From the Pastor to His People

09-24-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

At the parking lot of Walmart Superstore on E Thomas Rd near 36th St., around 30 or more men lined up waiting to be hired for the day, and like the other wave of immigrants who came before, they have come to this land of opportunity in search of a better life for their families. Almost every day, you see them all line up on the road, waiting for an employer to pick them up and transport them to the workplace. Depending on what skill or the kind of work is needed, some get hired at dawn, others at midmorning, others at noon, and still others late in the afternoon. In any case, it is unlikely that they will receive equal pay because, in the real world, fair is fair, and one receives what is one’s due.

What the landowner did in the Gospel defies all human imagination and expectation. In fact, most people would see it as a violation of the common sense of justice. But since the landowner or the employer is God, payroll is not based on the type of work and hours completed, but on His goodness and generosity. He is God, and we are not. Is GOD not free to do His wish? Are we envious because He is generous?

After going out several times to look for workers, on the 11th hour the landowner still found workers. Why do you stand here idle all day? The words of Jesus should concern all those who are not doing much about their life. Life and time are the world’s best teachers. Life teaches us to make good use of time, and time teaches us the value of life. Therefore, we must make good use of our time while we are alive. Aside from time, we all have God given talents, each according to how much we can manage. Let us use the gifts and blessings we received from the creator while we still can. So that when the master returns, like in the Parable of the Wise Servant, we may have little or no regrets that we have not done or given our best.

Today, pay is directly proportional to the number of hours worked. If God is the landowner in the parable, He is a terrible recruiter, manager, and an unjust employer. Human imposes their standards on God; His justice and generosity are nothing close to ours. Let us lift our standards to His level and stop bringing them down. When Jesus said that the first will be last and the last will be first, He reminded us not to be preoccupied with outdoing each other. In our journey, we imitate the justice and generosity of God. We focus on Him. The journey is not about us but Him, lest we lose sight of Him.

Conquering others requires force. Conquering oneself requires strength. If we can only stop all complaining, grumbling, and comparing ourselves to others, we attain self satisfaction. The irony is that we can never get enough of what we don’t need because what we don’t need won’t satisfy us. So, the best thing to do is to focus on God, not each other, in our journey to His heart. In life, there are such things as fairness and fair play, but there are also such things as grace and generosity. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be lesser or greater persons than yourself. (Desiderata)

We may ask these questions: 1.) How come Mary gets to sit by Jesus listening to Him while Martha is busy preparing food for Him and His disciples? 2.) In the parable of the Prodigal Son: Why did the father not ever give the faithful son a lavish party that his sinful brother received? 3.) How come tax collectors and prostitutes would most probably enter quicker than the scribes and the Pharisees? 4.) Why did the repentant thief on the cross get a home run to heaven at the last minute? The response of Jesus is always the same: He is God, and we are not. Our ways are not His ways. Remember, we must relate to Jesus from LOVE, not JUSTICE.