Daily Reflection by Rev Fr Awoyemi Emmanuel, Ilorin Diocese, Nigeria

 

HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY, 20TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME B

{Ezekiel 34:1-11;Matthew 20:1-16}

The parable described in today’s Gospel is known as the “Parable of Workers in the Vineyard” or the“Parable of the Generous Landlord.” This remarkable and rather startling parable is found only in Matthew. There is Gospel, or “Good News,” in this parable because it is the story of the landlord’s love and generosity, representing God’s love and generosity. The question in God’s mind is not, “How much do these people deserve?” but rather, “How can I help them? How can I save them before they perish?”It’s all about grace and blessings. God is presented in the parable as a loving mother who cares about each of her children equally. The parable in a nutshell: The Kingdom of Heaven, says Jesus, is like a landowner who goes out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. He rounds up a group at 6 AM, agrees to pay them the usual daily wage and then puts them into action. At 9 AM, he rounds up another group, saying He wil give them what is just. At noon, he recruits a third team, and then at 3 PM, a fourth. Finally, at 5 PM, he finds still more laborers who are willing and able to work. He sends them into the vineyard to do what they can before sundown. As the day ends, the landowner instructs his manager to pay each of the workers one denarius, the daily living wage, and to begin with those who started at 5 PM.

Dear brothers and sisters, the lessons before us is that we need to follow God’s example and show grace to our neighbor. When someone else is more successful than we are, let us rejoice with him and assume he has earned the success. When someone who does wrong manages to escape discovery, let us remember the many times we have done wrong and gotten off free. We mustn’t wish pain on people for the sake of “fairness,” for that is envy, and we become envious of others because of our lack of generosity of heart. 2) We need to express our gratitude to God in our daily lives. God personally calls each of us to a particular ministry. He shows his care by giving us His grace and eternal salvation. All our talents and blessings are freely given us by God, so we should thank Him by avoiding sins, by rendering loving service to others, and by listening and talking to Him.

PAX VOBIS

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria
awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com