God’s Abundant Mercy and Care Will Provide What is Enough for Each Person

09-24-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Anthony Okolo, C.S.Sp, V.F.

In the first reading from the prophecy of Isaiah, he makes a clarion call to each one of us to seek the Lord while he is near and to forsake our wrong ways and embrace the mercy of God. The tone of this invitation manifests a sense of urgency to take the opportunity we may have now and come back to God with a true conversion of heart. The reason for the sense of urgency is evident because the reality of death recalls that life is fleeting and therefore, our days to live a Holy life are finite.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells a parable of a landowner who goes out to hire laborers for his vineyard. We are told that the landowner went out at dawn, noon, three o’ clock and five. Each time he went out and found people idle he sent them to his vineyard with arrangement to pay them the usual daily wage. The decisive moment of the parable came with the time of pay as he paid everyone equally starting with the last and ending with the first. This action of the landowner created a protest from those who came early who had expected more but never got it but got equal pay. The parable helps us to understand the message we read in the first reading “For my thoughts are not your thought nor your ways my ways” says the Lord.

The different points where the owner of the vineyard went out to hire laborers into his vineyard can be referred to as the different points Jesus comes into our life. He can come at dawn, morning, noon or evening. It does not matter at what point we answer the invitation but what is most important is to answer with hope and enjoy his generosity. We also see the extravagant generosity of God. It was not something they deserved or merited, it was simply a gift that the Lord freely bestows at his good pleasure.

The parable thus conveys a theological message about God’s goodness as well as a moral message that calls our attention against the evil nature of envy. Envy in this case being upset at the good fortune of another. Envy destroys our joy in life and prevents us from seeing the blessings that he has given us.

Fr. Tony Okolo C.S.Sp., V.F.