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Matthew 20:1-16a

We read this Gospel this past Sunday in the Latin Church. The visiting priest used it to remind us that, like the vineyard owner, God's ways are not our ways and His generosity is far beyond our comprehension or our own.

It occurred to me that there is also a deeper meaning here for us, too.

I have often run into people who think that they are superior in the eyes of God because they are "cradle" Catholics or Orthodox or other Christians. Like the workers who have labored all the day--as in all their lives--they sometimes think they are better or more favored than the one who comes late to the Faith or its practice. On the other hand, the truth here seems to me to be that we who have labored from our birth are no better than the one who may come late or even be a death-bed convert--though I don't recommend waiting for this opportunity. It seems to me that all that we are and all that we have, all that we will ever be or ever have is a gift. And so laboring in the Lord's service is a gift and a blessing that we ought to be thankful for and even more thankful when our ranks are swelled by the newcomer. It even occurred to me that I may need the extra effort of a full lifetime to wear the rough edges off before I am ready to account for my life.

On there other hand, I mourn the loss of anyone who gives up on the Faith and on Christ. In those cases I hear of, I ask myself if my example, my lived example, or some word of mine could be responsible. And I repent what I may have done out of human failing and even spiritual immaturity.

Bob

That's exactly what I got out of the parable as well. God loves everyone that makes his/her way into the Church regardless of when or how. We who have been blessed enough to have been raised as Christians from the beginning should rejoice when others repent, regardless of what may have come before. We're no better or worse than those converts and reverts.

As a non-cradle convert I can't help but recall this 19th century hymn by Anglican-turned -Catholic Frederick William Faber:

1 There's a wideness in God's mercy,
like the wideness of the sea.
There's a kindness in God's justice,
which is more than liberty.
There is no place where earth's sorrows
are more felt than up in heaven.
There is no place where earth's failings
have such kindly judgment given.

2 For the love of God is broader
than the measures of the mind.
And the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
If our love were but more faithful,
we would gladly trust God's Word,
and our lives reflect thanksgiving
for the goodness of our Lord.