Having Enough

HOMILY NOTES

FR. TERRY RYAN, CSP

MATTHEW 20: 1-16

SEPTEMBER 24, 2017

As the story goes, the vineyard owner goes into the marketplace throughout the day to hire workers.  Those who are first hired and work all day, agree to “the usual daily wage.” Some workers cannot get anyone to hire them until only an hour before sunset.  They want to work, so the owner sends them into the vineyard for a hour.  Sunset and everyone gets paid.  The last ones hired, who only worked an hour, get a full day’s pay, “the usual daily wage.”  You figure that the ones who worked all day in the heat will get a lot more, right?  Wrong.  They get what was agreed on, the usual daily wage, as did the ones who worked for only an hour.  

“Unjust,” you say?  It should be equal pay for equal work.  This is a labor and management system that makes sense in our western mind.  But to Jesus, who is less interested in western economics than he is in the kingdom of God, justice is about making sure that everyone has enough.  What is enough?  No one starves or goes hungry.  The daily wage was to buy sufficient daily food for the worker.  Less than the daily wage, they would go hungry or starve.  The owner is showing compassion, mercy, a sense of connectedness to the poor worker, a sense of oneness.  

The all day workers who grumble that this is unfair, have no compassion, mercy or sense of oneness with the one hour workers.  In the kingdom, they are selfish, and heartless.  They are focused on themselves and how much they can get.  The owner reminds them that they have enough.  When you have enough, that is, you will fill your belly, you don’t really need more.  “More” can cause a lot of problems and a lot of disunity and hatred among peoples.  Do you have enough?