Sept. 20 - Sept.26, 2020
St. Patrick Church
Mass times:Saturday Vigil Mass: 4:30 PM
Sunday Mass: 8:00 AM
10:00 AM In the Church and livestreamed on facebook
Catechetical Sunday - Commissioning of Catechists
5:30 PM
Mon. - Sat.: 8:00 AM Daily Mass in the Church and livestreamed on facebook
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Wed. 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Sat. 11:00 AM: Rosary for the end of Covid 19 virus Conference call number: 717-275-8940 PIN Number 369 8340#
Saturday: Confessions 3:30 PM-4:30 PM
PASTOR’S WEEKLY MESSAGE 25
“My ways are not your ways”
Just think for a moment…how do you feel as you read this Gospel? Perhaps you felt uneasy, thinking that the ways of the owner of the field were not just. Perhaps, even a little angry, saying to yourself: “It’s really not fair. If those who work hardly at all are paid as much as those who labor for the whole day, what is the use of being on time on the job?”
Some of us might even be tempted to think that Jesus, who tells this story, is not very concerned about a man doing a good day’s work. If Jesus saw how things are nowadays—people late for work; taking extra-long breaks; leaving work early—perhaps He would not find this too bad… If we are thinking along these lines, we have completely missed the point of the story. The workers who came at the late hour were not late. “No one has hired us, they answered.” And what Jesus is talking about here is not work. Let us look more closely at His words. What did He reply to those who were first to arrive in the field and paid last? He said to one of them: ‘My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? I choose to pay the late-comers as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?’
What Jesus is saying here is what we heard from the first reading from the prophet, Isaiah. God says: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways not your ways.”
What are our thoughts? Usually, we think of strict justice, fair dealing... We stick to the rules. We do not cheat, but we do not want to be cheated either. We do not want to be losers, so we make sure other people will not get from us more than they deserve—‘in all justice,’ we say. To give more? This would mean to give what has not been earned—to offer what someone does not deserve. Our ways are not like that. Everything must be won—money or praise—and people will get just as much as they have a right to expect, nothing more…nothing less.
But what are God’s thoughts? God, seen in the story as the owner of the field, is not unfair. He has respected the agreement made with those first workers: one denarius for the day. He has not deprived them of their rights. He has been just and fair to them. But God is more than just. He is generous. And this is not easy for us to understand. God is greater than our understanding. He, Himself, explains this very clearly: “Yes, the heavens are as high above the earth as my ways above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts.” We know this, yet at times we would like to tell God what He should do! We think if we were God, we would do things differently. We have been taught that God is just, and we say we believe it. But when we hear today’s Gospel, we may think: He is just, yes, but… Why do we add those words: “Yes, but...?” Is it not because we feel a little jealous? Jesus could tell us as He told the worker: “Why be envious because I am generous?” Does the Lord fail to be good to us? Does He not give us all manner of gifts and blessings? He does, indeed, and each one of us can say, in truth: Yes, really the Lord is good to me. Then, why look at what others get with a bad eye?
‘A bad eye’ is how some African tribes describe jealousy and envy. And both are like poison. They spoil much of our daily living. They make us forget the good things we have. We can not enjoy them anymore because we only look at what other people have. Look at those workers who were paid their day’s salary. Did they enjoy it? No…for they were full of bitterness because the late-comers had received as much as they had. We need to free ourselves from these feelings of jealousy and envy. We can do this by becoming more aware of all the gifts God gives to us, day after day. And also, by trying to become a little more like God—more generous. Pray for the grace, this week, to root out jealousy and envy in your life.