Over the years I often begin my homilies with song lyrics
that remind me of the Gospel. This one
was tough until I called upon a big teddy bear of a man with a distinctive deep
voice; the incomparable Barry White.
Yes, I found lyrics from Barry White I could use in a homily: You’re the
First, You’re the Last, You’re My Everything!
I bet Barry White never thought about today’s Gospel when he sang these
lyrics!
Being first and being last happens to all of us. If we have ever played competitive sports we
always want to finish first and never finish last. Yet there is that old saying that we save the
best for last. Catholics coming to Mass
must know this Gospel well for the first always fill up the last pews in the
back of Church.
As people of faith we are called to be last in the eyes of
this world and first in the eyes of God because Jesus is our first, our last
and our everything!
This Gospel has been
well discussed among various Bible scholars, theologians and others through the
ages. Is this Gospel a warning that we
better get our act together before the end times, or a focus on social justice
issues of a fair living wage and the plight of migrant workers or is it simply
about the immense generosity of God?
While all might be true, our focus today will be on the final statement
we hear from Jesus in this Gospel: the last will be first and the first will be
last!
This parable comes in Matthew’s Gospel right after Peter
asks Jesus what’s in it for him and the rest of the Twelve. Yep, Peter asks Jesus for following you and
giving up home and jobs and family, what do we get out of this? Peter’s question could have been the same one
asked on behalf of all the Jewish people.
Are we not the chosen people, the first to hear God’s plan of
salvation? And now we are told others
may come to the kingdom of God. It must
have been a hard lesson to find out that the Kingdom and the gift of eternal
life is not just reserved to the first, it is also fully available to the late
arriving, even those who arrive “last”.
This gift, represented in the Gospel by the wages paid, is given freely
to the workers who worked all day and the workers who worked but a short
shift. Was the first group cheated or
treated unfairly? Scripture tells us no
for their pay was fair and just. For
those paid a full days wage who worked only a partial day, well that is just the
generosity of God the Father, represented today by the land owner. God wants to be generous with all that He has
to everyone; the first and the last!
This is a message of great hope for us! We should be thanking God Himself that He is
indeed generous; not with wages, but with graces and mercy and love and
patience! His generosity is indeed for
all, the first and the last. Why? Just look to today’s first reading for Isaiah
for the answer: “my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.”
Thank God this is true!
For life long cradle-Catholics, this Gospel should remind us
that others too enjoy the immense generosity of God. Through R.C.I.A. and other programs, many
come to the faith and relationship with God later in life. Are we envious or glad for our brothers and
sisters? First-hand I witness state
prison inmates coming to relationship with God even while locked behind bars
and barbed wire. Their life fell short
of relationship with God but later in life they come to Him and repent of their
past. Are we envious or glad for those
who are redeemed, even while in prison?
I remember my father-in-law, hospitalized with his 3rd major
heart incident talking about finding faith in Christ and accepting the
forgiveness, love and mercy of God.
Little did he or any of us who loved him realize that it would be the
last week of his life. Should we be envious
that he came to faith near the end or glad for him?
For these three examples I say, thanks be to God!
So in the week ahead can I ask that all of us revisit this
Scripture at least twice, pray with it and place ourselves in the parable? Be the worker that comes to work early in the
day and then witnesses the pay-out. Do
we choose to rejoice with the others or do we choose to be envious? Be the worker who worked the short shift and
imagine what it felt like to get a full day’s wage. Do we now realize what God’s generosity
really feels like? And can I ask a
special favor too? Today is also
Catechetical Sunday; a day to remember our devoted professionals and generous
volunteers who teach our children and young adults in the Parish School of
Religion. We also remember those who
assist our R.C.I.A. candidates and the many parishioners who participate in
Adult Faith Formation. Can we offer this
Mass for their generosity and faithfulness and pray for them, and our students,
in the week ahead?
Above all, be generous with who you are and what you offer;
be generous as our Heavenly Father is generous!
You and I may be last in this world, but we are first in God’s
eyes, because Jesus Christ, and His Holy Catholic Church is our first, our last,
our everything!
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