Monday Morning Gospel QB:  The Laborers in the Vineyard
Channel: Sean Hayes
Date: 21/09/2020

How can someone work all day and get the same wage as someone who worked half the day or even as little as an hour.  When we are talking about "The Kingdom" its possible and its never to late!  The Good News is that God is out there looking for us.  Are we open to the invitation.
See entire reflection below: 
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
 
“The kingdom of heaven is like .  .  .  a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard . . . he went out again around noon, three o’clock, and then again about five o’clock, .  . .  As evening came, He then said to the foreman, Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ . . . on receiving their pay the first ones hired grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, . . . (laugh a little - There's our flawed human nature coming out . . . I'm not sure about the actual translation or how it was originally written, but it doesn’t say "they got more then us" or that it "isn't fair" . . . The text reads:  "You have made them equal to us" - I find this fascinating and again maybe this has to do with Matthew's audience being open to "other nations" who become Christian . . . but on an individual level, it certainly speaks to all our petty jealousies and protectionism that often projects insult or degrades others as a way of building ourselves up.  This doesn't just happen in Junior High or High School, it lingers into adulthood and pops up in various times in our lives and we have to deal with it.  Jesus offers a way in the story -  
‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?  

Pretty Great eh - what's the good news here . . . Sure the landowner's generosity but what about the fact that the landowner - God - keeps going out and looking - God is looking . . . That's great news, even in the 11th hour of the day.