25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Sunday, September 21, 2008
St. Clement’s Catholic Church; Saratoga Springs, NY

Isaiah 55: 6 – 9
Psalm 145: 2 – 3, 8 – 9, 17 – 18
Philippians 1: 20c – 24, 27a
Matthew 20: 1 – 16a

If Jesus were a business man in today’s world, the US government would certainly have to bail him out. If Jesus was in charge of a business he would be bankrupt before long. If Jesus were a business with the business sense he presents in today’s Gospel, he certainly would not be on my parish’s Financial Committee. For those of you who work for a living, let me ask you this simple question: if you worked an eight hour day and one of your co-workers only worked an hour, how would you feel if you got paid the same amount. Saying that would be unfair is to put it mildly.

The parable that Jesus tells us today is not a thesis in how to run a business. Towards the end we hear the landowner asks one of the workers if he is questioning his generosity. This is what the main message is: that our God is generous and we should be forever thankful for all the wonderful gifts our God has shared with us.

There is a story about a highly successful businessman was once asked to make a substantial donation toward an urgent charity appeal. The businessman listened to the case presented then said, "I can understand why you approached me. Yes I do have a lot of money, and yours is an important cause. But are you aware that I have a lot of calls upon my money? Did you know my mother needs 24 hour nursing care?"
"No we didn't" came the reply. "Did you know my sister is struggling to raise a family of eight on her own?" "No we didn't" came the reply. "Did you know I have one son in a drug rehab clinic and another doing voluntary work overseas?" "No we didn't." "Well, if I don't give them a cent, what makes you think I'll give it to you?!"

Not the type of person we want to be in our lives. We appreciate being around generous people and our God is quite the opposite of the businessman in the story. We should try not to look around us and say that we don’t have enough as the next person. We should try not to compare the blessings of our lives with the blessings on another. Each of us in our own way has been gifted by God. All that we have, from the life we live, to our family and friends, to the faith that brings us together as one community this morning is a gift from the hands of our God. It makes no difference whether you have been a member of the Catholic Church for a few days or for many years –- God’s love is shared equally to each and everyone of us. The message of the Gospel is that there are no favorites in the household of God.

There is an interesting point in the Gospel that occurs around the 5:00pm hour. The landowner goes out and sees a group of workers waiting around. When asked why they are not working, their response is not that they are lazy or that they do not really want to work but they answer that no one has asked them to work – no one has invited them into the vineyard. They are willing, and have been willing all day, but just needed to be invited to work in the vineyard. We as a Catholic community are called to extend an invitation to others. We are bearers of a great gift, the gift o f the Church, the gift of being called by a loving God. But the gift is not meant just for ourselves but to be shared. There are others who probably would like to be part of our Catholic family but they have not joined us because they have never been invited. Like the workers at the 5:00pm hour, many are waiting to be invited into the vineyard and those of us who have been part of the Church family for many years need to share the gift of God with others.

There is a story about an elderly woman who was travelling in the mountains and found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.

But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. "I've been thinking," he said. "I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me this stone."

The flip side of today’s Gospel is how it applies to us. The message again is quite simple: if our God is generous with us than we too must imitate and be generous with our brothers and sisters. If God shows no favoritism and shares his love equally with all his children, then we too must freely share the gifts that we have been blessed with. This generosity does not translate solely into sharing our financial blessings with other but we are called to share all our blessings with others. For each and every person in this church today we each have our own gifts and talents that God has given us. For myself, it seems as if God has given me the gift to be able to stand in front of people and speak His Word. To the people involved in our music ministry today, God has blessed with the gift of music and song. It is a gift they share with us in this Church. We need to be able to share our time with others: lend an ear to someone who just needs to talk. Offer our assistance in an area that we are good in with someone who needs help in that area.

Our God has blessed us and we in turn need to be a blessing to others. Today we celebrate Catechetical Sunday were we will bless and commission those who will be working in our Faith Formation program over the next year. They are sharing with the larger Church Family the gift of their faith. For this we thank them and no to give them a swelled head, they should serve as a challenge to us all to step forward and be generous with our time and with sharing our faith.

Today, be thankful for the gifts that our God has blessed you with. His love and blessings are for all who come to the vineyard. Today, let us commit to following the example of our God but being generous with others. The gifts that we have freely been given we must share with those around us. They are not gifts solely for our own lives but like the valuable stone of the wise woman should be offered without any regard to what we will receive in return. If we give, we will receive. It’s not a lesson for the business world of 2008 but it’s a lesson on how to live as disciples of the Lord. AMEN!