HOMILY FOR THE 25TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A. (1)

HOMILY FOR THE 25TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.

THEME: RADICAL GENEROSITY.

BY: Fr. Gerald Musa.

On a hot Sunday afternoon, some good Samaritans on a street in the small town of Gangarawa distributed free bottles of water to pedestrians who were parched with thirst. They gave out water to the elderly, young, men, and women irrespective of their ethnic, racial, professional, religious, or social backgrounds. All they wanted to achieve was to express love and compassion by lending a helping hand to all who were patched thirsty. They watched how their little kind gesture brought joy and smiles to the faces of the people they served. In doing so, they were imitating the boundless generosity of God who shows his love and compassion by distributing his grace freely and generously to all people, irrespective of their age, status, and background. Everyone receives this grace gratuitously and no one should have any sense of entitlement or claim it as a right. No wonder, wise people say “God’s blessings are not earned; they are given out of love.” This is a fact that Jesus explains in the parable of a landowner and his hired workers.

The land owner went out to hire the first set of workers at dawn, the second set at 9 am, he hired the third group of workers at noon, then he went out to hire the fourth set at 3 pm and he still went out just before the closing hour at 5 pm to hire the last batch of workers. At the end of the day, he gave each worker the normal wage for a day’s work. When it came to time for payment, he paid them in reverse order, beginning with the last. When the first set of workers came forward, they received the same as the last group and so they complained 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 (Matthew 20:11-12).

The Landowner could give those he hired late less, but he chose to give them the same amount as those who came earlier because he knew that all of them had similar needs for daily food and other necessities of life. The landowner desired to save all unemployed people from the boredom of idleness and provide for them a dignified way of fending for themselves. The Land Owner gave those who complained the right reply when he said:

‘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.”

In life, we often want to have more than others and in this unhealthy struggle, we fall into the trap of jealousy and envy. In envy, we tend to forget our blessings and envy the blessings of other people. A Greek proverb says: As rust corrupts iron, so envy corrupts man. Envy is the act of casting an evil eye that looks at the blessings of others and forgetting the heaps of blessings that we have. We look, out of the corner of our eyes at what God is doing for others and fail to notice the good works he is doing in us. Envy is a symptom of a lack of appreciation for what we have and who we are.

This Landowner paid his workers, not just for the number of hours they spent, but he paid them for their willingness to work and for completing the task given to them. It is this same logic that Jesus used to praise the widow, not for the amount she gave, but for the sacrifice she made. It is this same wisdom that motivated Jesus to pardon the thief on the cross, not because of the last minute for which he sought forgiveness, but for his sincere act of contrition. The Parable of the Prodigal Son is another good example of how God supplies grace to the unworthy who are willing and ready to return to him. Truly, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8). An anonymous writer wrote:

Who does God’s work will get God’s pay.
However long may seem the day,
However weary be the way;
Though powers and princes thunder “Nay,”
Who does God’s work will get God’s pay,
He does not pay as others pay.
In gold or land or raiment;
In goods that vanish and decay;
But God in wisdom knows a way,
And that is sure, let come what may,
Who does God’s work will get God’s pay.

Yes, he gives good pay and great opportunities to all people irrespective of age, gender, race, and nationality. God’s radical generosity describes his generous mercy, grace, and justice. When the rainfalls he does it does not fall on one man’s house. Therefore, one can never complain of being underpaid. While some authors interpret the Parable of the Landowner as God’s method of sharing grace, St. Augustine interprets it as God’s method of sharing eternal life with the righteous. He says:
“At the end of the world all Christians, called at the eleventh hour, will receive the joy of resurrection together with those who went before them. All will be rewarded at the same time, but the firstcomers will have had the longest to wait. Therefore, if they receive their reward after a longer period and we after a shorter one, the fact that our reward is not delayed will make it seem as though we were receiving it first, even though we all receive it together.��In that great reward, then, we shall all be equal—the first to the last and the last to the first. For the denarius stands for eternal life, in which all will have the same share.”

Envy is one of the greatest spiritual challenges that obstruct the flow of grace. Some of the best ways to overcome these challenges are:
 To identify and accept God’s generosity in our lives.
 To be happy for the prosperity and achievement of others.
 To learn to be generous, to think less of yourself, and to support those in need who have less than you have.
25th Sunday, Year A; Isaiah 55:6-9; Philippians 1:20-24, 27; Matthew 20:1-16;

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