Not of human standards

God’s generous mercy and His ways and logic surpass human standards. The grace of God does not measure our worth by how early or late we turn to Him; He welcomes everyone into a relationship with open arms.

We can see this in the parable of the workers in the vineyard, where the landowner pays the latecomers the same daily wage as those who worked all day.

The landowner’s policy highlights that God’s kingdom is governed by grace, not a strict human system of earning or score-keeping.

In a conversation among religious (religious are men and women who belong to a religious order, a society of apostolic life or an institute, such as the Augustinians, Benedictines, Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, SVD, Jesuits and so on), someone asked, “Why were they being ordained when, in fact, they had not taken their solemn or perpetual vows of chastity, poverty and obedience?”

Just as in any organization, for some, being new or old members matters.

As Catholic Christians, we are called to be humble workers in the world, letting go of selfish thoughts and trusting entirely in God’s higher path.

In the Gospel, the landowner pays the workers who arrived at the final hour the same daily wage as those who toiled all day. This defies human logic, which expects the reward to be strictly proportional to the effort.

God’s thoughts and ways vastly surpass human calculations. God does not measure human worth through a transactional scorecard, but through boundless mercy.

In order for us to be free of envy and resentment toward others, we need to recognize the radical grace of God. It invites us to rejoice in God’s hospitality, welcoming both early and late arrivals into His vineyard.

We are to be united as one Body of all believers and all people of God. All of us have been called and chosen by the Lord, and as Christians, we have to respond to the Lord’s call and embrace His path, to do His will and to carry out His works in our every word, action and deed in this world.

We are reminded that our existence and purpose should truly be to follow and to serve the Lord our God, wholeheartedly, in all things.

In the Gospel, we hear the parable of the workers in the vineyard, who went forth to the streets and various places, calling upon people of all sorts to come and work in his vineyard. The landowner represents the Lord, our God and Master, and the vineyard represents this world, where we all labor and work.

We are workers called to work in the vineyard whom God had called and chosen to be His people, His disciples and followers. Certainly, not all the people that the landowner called would have responded to him and accepted his offer to work in his vineyard, just as how many reject the Lord and refuse to believe in His Good News of salvation.