Homily – Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

A few weeks ago, I gathered with a group of young people to play soccer at a little pitch near the Basilica of Our Lady of Victories.  As the most ‘senior’ person among them, I was assigned the task of choosing the teams and dividing the group into two teams, as equally as possible, both in numbers and ability.

While trying to partner with another person to form the teams, a young bloke called out a couple of times: “I am just a newbie, I am just a newbie.”  I was a bit confused by the term and wondered what it might mean, so I asked him, “What do you mean?”  He said, “I am not good at soccer; I am a new learner of the game.”

So, I put him on a team with a few good players to balance things out.  In the process, I also learned a new term, newbie: “a casual slang term for a person who is new or inexperienced in a specific activity, job, or group,” as described by a dictionary.

To my surprise, after getting into the game for a few minutes, I learned that he was actually one of the best players on the field.  As a newbie, you would expect him to be at a basic level, without much skill.  Yet, that was certainly not the case!

This week’s Gospel parable, on one level, addresses the issue of certain expectations that both veterans and newbies may have in the practice of faith.  The veterans have been faithfully living out their faith and observing the Law of the Lord for a long period of time and before everyone else.  Therefore, they expect a greater payment of blessings and grace from God; they think they deserve to be treated in a more honourable manner.

In contrast, the newbies have only recently entered into the faith and practised the observance of God’s Law for a shorter period of time.  Therefore, they should receive less from the Lord and should be treated in a less honourable manner.  In one sense, according to their way of thinking, this seems fair and just.

However, when the landowner behaves in a way that does not meet their expectations and pays everyone the same amount, one denarius, they become upset and react: “The men who came last have done only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day’s work in all the heat.”

The first reading from Isaiah perhaps reminds them and us that “God’s ways are not human ways, and God’s thoughts are not our thoughts”.  In responding to their complaint and resentment, Jesus reveals to them and to us an image of a God who is utterly generous in giving his blessings.

When salvation and redemption are concerned, it is not simply about what we have done or how much we have laboured.  What God gives us is given out of the goodness of his heart.  What God gives is ‘not a payment, but a gift; not a reward, but grace’.  Everyone is precious in the eyes of God, whether we are veterans or newbies on the journey of faith.

As Catholics, though, we must not ignore the fact that these labourers, in one way or another, whether for a short or a long period, participated in the work of the vineyard.  The parable tells us that these people were not lazy or unwilling to work.  As soon as the landowner invited them to join, they immediately responded to the invitation to participate.

Yes, salvation and redemption from God are special gifts.  At the same time, each of us is invited to participate in the work of God’s vineyard, sharing the Good News of God.

The parable, at another level, presents us with a very solid reference point for our Catholic social teaching.  While it is right, fair and just in industrial relations that the one who works more gets paid more and the one who works less gets paid less, when we look through the lens of this parable, with the divine mind and heart, we are also invited to see the needs of the late workers.

They, too, have families to feed, wives or husbands to support, and children to raise.  Moreover, every person is created in the image and likeness of God, possesses a sacred and inherent worth and dignity, and should have the opportunity to share in the nobility of work.

To conclude, it is worth remembering that at the beginning of the Gospel, Jesus presents this parable as a comparison to “the Kingdom of heaven”.  Therefore, striving to live out the spirit of the parable in our society is one way of spreading the Kingdom of God on earth in the places where we live, study or work.

By Fr Sang Ho