When God seems unfair...

25TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

[ Matthew 20: 1-16 ]

   “God, this is not fair!”

Victim mentality: "This is so unfair! This is great injustice!".

This Sunday’s Gospel reading comes as a rude surprise for many of us: the late comers are receiving the same wage as the first comers. While the landowner is ‘technically correct’ that the first comers received what they have agreed for, still something is ‘wrong’ somewhere: this seems like a ‘great injustice’! Yes, God’s justice can be mind-boggling and incomprehensible. ‘The last will be first, and the first, last’ [Lk 20: 16] is a direct contradiction to our commonly-known mantra, ‘the early bird catches the worm’!

We often feel that God ‘owes’ us a great reward for all the years that we have believed, for all the good that we have done, for all the prayers that we have said, for all the service that we have rendered, and for all the things that we have sacrificed. While God does promise abundant grace and blessings, we often forget that God’s offer of love, light, life and salvation is a pure gift from Him who loves us. In all honesty, none of us has done anything worthy enough to deserve God’s gifts. Still, we are tempted to feel we are ‘more worthy’ and that we have ‘earned enough’ from God, and thereby we can look down on those we think are less worthy.

   “Why be envious because I am generous?” [Lk 20: 15]

A Christian paradox: ‘The last will be first, and the first, last’ [Lk 20: 16].

While we are still clouded by the human ideals of deserving, Jesus is directing our focus to the uncalculating generosity of God. The gift of eternal life is the same for all. We are not more saved than the others.

Just like the parable of the Prodigal Son [Lk 15: 11-32], Jesus calls us to rejoice in God’s generosity, to be happy that even those whose repentance comes late in the day are received by the loving Father. If God is generous to others, we should rejoice too, for God has also been generous to us.

Instead of being ungrateful for the graces we have received… instead of comparing ourselves with others… instead of letting jealousy darken our minds and our souls… and instead of fighting one another… let us continue to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling [Phil 2: 12]. As long as we are honest workers in the Lord’s vineyard, the Lord will grant us eternal life with Him as He has promised – we can count on His Word.

The gift of eternal life is the same for all.

Let our fervent prayer be:

   “Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for Your generous and uncalculating love.”

Let us also pray that God’s justice, peace, truth and love may prevail in Malaysia, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua.

   [Note: This Gospel reflection was adapted from Porta Fidei, Gospel Reflection, 20 Sep 2020.]