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Readings for Sunday 9-18-2011                      

                                                     God’s Arms Never Close

          

              Think of the worst job you ever had: Ever felt like you weren’t getting paid what you’re worth?  Ever been in a situation where someone lower than you on the work ladder got paid more than you? Those are pretty tough situations to have to accept. Guess what? That’s how God will treat His employees, too. This doesn’t mean that God is a God of injustice, or that He is not in favor of us getting a just wage, but He sees into the heart and can make judgments we cannot make. This Sunday’s Gospel passage deals with our heavenly reward, and the attitude we should take towards it. Jesus uses the analogy of the landowner (God the Father) and his hired hands (us). The landowner begins his day by looking for people to hire, and continues to look for workers throughout the day.  He hires people at dawn, nine AM, noon, three PM, and finally at five PM, one last time before quitting time. The day, and the different times of this day, represents our lives and the stages we go through. Some people respond to God early in their lives; others wait until their lives are almost over. We also see that the landowner doesn’t do the work himself – he gets others to help him. These workers freely enter an agreement with the landlord. Like the workers, we enter into a relationship with Jesus, and the promise He makes to us is eternal life. At the end of the workday, the foreman (the angels) are given the task of paying the employees. As they are getting paid, the early workers complain that they are given the same wage as the latecomers (how come the slackers are getting what I did?) What Jesus is trying to say to us is that heaven is open to anyone who is still alive: Their faith can get them a great place there, even if they are on their deathbed and have lived a sinful life. Those of us who have been holy our entire lives should not be upset when the converted sinner gets the same heavenly rewards as us. The sinner who finally converts will have more joy than the rest because they have been in the depths of sin.  This joy often leads them to great holiness, surpassing those who have been coasting along their entire lives. Should we, who are trying to be faithful, start sinning and just repent on our deathbed? Of course not! We have no guarantee that we won’t die unexpectantly. Because we know the truth, we will be held more accountable than those who do not. Let us make sure that heaven is the most important thing we desire – more important than pleasing our friends, having a good hair day, or going on the right vacation. Be so focused on heaven that you are happy with what God gives you, while not comparing yourself with anyone else (as if our complaining to God will make any difference!) Summary of the Gospel from YM Central

Reading 1             Isaiah 55:6-9

Seek the LORD while he may be found, call him while he is near. 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. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways
and my thoughts above your thoughts.

Questions for Discussion:

1. One of the biggest questions every follower of Jesus asks is “What is God’s will for my life?” 
2. If you ask God for forgiveness, can you be sure that He grants it?
3. What are the qualities to which God responds? With what urgency should you seek Him?
4. This passage presents one of the great assurances in the Bible that God does hear and respond to sincere request for forgiveness.

Reading                 2 Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a

Brothers and sisters: Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit. Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Questions for Discussion:

1. Writing from his prison cell, Paul is faced with a choice. Should he look forward to being a martyr so that he can go home to Christ soon? Or should he be glad to stay on and serve others who need him? If you were in prison for your faith and didn't know if your sentence would be life or death, how would you pray? How did Paul think about it when faced with this situation? What do you think it means to conduct yourself in a way worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Gospel                    Matthew 20:1-16a

Jesus told his disciples this parable:"The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,
he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o'clock, the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.' So they went off. And he went out again around noon, and around three o'clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o'clock, the landowner found others standing around, and said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.' When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.' When those who had started about five o'clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, 'These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day's burden and the heat.' He said to one of them in reply, 'My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?' Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last."

Questions for Discussion:

Jesus points out that those who worked all day received a fair wage and a wage they agreed on from the start. The landowner, who represents God in the story, asks "Are you envious because I am generous?" The answer for many people is yes. They have forgotten that God's ways are not our ways. They do not remember that the blessings of God's kingdom are a gift to us.

1. Have you ever thought, "That's not fair?" How did thinking like that make you feel? Did you ever consider that maybe your thinking was wrong rather than the other person's actions? We have been told that God's ways are not our ways. What does that mean in this parable?
2.  It seems that, in this passage, God is apparently in favor of being unfair to people. (The landowner did not want to pay the early workers more than the late workers.) How can the landowner justify paying these people the same wage and still be called ‘fair’?
   
   
3. Have you ever caught yourself complaining to God the same way the early workers complained in Jesus’ parable? Describe.
   
   
4. How would you respond to a person who says, “I’m going to keep sinning because I know God will forgive me in the Sacrament of Confession, even though I know it is wrong”? Describe.