25th Sunday In Ordinary Time :: Op-stjoseph.org

September 21, 2008- 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Cycle A Scripture Readings First: Isaiah 55:6-9. Second: Phillipians 1:20c-24, 27a. Gospel: Matthew 20: 1-16a. Prepared by: Fr. Stephen Dominic Hayes, OP 1. Subject Matter •

This Sunday's Gospel is sometimes referred to as of the Vineyard Workers; some scholars suggest it should better be called The Generous Employer. The symbol of the vineyard points to the eschatological dimension which attends each of our vocations in Christ; patristic commentary suggests that the calling of the various groups of workers represents the various calls of those who've gone before us. We who live in the world's “Eleventh hour” have all the benefit of the great things promised to the Saints. The reward of the Great Day will be the same for all of us.

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Patristic commentary has traditionally seen this passage is summing up the labors of God's chosen people and friends over the whole pattern of salvation history. It is a message of hope; those called in the present age, in the "end times", will not be treated with less generosity than the great friends of God who have gone before us: the great gift of salvation in Jesus Christ is open to one and all.

2. Exegetical Notes •

Isaiah 55:6-9: this short passage from Deutero- Isaiah as a specific eschatological vision. The preceding passage (55.3-5) in Isaiah promises a new and everlasting covenant, in fulfillment of the promise is made to David the king - a reference to the eschatological King will take up his throne and work, and the coming of “a nation unknown” will be joining itself to Israel for God's sake, and the glory of his people, thus prophesying the coming of the Christian Church. The current passage adds to this preliminary and underlying idea. The theme of repentance from the heart, and specifically, the warning that God's God's ways “are above (our) ways, and his thoughts are above (our) thoughts.” The Gospel will reemphasize this theme indirectly, as the owner of the vineyard demonstrates a different concern and shape of justice than those he has employed to work in his vineyard.

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Phillipians 1:20c-24, 27a: This passage brings forth the meaning of what it means to live in Christ – and, in conjunction with the Gospel read by the Church today, explicates the meaning of the “denarius” - the daily “living wage” which is at the heart of the Gospel passage. Our life here- labor in the vineyard- as its purpose a life in God, which is both

present subsistence and future glory. Paul knows not whether it is better for him to remain in the body and labor for the Gospel, or to be with Christ himself; but he is in either case content with what Christ actually wills him to do. He is not his own master, and labors for Christ. Furthermore (v.27) he expects the members of his congregations to manifest this same attitude in their conduct towards each other, towards God, and towards those outside the Church: this steps into the realm of analysis of the virtue of justice by which God and men are given that which is owed them; we have here another connection to the Gospel themes. St. Paul closes by emphasizing the necessity for the faith of Christians to be shown in the shape of their conduct, “worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” •

Matthew 20: 1-16a: This Gospel passage is unique to Matthew, and therefore suggests a uniquely Semitic address in its teaching. The everyday situation, which is the basis of the parable is that of what is now called the "labor pool," the modern variant of which can be found in any city of decent size. Unskilled laborers, invariably themselves poor, are called to work by and for the day, and are paid a basic wage for the services. In the first century Palestinian version of this, the owner of the vineyard seems to be acting in a manner familiar to Christ’s contemporaries, which would be seen especially at harvest time, when the grapes must be gathered in quickly; There is in the background of the parable what seems to be an eschatological meaning - the labor is precisely for the gathering in of a harvest; and since the Lord is the one who is the owner of the vineyard, the notion of the gathering of his harvest points to the Eschaton.

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The “denarius” (the “daily wage” in some translations) is a subsistence wage. The fact it is a subsistence wage likely explains the reason why, on a natural level, the owner of the vineyard pays those who come late the same amount as those who work the whole day; to pay less than a subsistence wage to those who come late to his work means that they and their families do not eat that night. The payment of the full denarius can be seen as a matter of basic justice to those poor who depend upon that subsistence amount to eat from day to day.

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At the end of the day, the last workers hired are paid first, and receive a full subsistence wage. Those who work longer expect more, and though they accept their pay, grumble that they have worked longer and harder than those whom the owner of the vineyard called last to work. But the owner - and behind this figure stands Christ himself -refuses to take offense; he calls the grumbler “ my friend,” and points out that he has done him no injustice by paying him what he agreed to work for. Christ insists on being generous, as in the case of the vineyard owner; and by giving the gift of salvation to the one who comes late to God’s purposes, he takes nothing away from those who have come first.

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In the specific social conditions of the Antiochene church in which the Greek and canonical version of Matthew seems to have its origins, the parable may reflect the controversy in the ancient Church, described the Acts of the Apostles of the admission of the Gentiles in large numbers to the Christian Church. In this case the outcome of the parable reflects the actual resolution of the controversy in the ancient Church: the Gentiles are invited late by God to salvation, but once invited share the very same spiritual standing as Jewish Christians. The address of the barrel is not necessarily limited to this; as is true of Christ's parables generally, it may have several levels of address. Placed as it is between Christ‘s promise that his Twelve Apostles will sit “upon thrones” (Matt. 19:28), and the machinations of the sons of Zebedee for places close to Christ in glory (20:20-23), it can also contrast the call of the earliest disciples such as the Apostles with those who came later; in any case, regardless of

the address of the parable to specific communities, the message is the same -Christ plays no favorites, and an equal promise of salvation is open to all. 3. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church •

CCC 1005 : to rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must” be away from the body and at home with the Lord." In that "departure" which is death. The soul is separated from the body. The reunited with the body of the day of the resurrection of the dead.

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CCC 1010 : Because of Christ, Christian death gains a positive meaning: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." “The saying is sure: if we have died with him, we shall also live with him.” What is essentially new about Christian death, is this: through Baptism, the Christian has already "died with Christ" sacramentallly, in order to live a new life; and if we dined Christ's grace, physical death completes this "dying with Christ" and so completes our incorporation into him in his redeeming act…

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CCC 1024 : This perfect life with the most holy Trinity - this communion of life in love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the Blessed - is called "Heaven." Heaven is the ultimate and in fulfillment of the deepest human longings, a state of supreme definitive happiness.

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CCC 1682 : For the Christian the day of death inaugurates, at the end of his sacramental life, the fulfillment of his new birth begun at Baptism, the definitive "conformity" to "the image of the Son" conferred by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and participation in the feast of the Kingdom, which was anticipated in the Eucharist -- even if final purifications are still necessary for him in order to be clothed with the nuptial garment.

4. Patristic Commentary •

St. Cyril of Alexandria (Fragment 226): By day, (the Lord) means the whole and age during which at different moment since the transgression of Adam he calls just individuals to their pious work, defining rewards for them for their actions. And so "around the first hour" are those at the time of Adam and Enoch; "at the third hour" those in the time of Noah and Shem and the righteous is sending from them, for the second time is also the second calling when the laws were also different. The workers called "at the sixth hour." of those time of Abraham, the time of the institution of the circumcision; those at the eleventh hour are those just before Christ's advent. In their time alone, the question is asked, what are you doing standing the whole day idle for they do not have the hope of the Lord. … there are five calling so that he may show that each time. There were sensible people and aimless ones, like the five wise origins in the five foolish ones, according to their particular times.

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Incomplete work on Matthew (Homily 34): And just as the hired hand is a shame to enter the house and ask for burn a day when he has not worked, how would you not be ashamed to enter church and stand before God's gaze when you have done nothing good in God's sight? He went out "early" and some of Adam and those who were with him; "at the third hour" now, and those who with him; "at the sixth hour," Abraham and those who were with him; "at the ninth hour" Moses and those who were with him, or David and those who were with him, for to these he gave the testaments. "At the 11th hour" understand the Gentiles, because now we stand on the very edge of the world, as John testifies in his letter saying: "Children, it is the last hour." … and that was in the 11th hour. Now, in our time, the 12th hour is not yet complete, but without a doubt little time remains. We are in the twelfth hour.

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St. John Chrysostom (The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 64.3.): so what was the point of this parable and what does he want to accomplish? You make those who convert to their extreme old age more earnest and to make the batter and not let them think they have less…. and so somewhat called early, some of the third hour, some of the sixth, some of the ninth hour, and some of the 11th when they were about to obey. Paul also makes the same point when he says, "When it pleased him, separating me from my mother's womb." When did please him? When Paul was ready to obey. For God wished it even from the beginning, but Paul would not yield; then it pleased him when he too was ready to obey. In this way too Christ called the thief, though he was able to calm him even earlier, but he would not have obeyed. For if Paul at the beginning would not obey, how much less would the thief have obeyed.

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St. Gregory the Great (Forty Gospel Homilies 19.4): The householder said to them, "I wish to give to this last one is I give even to you." And since the obtaining of his kingdom comes from his goodwill, he properly adds, "Or am I not allowed to do what I wish?" It is always foolish to question the goodness of God. There might have been reason for loud complaint if he did not give what he owed but not if he gives what he did not owe. And so he adds, "Or is your eye evil because I am good?" No one should boast of his work or of his time, when after saying this Truth cries out: "So the last will be first, and the first last." We know what good things we have done and know how many things they are; we do not know with what exactitude our judge from on high will investigate them. Indeed, we must all rejoice exceedingly even to being last in the kingdom of God.

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St. Gregory the Great (Forty Gospel Homilies 19.5): for many are called but few are chosen; many come to the faith, and only if you're brought to the heavenly kingdom. See how many have gathered for today's celebration; we filled the church! But yet, who knows so too may be numbered in the flock of God's elect. All voices shout, "Christ," but not everyone's life shouts it. Many follow God with their voices but flee from him by their conduct. Paul says, "They profess that they know God, but they deny them by their deeds." (Titus 1:16) and James, "Faith without works is worthless" (James 2:20)…. the sheepfold of our holy Church receives goats, together with lamps, but as the gospel bears witness, when the judge comes he will separate the good from the evil as a shepherd sets the sheep apart from the goats. Those who are subject to the pleasures of their bodies here cannot be counted as sheep there. The Judge will separate from the ranks of the humble those who now exalt themselves on the horns of pride.

5. Examples from the Saints and Other Exemplars •

The so-called good thief crucified with Jesus, and popularly given the traditional name, “St. Dismas, is perhaps the classic case of the “eleventh hour” conversion. After leading a life of robbery and crime, and perhaps even murder, moved by grace, he asks in the last moments in his life that Jesus, who is being crucified next to him, should “remember him in his kingdom, “ recognizing Christ's divine mission, acknowledging him as Lord, and throwing himself on his mercy. Jesus for his part, promises that, “This day, “ Dismas “will be with me in Paradise.” The robber by throwing on himself on the grace offered to him in his life's last moments manages to steal heaven - his best heist!

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St. John Cassian tells the story of the conversion of St. Moses the Black in his Conferences. Moses was a robber chieftain, who was converted by the example of a monk he robbed. Moses and his gang had pillaged the cell of a monk while he was out drawing water, leaving

only a walking stick. The monk, on finding the theft, picked up a walking stick and chased the robber is until they stopped and turned to face him, in which the monk walked up to Moses, and handed him the walking stick saying, “Here, you forgot this; go in peace.” The monk then returned to his own cell. Completely shaken by the monk theft of their robbery, by his free gift to them of what they stole and more, they went back to the monk returned his property, and became eventually his disciples. Abba Moses himself became a famous and wise spiritual father and teacher. •

St Lorenzo Ruiz, is the first Filipino saint and martyr. Educated as a youth by the Dominicans, in Manila, and a member of the confraternity of holy Rosary, he was by profession a calligrapher, and had a wife and two children. Somehow he became involved in a criminal case, the circumstances which are unclear, but which could have resulted in his capital punishment. For this reason, in 1637 he fled his family and circumstances, taking ship for Japan in the company of some Dominican missionaries. These Christians were imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese, and who encouraged them to deny their faith. Lorenzo valiantly told his executioner, that he was ready to die for God and to give himself for many thousands of lives if he had them. He was hung upside down from a gallows, and died after two days of agony. He and his 15 companions were beatified by Pope John Paul II in Manila in 1981, and canonize in 1987. His feast is September 28.

6. Quotes •

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St. Augustine of Hippo (The Confessions 10.27) Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient , ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness as I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; and if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace. St. Augustine of Hippo (Sermons 87,6): In that pay, then, we shall all be equal, the first like the last in the last like the first. Because that denarius is eternal life, and in eternal life, all will be equal. For although they will shine, some more and some less, by a diversity of marriage, what pertains to eternal life will be given equally to all. St. Augustine of Hippo (Sermons on John, 67,2) The denarius which the householder orders to be given to all of those who work in his vineyard, with no distinction between those who labored less than those who labored more, is given equally to all. By that denarius is certainly eternal life, in which no one lives longer than anyone else, since in eternity life has no diversity in its measure. But the many mansions signify different worths of merits in the one eternal life. Pope Benedict XIII (Principles of Catholic Theology, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987, pp. 334-345 ) In the parables are two principal functions. On the one hand, they transcend the realm of creation in order, by this transcendence, to draw it above itself to the Creator. On the other hand, they accept the past historical experience of faith, that is, they prolong the parables that have grown up with a history of Israel. They should add here, a third point: they also interpret the simple world of everyday life in order to show how a transcendence to what is more than just human stereotype occurs in it. On the one hand, the content of faith

reveals itself only parables, but, on the other hand, the parable makes clear the core of reality itself. This is possible because reality itself is a parable. Hence, it is only by way of parable of the nature of the world and of man himself is made known to us… only because creation is parable can become the word of parable. 7. Other Considerations •

Another way to state the premises of the Gospel today is that God offers salvation to all who he can find to accept the message. This cuts against certain non-Catholic theologies of predestination, most especially the notion of a double predestination both to hell and to glory found in various false theologies including the Jansenist and the Calvinist. The offer of salvation is made to all who are encountered in by the vineyard owner; in a similar way God offers to all human beings an opportunity to enter God's vineyard through Jesus Christ, whether or not they accept that invitation to enter his service. Thus we are universally predestined by the will of God to the life of grace, even though not all, with God's permissive will and foreknowledge, accept that offer.

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Workers in the vineyard are promised a denarius, a wage on which to live, a thing customarily marked with the image of the ruler. For Christians who have decided to enter the service of the Lord Jesus in his vineyard the Church, the client for which we work is precisely its to receive the image of Christ, our King, in our souls. It is the hope of receiving this enemy wage for which we work, and in the power of that blessed Image of our King received in our souls, not in our hands, that we hope to live for ever.

Recommended Resources Benedict XVI, Pope. Benedictus: Day by Day with Pope Benedict XVI. Yonkers, Ignatius Press/ Magnificat 2006. New York: Magnificat: SAS, 2006.

Copyright

Brown, Raymond E., S.S., Fitzmeyer, Joseph, S.J., and Murphy, Roland E., O. Carm. The Jerome Biblical Commentary. Two Vols. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Harrington, Daniel J, S.J. The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series, Vol. 1: Daniel J Harrington, ed. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1991. Jurgens, William A. The Faith of the Early Fathers. 3 Vols. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1979. Oden, Thomas C., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. New Testament, Vol. 1B, Matthew 14-28. Manlio Simonetti, ed. Downers Grove, IL : Intervarsity Press, (Institute of Classical Christian Studies), 2002. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels Collected out of the Works of the Fathers. Albany, N.Y.: Preserving Christian Publications, Inc., 2001. Tugwell, Simon, OP., ed. Early Dominicans; Selected Writings. Spirituality. New York; Ramsey; Toronto : Paulist Press, 1982.

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