“God’s Generosity and Our Call to Give”

Dear Parishioners,

          Today's Gospel presents a less-than-charitable tendency in the parable of the landowner and the laborers in the vineyard. We often have a particularly strong reaction when someone we feel hasn’t earned it receives something good. That feeling is very real. In our Gospel, we see the anger and confusion of the laborers who worked from dawn until dusk, grumbling against the landowner because those who worked only an hour received the full daily wage. They are angry because the landowner’s generosity defies their sense of justice, which holds that each person should get exactly what they’re due, and no more.

          But God’s justice doesn’t work the way human justice does. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways, the Lord says through the prophet Isaiah. Other passages in Scripture tell us that God makes the sun rise on the good and the bad and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust (Mt. 5:45). Or, as our psalm tells us, The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works, good and bad, deserving and undeserving alike.

          Why? Why is the Lord so indiscriminately generous, even when someone doesn’t deserve it? Because of his infinite mercy. Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked his thoughts; let him turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving, Isaiah tells us. The radical generosity of God’s mercy gives the sinner confidence that it’s never too late to turn back; it’s never too late to come home. The message of today’s Gospel is that no matter what, all is not lost. 

          When we move from seeing this Gospel through our small-minded lens of someone receiving more than they deserve to understanding it from the vantage point of God’s infinite mercy, perhaps we can move from our all-too-human reaction of grumbling at the unfairness to praise of God’s goodness. May this Eucharist we share help us offer thanks and praise to God for his unfathomable mercy, which gives each of us infinitely more than we could ever deserve.

          Thank you for being part of his vineyard here at St. Joseph. As we launch our Faith Renewed – Mission Sustained Fall Offertory Program, we are called to reflect this divine abundance within our parish. Our parish is a living vineyard where every voice, every hour of service, and every sacrificial gift sustains vital ministries that feed the hungry, form our youth, and bring Christ to the lonely. Just as the master called workers at all hours of the day, God now calls each of us to step forward, renew our commitment, and ensure that our shared mission continues to flourish for generations to come.

May our commitment reflect our gratitude for all God has given us.