Fr. Bob's Reflection for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - micheletkearney@gmail.com - Gmail

Many people find today's parable unsettling. It doesn't seem fair. Imagine paying someone who worked only one hour the same wage as someone who labored for 12. By our standards, it simply doesn't make sense. But then again, many of Jesus' parables don't make sense at first glance. Think of the unforgiving servant, whose enormous debt is completely forgiven. No king in the first century would have cancelled such a debt, any more than Visa or Master Card would erase a person's credit card debt today. Or, consider the shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to search for one that wandered away. What shepherd would risk the entire flock for a single sheep? Or the woman who turns her house upside down to find one small coin. Or the father who joyfully welcomes home the wayward son instead of putting him on probation to prove his repentance. Each of these stories surprises us, because each reveals something extraordinary about God. His ways are not our ways. His mercy is greater than our expectations and His generosity goes far beyond what we think is fair. The same is true in today's Gospel. The workers who labored all day in the scorching heat felt cheated when those hired only an hour before quitting time received the very same wage. But Jesus isn't teaching a lesson about fair wages or labor relations. He's teaching us about grace. The landowner represents God, whose generosity cannot be measured by human standards. Whether someone has served Him for a lifetime or comes to Him at the very end, His mercy is freely given. None of us earn God's love. Every one of us receives it as a gift. This parable is meant to leave us asking, "What kind of God is this?" The answer is simple: He is a God who never stops seeking the lost, never tires of forgiving and never measures His love according to what we deserve. As the Prophet Isaiah reminds us, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways." God is not bound by our calculations of fairness, or our notions of who deserves what. His defining characteristic is love. And for that, we should all be grateful. Yours in Christ, Fr. Robert Warren, S.A. Spiritual Director