Grace Flows Freely

God's grace is not something we can earn through effort, faithfulness, or sacrifice. The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard reveals that grace flows freely from God's love, not from our merit. Like the landowner who paid every worker the same wage regardless of how long they labored, God does not keep score. We are called to stop comparing ourselves to others and to open our hearts to receive His grace fully. We are also called to be instruments of that grace, channels through which God's love can reach the people around us. The real danger is not failing to earn grace, but allowing envy, pride, or judgment to block it from flowing through us to others.

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My brothers and sisters in the Lord, we know very well that Jesus liked to teach his disciples, the crowds, even the religious leaders of the time through the use of parables, through the use of stories. And those parables or stories, my friends, often had a surprising ending, particularly for those who were listening to them. For these stories, these parables, my brothers and sisters, was based on the real life-lived experience of the people of the time. And oftentimes they thought they knew the ending. But Jesus has a twist in order to teach an important lesson. And we see that in the gospel today. Today's gospel, in order to understand this parable of the landowner and the workers in the vineyard, we have to understand some context to the parable, because this is not our lived experience. And the context is this this parable would have taken place about the same time of the year, late September. Because in late September, the grapes on the vine in the area of Palestine would begin to ripen. And it was very important that those grapes were harvested very, very quickly, within one at most two days, because they couldn't stay until October, because during October began the rainy season. And when the October rains came, all the grapes on the vine would be ruined. And so when harvest time came, all the people that were able in the community were gathered together and they were sent into the fields. Every able-bodied person who was available went to do the work of the harvest. Because it had to be done quickly and it had to be done well to preserve the grapes. And this is what Jesus is speaking about in this parable. And so a landowner goes into the marketplace to hire workers so that these grapes may be harvested in a very small period of time. He first goes at 6 a.m. And he hires workers and he sends them into the vineyard. And then he recognizes something. They're not going to complete the job. These grapes have to be harvested by the end of the workday. And so he goes back at 9. And then he goes back at noon. And then he goes back at 3. And he hires more individuals. And he still realizes they're not going to get the job done. And so he goes back at 5 p.m. and hires the last batch of laborers. Which brings us to the end of the parable, which is quitting time. 6 p.m. In the time of Jesus, the work day was 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. You think you have it bad. At 6 p.m., he told the foreman, gather all the workers together and pay them what was promised. And so the workers who began at 5 p.m., they started last, but they were paid first. And so they were given one silver coin, the usual daily wage. I'm sure they were ecstatic. They worked one hour in the fields. And then you have those who started at 6 a.m. who worked a 12-hour day. And when they saw that those who only worked one hour, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. received one silver coin, they were expecting to receive more. Wouldn't you expect to receive more? It was bonus time. They were thinking to themselves, the overtime pay is really going to be good from this landowner. And when he got to those who started at 6 a.m., the foreman gave them one silver coin. The daily wage. And they were livid. They were angry. They were upset. They worked the entire day. They bore all the heat. And those who worked only one hour got paid the same amount. And the landowner says to them, I'm not cheating you. I'm not being dishonest. Did we agree to the daily normal wage? That one silver coin. My brothers and sisters, this parable has nothing to do with grapes. It has nothing to do with vineyards. It has nothing to do with going into the field to do a harvest in a physical way. This parable has everything to do with God's grace. It has everything to do with God's grace. Now you may ask yourself, Father, what really is God's grace? And so I'm going to give you a definition. It's a definition I use with school children, because I have to be honest with you, my friends. Usually the times I teach things to school children, the adults get more out of it. So I'm going to give you a very simple definition of God's grace. God's grace is the invisible, free gift of God's love and strength that He gives to us. Why? Because He loves us. It's a small sharing in God's love, God's strength, God's happiness. It's a little sharing that God gives to each of us, not because we have earned it, not because we have worked for it, not because we can buy it, but because He loves us. You see, that's the first point of this parable. God's grace is a free gift. And that's what the workers cannot understand. And sometimes, my dear friends, we fall into that trap because we try to earn God's grace. We try to work for God's grace. And it's not the same as the economic world when it comes to the spiritual. Because oftentimes we are like the laborers who started at 6 a.m. We grumble because we should receive more of God's grace. I mean, the person next to me in the pew, she said one rosary today, but I said ten. I should get more of God's grace. Doesn't work that way. Grace is a free gift that comes from the Lord when our heart is disposed to receive it. And so what does the landowner say to those who started at 6 a.m.? He says, Am I not allowed to do what I want with my money? And then he says something very important. He says to them, Are you envious? Because I am generous. Are you envious? Are you jealous? Do you hold a grudge against others because I am generous with my love and my strength and my sharing and my divine life? My brothers and sisters, that's what God does. That's why we say we have a good, good father. Because oftentimes in the world in which we live, it doesn't happen that way. I think of the parable of the prodigal son, and we're all very familiar with that parable. And I think in contrast to a song that is sung by a rock group called Genesis, and the title of the song is called No Son of Mine. And it's sort of the opposite story of the parable The Prodigal Son. The way the song goes with the lyrics is, of course, there is a son who decides he needs to leave his father's house because he's living, quote unquote, under a cloud. And so he goes off on his own, but then he wants to come back. And the lyrics of the song says he comes back to his father with his heart and his hand. Do you see the resemblance with the story of the prodigal son? He leaves two. He wishes his father was dead. Give me my inheritance. He hits rock bottom. And he says, I will go to my father and say to him, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Both sons hit rock bottom, both sons return. But there's different outcomes. In this particular song, when the son comes with his heart in his hand, the father's response is, You're no son of mine. I don't want you back. You left, you made your bed, you lie in it. The relationship is over. And maybe, my brothers and sisters, you've experienced that in your life. Maybe that is your lived experience of your father figure. Whether it's a biological father or some other father figure in your life. But it's not the experience of our God. Because while that son and that song was turned away, you're no son of mine. You made your bed lie in it. How does the story of the prodigal son end? The father is waiting for the son to return. And when he sees the sun on the horizon, he runs out to meet him, he embraces him. The son starts his confession. The father doesn't even allow him to finish. Put a ring on his finger, a cloak on his back, sandals on his feet. My son was lost, but now is found. That's a story of God's grace. That's what's happening in the gospel today. Even those that came late were open to God's grace. My brothers and sisters, one of the biggest temptations in our life is the temptation that we have to be stingy with God's grace. And God says to us, It's my grace. Am I not free to do with it as I like? But we want God to be stingy because we want to determine who deserves God's grace. Now, I know this doesn't apply to anyone here in church today, but let's just say it applies to somebody. You know those times when we tell the Lord, Lord, look at all the things I have done for you. Look at all the years I've been faithful. I've never turned away or walked away from you. I've never left the church. I've tried to live my life. And yet it seems like person X over here, who's not doing what they need to do, they have more blessings than I have. That's the temptation. The temptation, my dear friends, is for us to categorize people as deserving and undeserving of God's grace. And usually we place ourselves in the deserving category. But it's other people who are undeserving, not us. But maybe, my dear friends, just maybe, it's the same reason why Jesus spent so much time with the sinners and the tax collectors and the prostitutes and not the people who are considered the respectable quote-unquote people of the time. Because just maybe the sinners and the prostitutes and the tax collectors were like the individuals who showed up at five o'clock. But just maybe their hearts were in a better place than those who showed up early in the morning. Maybe their hearts were in a better place to receive God's grace, to have an encounter with Jesus. Maybe their hearts weren't just going through the motions, but they were really open to transformation. Don't fall into the temptation, my dear friends, to decide who's deserving and undeserving because none of us deserve it. What does St. Paul say? All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But the wonderful beauty, my dear friends, is when we make the decision to participate as agents of God's grace. To participate as instruments of God's grace in the lives of others. Whether we showed up at 6 a.m. or 12 noon, or we only showed up at 5 p.m. to be an agent, an instrument. My spiritual director used to always say, always remember that you are nothing more than a rusty pipe through which the grace of God can flow. My dear friends, are we agents of God's grace in the lives of others? For a moment, usually when we hear this parable, we place ourselves in the shoes of the workers and how we would feel if we were cheated and worked all day, and someone else got the same as we did for only one hour and we bore the day's heat. But instead, I want you to put yourself in the place of the foreman, the one who was instructed by the landowner to distribute the pay. When we are channels of God's grace, when we are instruments of God's grace, how joyful it is, my dear friends, to place a little silver coin in the hand of somebody who is in need of God's love. To be able to open our hearts to someone who is in need of God's strength, who is in need of God's hope, who is in need of a little lightening of their burden. That's what the Lord wants us to do. He doesn't want us to be the great accountant, figuring out how much grace you have, how much grace you have, how much grace I have, is this fair, is this, and it doesn't work that way. God wants us to be instruments to extend that grace to others. And yes, we're only the rusty pipe, but God's grace flows through it. And if the pipe is clogged, my friends, it's not because of God. It's because of us. Because we're envious and we're jealous, and we decide who deserves God's grace and God's love and God's care and who doesn't. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now and found. Was blind, but now I see. My dear friends, in your own hearts, in your own lives, and as we encounter other people, do we make space for grace so that God can work miracles in our lives? No matter when we have come into the vineyard. Amen.