Message of Abbot Paul - Wednesday 17th August

Message from Fr Paul for Wednesday, 17th August 2022

 I often mention how the stories and parables we read in the Gospels, and in the Old Testament too, remind me vividly of the years I spent in Peru. At times people would ask the way to a certain village and how long it would take them to get there. I’d answer, “Two hours on horseback, three hours by donkey, four hours on foot.” They’d sometimes ask, “And how far is it, father?” I would answer, “Two thousand years.” And so it was. Today’s parable from Matthew, (Mt 20: 1-12), of labourers being hired to work in a vineyard, is a perfect example. Every morning, except for Sundays, from 3 o’clock onwards, men would congregate in the town square or outside the market and wait to be hired for the day. In fact, they were known as ‘jornaleros’, men who are hired for the day. Some would come in from distant villages, so would have spent the night sleeping rough. From 4 o’clock onwards the landowners would arrive with their trucks and start contracting labourers and so it went on until about 6 o’clock. There were seasons when there was a lot of work available, but, depending on the rains, long periods when there was practically no work to be had and men had to go further afield searching for a day’s work to feed their families. Wages, of course, were minimal, not because the landowners were unjust, but because the price of their produce was too low to make a profit and there were no government subsidies. Have you ever wondered why fruit and vegetables from abroad, especially from Africa, Asia and Latin America, are so cheap? Families in these continents starve in order to provide us with cheap food. It’s criminal state of affairs, really.

 We all know the parable well, so there’s no need to repeat it. It’s about God’s generosity in paying a full day’s wage even to those who were hired at the very last hour of the working day. Those who had worked all day felt they should be paid more, but, ultimately, this is about the kingdom of heaven, rather than about the vineyard of this life and the wages or rewards we receive for a day’s work. Those who work a lifetime will not enjoy more than those who only enter the fray at the last moment of their lives. Surely the former should rejoice at the absolute generosity of God at granting salvation and the gift of eternal life even to those who repent at the very last moment of their lives. As parables go, this is one of the best and one that really holds together, a good story with a clear message, and no exaggerations. God is good and wants the salvation of all his sons and daughters. Everyone will be given the very best of opportunities. Only those who do not accept God and his loving mercy will be excluded from the kingdom through their own will and lack of faith. But a warning to those who have always lived with faith and in obedience to God’s will. Don’t lose his gift of eternal life at the last moment because of your lack of generosity and good will towards those who come to faith at the last possible opportunity. As the Lord says, “Why be envious because I am generous?” Jesus reminds us all to beware, for, whether we like it or not, “the last will be first, and the first, last.”