Wednesday of the
Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
(Judges 9:6-15; Matthew 20:1-16)
In An Introduction
to Christianity Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, writes of
the “law of excess or superfluity.” This
evangelical principle claims that Jesus’ righteousness goes far beyond what is
necessary for the salvation of fallen humanity.
The term expresses the infinite graciousness of the Kingdom of God which
Jesus came to the world to initiate. In
today’s gospel parable he gives a verbal illustration of this graciousness.
The parable is one of the most astounding in the four
gospels. Laborers are all paid the same
amount despite the fact that some worked all day and others merely an
hour. It does not seem that the latter
deserve as much as the former. But the
landowner is merciful. He recognizes
every man’s need to support his family and will graciously pay all workers
accordingly.
The story should make us both grateful and
charitable. We – all of us -- are those latecomers
who have not worked to receive the salvation Jesus offers. We all sin but find ourselves being perfected
through the sacraments. This should make
us grateful. We are also to imitate
God’s mercy by patiently teaching others how to live virtuously.
