He agreed to pay each worker the usual daily wage, and sent them to his vineyard. He went
out again, at about nine in the morning, and, seeing others idle in the town square, he said to
them, ‘You also, go to my vineyard, and I will pay you what is just.’ So they went. The owner
went out at midday, and, again, at three in the afternoon, and he made the same offer.
Again he went out, at the last working hour—the eleventh—and he saw others standing
around. So he said to them, ‘Why do you stand idle the whole day?’ They answered,
‘Because no one has hired us.’ The master said, ‘Go, and work in my vineyard.’ When evening
came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wage,
beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ Those who had gone to work at the eleventh
hour came up, and were each given a silver coin. When it was the turn of the first, they thought
they would receive more. But they, too, received one silver coin. On receiving it, they began to
grumble against the landowner. They said, ‘These last, hardly worked an hour; yet, you have
treated them the same as us, who have endured the heavy work of the day and the heat.’
The owner said to one of them, ‘Friend, I have not been unjust to you. Did we not agree on
one silver coin per day? So, take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last the same
as I give to you. Don’t I have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Why are you
envious when I am kind?’ So will it be: the last will be first, the first will be last.”

Reflect

“Take what is yours and go.” Can we be happy for the blessings received by others?
If we are truly working for the Lord, in his vineyard, we would be happy working even for
the whole day without having any need to compare ourselves with others. Thus, working
for the Lord’s vineyard is already a grace in itself for which we should be grateful about.
Today’s Gospel narrates a landowner who went out to hire workers for his vineyard in
the early morning, agreeing to pay them the usual daily wage. Afterwards, the landowner
went out at about nine in the morning, at midday, at three in the afternoon and then at the
last working hour – offering a just payment for everyone. In the end, all of them beginning
with the last ones to the first ones who worked in the same vineyard received the same
payment. When those who worked the whole day complained for what they received, the
owner said that they were given what was agreed upon and that he was only being
generous to other workers. Indeed, working for the Lord is already a reward in itself.
Have we not realized this yet?

© Copyright Bible Diary 2024