Daily Gospel Reflection

Don’t Begrudge Generosity

Hi, I'm Matthew Kelly. Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where each day we explore the genius of the gospels by reflecting on today's gospel reading and looking for a word or phrase or an idea to anchor our day in the life and teachings of Jesus. Today's reading comes from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 20, verses 1 through 16. "For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace.

And to them, he said, "You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right, I will give to you." So they went. Going out again about the 6th hour and the 9th hour, he did the same. And about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, "Why do you stand here idle all day?" They said to him, "Because no one has hired us." He said to them, "You go into the vineyard too." And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, "Call all the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first." And when those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now, when the first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius.

And on receiving it, they grumbled at the householder, saying, "These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat." But he replied to one of them, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to the last as I gave to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge me my generosity?" So the last will be first and the first last.

What jumps out at you today, it's one of these classic parables that Jesus told. Jesus constantly taking our lives and turning them upside down, which as it turns out is right side up. But each time we encounter the gospel and these paradoxes or seeming paradoxes in the gospel that just turn our life upside down or turn our reality upside down or turn our worldview upside down, we're challenged to rethink how we see ourselves, how we see God, how we see the world. In a lot of ways, today's reading is about mercy, it's about justice, it's about generosity. We all have varying views of what equals justice in any given situation. In this situation, the workers who were called first and worked the whole day feel like they've been treated unjustly. And Jesus is essentially saying, well, that isn't the case. We agreed to one denarius, and I've paid you one denarius, and I've kept my agreement. And the fact that I've chosen to be extra generous to these other people isn't unjust. It's generous. It's merciful, but it isn't unjust. I think we all have a sense of justice that maybe gets offended in some ways by certain situations and maybe even by this parable itself. And that sense of justice, God is always trying to fine-tune our sense of justice. And a parable like this is obviously trying to do that. What strikes me is that Jesus is always creating these images about the Kingdom of Heaven. And the reality is, is that if one denarius equals the Kingdom of Heaven, you have no need for two. And I think that we look at the parable and say, okay, well, what about the person who's lived a faithful, virtuous life from when they were very young, and then the person who converts on their deathbed?

And then, we all go off to heaven, and you see the person there who lived a horrible life and then converted on their deathbed, are you going to begrudged that that person is in heaven? I think not. Because the mere fact that you are experiencing heaven would actually make you incapable of begrudging another person of experiencing heaven. And so, the justice of the Kingdom is difficult to understand. And it's important that we understand that it is difficult to understand. But I think what struck me most in today's reading was the line, do you begrudge me my generosity? Do you begrudge me my generosity? I'm amazed how critical people are of other people's generosity. I'm amazed at what motivations or intentions or agendas that people assign to other people's generosity rather than just celebrating their generosity. Have an amazing day. Remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.