SPEAKER_00: There's one sentence in today's gospel that I have probably passed over a hundred times.
SPEAKER_00: The landowner goes out at five o'clock almost at the end of the working day and finds people still standing in the marketplace.
SPEAKER_00: He asks them, Why do you stand here idle all day?
SPEAKER_00: But listen to the answer because no one has hired us.
SPEAKER_00: There's something heartbreaking about that.
SPEAKER_00: All day long, other people have been chosen.
SPEAKER_00: At dawn, somebody got picked.
SPEAKER_00: At nine o'clock, someone got picked.
SPEAKER_00: At noon, more workers were chosen.
SPEAKER_00: At three, others were given a place in the vineyard.
SPEAKER_00: And these men, well, they're still standing there at five o'clock.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody chose them.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody wanted them.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody gave them a place until this landowner comes back.
SPEAKER_00: That changes the whole parable for me.
SPEAKER_00: Because perhaps this story is not primarily about wages.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's about a God who keeps coming back for people.
SPEAKER_00: He goes out at dawn, he goes out at nine, at noon, at three, and incredibly, with only an hour left in the day, he goes back out again.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because there are still people standing there, and God cannot stop looking for his children.
SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what we hear in the first reading.
SPEAKER_00: God is furious with the shepherds of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost.
SPEAKER_00: They took care of themselves instead of taking care of the sheep.
SPEAKER_00: Because no one went looking for them, the sheep scattered.
SPEAKER_00: Then God says something extraordinary.
SPEAKER_00: I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
SPEAKER_00: If the shepherds will not go looking for them, God will.
SPEAKER_00: And if we turn to the gospel, what do we see?
SPEAKER_00: God going out again, again, and again, looking for people who are still standing outside the vineyard.
SPEAKER_00: That's the heart of God.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe somebody needs to hear that today.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you feel late, late coming back to God, late getting your life together, late discovering your vocation, or even late returning to the church, or late becoming the husband, wife, father, mother, disciple of Christ that you know that you should be.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we look around and everyone else seems to have been chosen at dawn.
SPEAKER_00: They seem so far ahead, they know the scriptures, they know how to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Their families look all put together and perfect, their lives seem settled, and you feel they're standing as if you're at five o'clock thinking, maybe I missed my chance.
SPEAKER_00: Well, no.
SPEAKER_00: The landowner is still coming.
SPEAKER_00: That's the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: As long as there's daylight left, God is still calling people into his vineyard.
SPEAKER_00: And when he finds those workers at five o'clock, notice what he does not say.
SPEAKER_00: Where have you been?
SPEAKER_00: No, he doesn't say that.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't shame them, he doesn't interrogate them.
SPEAKER_00: He simply says, You too, hey, go into the vineyard.
SPEAKER_00: You too.
SPEAKER_00: There's still a place for you.
SPEAKER_00: There's still work to be done.
SPEAKER_00: There's still purpose for your life.
SPEAKER_00: You're not late.
SPEAKER_00: But then the parable turns, because the people who arrive first are angry.
SPEAKER_00: They have forgotten the joy of being chosen.
SPEAKER_00: They've been in the vineyard all day, but instead of being grateful, they're comparing.
SPEAKER_00: These last worked.
SPEAKER_00: These people only worked an hour.
SPEAKER_00: You've made them equal to us.
SPEAKER_00: And suddenly the problem is not the generosity of the landowner.
SPEAKER_00: The problem is that they cannot rejoice when someone else receives it.
SPEAKER_00: That can happen to people who are following the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We can begin by being grateful that God has called us and eventually start believing that we deserve more from Him than somebody else.
SPEAKER_00: I go to Mass, I keep the commandments, I stay faithful, I serve, I sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: And now look at this person.
SPEAKER_00: They showed up at 5 o'clock, and God welcomes them too.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Because grace is not a paycheck, grace is a gift.
SPEAKER_00: And none of us earned our place in the vineyard.
SPEAKER_00: The person who came at dawn needed grace.
SPEAKER_00: The person who came at noon needed grace.
SPEAKER_00: And the person who arrived one hour left needed grace.
SPEAKER_00: We all got here because the landowner came looking for us.
SPEAKER_00: So there are really two questions in today's gospel.
SPEAKER_00: If you're standing outside the vineyard, will you go in when he calls you?
SPEAKER_00: And if you're already inside, can you rejoice when he goes back out for someone else?
SPEAKER_00: Because there's still people standing in the marketplace.
SPEAKER_00: They are still lost.
SPEAKER_00: There are people who think no one wants them.
SPEAKER_00: But God says, I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's coming for you today.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe if you're already in the vineyard, he's asking you to go out with him and help him bring others home.
SPEAKER_00: Either way, don't miss the heart of the gospel today.
SPEAKER_00: The landowner keeps going out at dawn, at nine, at noon, at three, five, again, and again.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because as long as one person is standing outside, God is not finished looking for them.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.