Saturday, September 20, 2014

25th Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 21-09-2014

Isa 55:6-9 / Phil 1:20-24, 27 / Mat 20:1-16

This weekend is the F1 (Formula One) race in Singapore.

There is much hype and publicity about this F1 race since it started a few years ago.

Whatever it is, the outcome of the race is that there will be only one winner and the rest are losers.

Yes, the winner takes it all, and the losers will be nowhere at all.

So whether it be the F1 race, or any sport or competition or in the business world, or in the hierarchy of any organization, it is the first, or the winner, that really matters.

The others just fade into the background of obscurity.

So today's gospel parable may not sound very fair to us if we put ourselves into the shoes of those who were the first to be hired and yet in the end got the same wages as that of the late comers or last comers.

In fact, we may even be resentful of the fact that the late comers did the least and got the same wages as us.

But as the 1st reading tells us, the heavens are as high above the earth as God's ways are above man's ways and God's thoughts are above man's thoughts.

We must realize that in God's eyes, there are no winners or losers, no first-comers or late comers, no Formula One or Formula Zero.

Some are called to do great things, some are called to do little things, but everyone is good for something and no one is good for nothing.

The 2nd reading urges us to avoid anything in our everyday lives that would be unworthy of the gospel of Christ.

Let us avoid the comparison between the first and the last, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad.

Such comparisons will only lead to envy and resentment.

As the landlord in the gospel parable said: Why be envious because I am generous?

Yes, God is generous to the great and little alike, as well as to the first and the last.

May we realize that and rejoice in God's generosity and give thanks for His blessings.