends us out to work for Him: to be witnesses to His love alive in us, and to proclaim it. The reward will be the same, if we remain faithful: Eternal Life. Let us not be afraid to answer His call, to work with Him and for Him, and to help Him build His Kingdom in this world. Take courage! Proclaim the wonders He has worked in your hearts as husband and wife.
Applied to Married Life
Mary: Oh, Lewis, if only we had known all this they have taught us before… Now, with our life already settled…
Lewis: Mary, the Lord has shown us His goodness now. It may seem late to us, and we may think He could have done it sooner, but He has chosen it this way. Besides, we have lived a beautiful life alongside Him, even if we had not known about the wonderful thing they have shown us now.
Mary: Yes, but if we had known about this path earlier, perhaps we could have avoided some suffering.
Lewis: But then His will would not have been fulfilled.
Mary: Yes, but we have so little time left to live it. We’re very old.
Lewis: Well, then what we have to do is live it to the fullest and show it to our children, and even to our grandchildren some of whom already have girlfriends so that they can live it from the very beginning.
Mary: You’re right, Lewis.
Lewis: Besides, afterwards we’ll have all of eternal life to enjoy it. Just think how much time we’ll have! Hahaha. The Lord pays us the same wage!
Mother,
What wonders You allow us to discover when You lead us to Your Son. Never let us drift away from Him. Blessed and praised be He forever!