25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 20:1-16
A FEW WEEKS AGO I RAN INTO A FORMER PARISHIONER. HE AND HIS WIFE AND KIDS MOVED TO LONGMEADOW FROM ANOTHER STATE. THEY JOINED THE PARISH, ENROLLED THEIR KIDS IN FAITH FORMATION, PARTICIPATED IN A COUPLE OF THE MINISTRIES AND SEEMED VERY DEVOTED. THEN AFTER A FEW YEARS THEY STOPPED COMING TO OUR CHURCH. THEY DIDN'T STOP BEING CATHOLICS, BUT THEY FOUND A CHURCH THAT THEY FELT WAS MORE WELCOMING. THE FORMER PARISHIONER SAID THAT THEY FELT THEY HAD REALLY TRIED, BUT THE ONLY PEOPLE THEY GOT TO KNOW WHO WERE MEMBERS OF ST. MARY'S WERE OTHER PARENTS WHO SENT THEIR CHILDREN TO THE SAME GRADE SCHOOL; THEY MET THEM THROUGH THE PARENT-TEACHERS ORGANIZATION RATHER THAN THROUGH THE PARISH. OF THOSE OTHERS, SOME HAVE MOVED TO OTHER TOWNS, SOME HAVE MOVED TO OTHER PARISHES, AND ONLY ONE COUPLE OF THAT ORIGINAL BUNCH CONTINUES TO COME TO ST. MARY'S, TO MY KNOWLEDGE.
WAS THE FORMER PARISHIONER'S EXPERIENCE A COMMON ONE? OR DID THEY JUST HAVE BAD LUCK? I DON'T KNOW, AND I AM ONLY TELLING YOU THIS BECAUSE IN SOME SENSE, WE ALL FAILED HIM AND HIS FAMILY.
TODAY, JESUS TELLS US THE FAMILIAR STORY OF THE VINEYARD OWNER WHO PAYS THE DAY LABORERS THE SAME AMOUNT, REGARDLESS OF HOW LONG THEY WORKED. IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, YOU SYMPATHIZED WITH THE WORKERS WHO HAD BORNE THE DAY'S HEAT, AND LOGICALLY EXPECTED THAT THEY WOULD GET MORE. AND IF I HAD BEEN ONE OF THOSE WORKERS, I WOULD HAVE HAD A HARD TIME SPEAKING NICELY TO THE WORKER WHO HAD STARTED LATE IN THE AFTERNOON, AND GOTTEN EXACTLY THE SAME WAGE. AND YET, HE HAD DONE NOTHING TO OFFEND ME, AND I HAD AGREED TO THE DAY'S WAGE. WHY AM I ANGRY? WHY AM I UPSET WITH THE VINEYARD OWNER AND THE LABORER WHO WORKED MUCH LESS THAN I DID?
THE PARABLES OF JESUS ARE TRULY WORKS OF GENIUS. SO SIMPLY TOLD, AND YET, SO REVEALING OF OURSELVES, IF WE LET THEM BE MIRRORS FOR US. IT IS SO HUMAN FOR PEOPLE IN AN ORGANIZATION, EVEN IN A CHURCH, TO SEE THEMSELVES AS ABOVE SOME PEOPLE, AND MAYBE BELOW OTHERS. THE PARISHIONER WHO HAS BEEN HERE FOR FIFTY YEARS, WHO HAS DONATED THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO THE CHURCH OVER THAT TIME, HAS PUT IN COUNTLESS HOURS, SEES THE YOUNG FAMILY THAT JUST MOVED TO TOWN AND SOMEWHERE DEEP INSIDE THINKS THAT BEFORE THEY CAN BE FULL MEMBERS OF THE PARISH, THEY HAVE TO EARN THEIR CHOPS. AND IF THE LONG TIME PARISHIONER DEIGNS TO GREET THEM AT ALL, IT IS WITH A STRAINED SMILE. ANOTHER PARISHIONER IS DEEPLY INVOLVED IN PARISH ACTIVITIES, GIVING UP SEVERAL HOURS EVERY WEEK. AND AT SUNDAY MASS SHE SITS NEAR ANOTHER WOMAN WHOM, AS FAR AS SHE KNOWS, ONLY COMES TO MASS ON SUNDAYS, NEVER GETS INVOLVED IN ANYTHING. AND WHEN THEY EXCHANGE THE SIGN OF PEACE, SHE QUICKLY AVERTS HER EYES AND FOCUSES AGAIN ON THE ALTAR; THAT OTHER PERSON HAS NOT BORNE THE NOONDAY HEAT! AND ON EASTER SUNDAY, THE COUPLE WHO HAS BEEN COMING TO CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY FINDS THAT THEIR FAVORITE PEW IS OCCUPIED BY A PERFECT STRANGER, SOMEONE THAT THEY KNOW HASN'T BEEN TO CHURCH SINCE CHRISTMAS; AND AS THEY STAND IN THE AISLES, THEY FEEL RESENTMENT FOR THESE UPSTARTS, AND NEVER THINK TO WELCOME THEM AND INVITE THEM BACK.
AND THEN THERE IS THE COUPLE WHO HAS JUST MOVED INTO TOWN, AND COME TO CHURCH WITH THEIR CHILDREN SUNDAY AFTER SUNDAY, AND AFTER MASS ARE NEVER ASKED, “WHERE DO YOU LIVE? WHAT DO YOU DO? OR TOLD “YOUR CHILDREN ARE SO WELL BEHAVED” OR “WE HAVE TO GET TOGETHER” OR “LETS GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER.”
BECAUSE WHAT KEEPS US APART IS JUST WHAT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT; SOMEONE NEEDS TO MAKE THE FIRST MOVE TO CHANGE STRANGERS TO FRIENDS, AND PERHAPS WE DON'T DO IT BECAUSE WHEN WE COME TO MASS TOGETHER, THERE IS NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN THOSE WHO HAVE BORNE THE HEAT OF THE NOONDAY SUN (WHICH MOST OF US FEEL WE HAVE) AND THOSE OTHERS WHO HAVE ONLY BEEN LABORING FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS. (WHICH PROBABLY BETTER DESCRIBES MOST OF US.)
BUT THE PARABLE TELLS US SOMETHING ELSE. IT TELLS US THAT GOD, THE OWNER OF THE VINEYARD, IS NOT THE LEAST BIT INTERESTED IN PAYING US WHAT WE DESERVE, OR THINK WE DESERVE. WHATEVER WE CHOOSE TO DO FOR OUR WONDERFUL GOD, HE WILL GIVE US WHAT WE NEED, JUST AS WE ASK OF HIM, GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD. AND THAT IS WHERE OUR EQUALITY LIES; THOSE OF US WHO WORK HARD FOR THE CHURCH, WHO GIVE MONEY, TIME, AND TALENT IN ABUNDANCE, WILL RECEIVE OUR REWARD – WHAT WE NEED. AND THOSE OF US WHO BARELY MANAGE TO GET TO MASS ON CHRISTMAS AND EASTER, WE WILL RECEIVE OUR REWARD AS WELL, WHAT WE NEED. AND WHEN THOSE WHO WORK HARD FOR THE CHURCH ASK THEMSELVES WHY THEY ARE DOING THIS, IT IS NOT REALLY TO RECEIVE A GREATER REWARD THAN THOSE OTHERS; AFTER ALL, HEAVEN WILL BE ALL THE REWARD WE CAN POSSIBLY NEED; IT IS INSTEAD TO BUILD UP THE BODY OF CHRIST SO THAT OUR NEIGHBORS AND OUR CHILDREN AND OUR FRIENDS WILL ALSO BE CALLED TO LIVE LIVES SO THAT THEY TOO WILL RECEIVE ALL THEY NEED. AND SO WHETHER WE HAVE BORN THE HEAT OF THE NOONDAY SUN, OR WHETHER WE WERE THOSE LAST HIRED, IF WE DON'T FORGE THOSE HUMAN BONDS WITH THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO PARTICIPATE IN THE EUCHARIST WITH US, THEN OUR LABOR IS NOT OF MUCH USE; IF WE LEAVE OUR SUNDAY LITURGY WITHOUT RENEWING, DEEPENING, OR STARTING RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE OTHER MEMBERS OF OUR CHURCH, THEN WE HAVE FAILED, OUR PARTICIPATION IN THE LITURGY HAS NOT BORNE THE FRUIT THAT IT SHOULD.
SO I ASK OF YOU A SIMPLE THING TODAY. AT THE SIGN OF PEACE, EXCHANGE PEACE WITH SOMEONE YOU DON'T KNOW VERY WELL, SOMEONE WHOSE NAME YOU MAY NOT KNOW. AND AFTER MASS INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO EACH OTHER, TELL EACH OTHER A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF, AND SEE WHERE THAT GOES. EXCHANGE A FEW WORDS, BECAUSE AFTER ALL, YOU ARE BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN JESUS CHRIST. AND WHEN YOU LEAVE OUR CELEBRATION YOU WILL HAVE A NEW FRIEND, OR AT LEAST AN ACQUAINTANCE. AND WHEN YOU COME BACK TO MASS NEXT SUNDAY, OUR CONGREGATION WILL BE MORE WELCOMING BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DID.