September 20, 2026 -25th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
This Sunday the Church places before us a powerful reminder that God’s ways are not our ways. In the first reading from Isaiah, the prophet urges: “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near.” He then delivers the startling truth: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways… As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.” God’s generosity simply does not fit our human calculations of fairness.
That truth comes alive in the Gospel parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16a). A landowner goes out at dawn and hires laborers for the usual daily wage. He returns again at mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon, and even late in the day, inviting more workers into his vineyard. When evening comes and the wages are distributed, every worker—those who labored from sunrise and those who worked only one hour—receives the same full day’s pay. The early workers grumble. It feels unjust. Yet the landowner replies, “Are you envious because I am generous?”
Jesus is teaching us that the Kingdom of Heaven is not a workplace where we earn our place by hours logged or effort expended. It is a place of pure gift. God’s love and mercy are offered freely to the long-faithful and to the late-comers alike. The last will be first, and the first last—not because God is unfair, but because His generosity exceeds every human standard of justice.
Saint Paul, writing from prison, echoes this same freedom of heart. Whether he lives or dies, Christ is glorified. Life means fruitful labor for others; death means being with Christ. Either way, he is content because his life is no longer measured by worldly success but by belonging to the Lord. What does this mean for us? It means we can stop comparing. We can stop keeping score of who has “earned” more of God’s favor. We can rejoice when someone comes late to faith, late to conversion, or late to deeper discipleship. God’s vineyard is big enough, and His generosity is inexhaustible.
This week, let us seek the Lord while He may be found—turning from any envy, resentment, or sense of entitlement. Let us live “in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ,” grateful that we have been invited into the vineyard at all, and ready to celebrate every new worker who joins us. May we never be envious because God is so generous. “The Lord is near to all who call upon him.” Let us be concerned with belonging all to God, the rest is not important.
God bless everyone always!!!
Fr. Stan
