TwentyFifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A 2023

Title

Longing for Others to Seek the Lord

Outline

Listen to the following phrases:

God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.” No, his ways and thoughts are “higher.”

Of the wicked he says, “Let the wicked forsake their way, and sinners their thoughts; Let them turn to the LORD to find mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving.”

But do we long for the “wicked” of whatever stripe to seek the Lord or are we more comfortable with getting on well with those we consider “OK” or “within specs” and want the ones we consider bad to “get theirs?”

Paul indicates we would more likely gain God’s aim if:

We “conduct [o]urselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear news of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind struggling together for the faith of the gospel, - one faith for all people.

Paul could say, “For to me life is Christ, and death is gain” and yet since his heart was one with Jesus he could also say, “If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.” That is, living in the flesh (which kept him experientially more distant from the Lord) was for him the nudging of others closer to the Lord. Yet since this pleased Jesus, he was more willing to do this than to ask to “be reassigned where his heart was.”

So notice the parable of the laborers in the vineyard

Some workers labor all day and some labor but an hour, and all are given what is just - or more. And that equality, underlined by paying the last first, galled the first hired. But the emotions mean that the first were not working simply to please the owner. Their purpose was their own benefit not, a just wage since one needs to feed a family, and I can benefit the owner by my working. We are not told what the later workers thought, but I imagine that some were delighted at the generosity of their employer, while few thought “I hope we helped him a lot; how generous and good; I am sure that is how he wants us to treat others.”

So let’s put this together

We have had nuggets of gold for us in these passages, but the main points are:

It is laboring for the benefit of the master that is critical, not our benefit - he has already given us title to our benefit

He wants some of us to labor in hard places, trying to be a gentle influence on the more or the less damned to come to healing (and do we really know who is who?). We will be given different amounts of time at this labor and different amounts of difficulty, but it is the master who knows what is best for how long.

It is laboring together that is important, whatever our role is, for otherwise we detract from rather than support the mission. Our un-faked unity is a witness.

Finally, the one who pays the wage comes at the end of the day, the end of age. He will treat us all rightly. So we should have eyes only for whether we are pleasing to him - one twinkle of delight from him makes our day.

Readings

Catholic Daily Readings 9-24-2023: Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

FIRST READING

Isaiah 55:6–9

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found,

call upon him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake their way,

and sinners their thoughts;

Let them turn to the LORD to find mercy;

to our God, who is generous in forgiving.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the LORD.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways,

my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Catholic Daily Readings 9-24-2023: Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

RESPONSE

Psalm 145:18a

18 The LORD is near to all who call upon him,

to all who call upon him in truth.

PSALM

Psalm 145:2–3, 8–9, 17–18

2 Every day I will bless you;

I will praise your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the LORD and worthy of much praise,

whose grandeur is beyond understanding.

8 The LORD is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in mercy.

9 The LORD is good to all,

compassionate toward all your works.

17 The LORD is just in all his ways,

merciful in all his works.

18 The LORD is near to all who call upon him,

to all who call upon him in truth.

Catholic Daily Readings 9-24-2023: Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

SECOND READING

Philippians 1:20c–24, 27a

20 My eager expectation and hope is that I shall not be put to shame in any way, but that with all boldness, now as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. 22 If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose. 23 I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, [for] that is far better. 24 Yet that I remain [in] the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.

27 Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear news of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind struggling together for the faith of the gospel,

Catholic Daily Readings 9-24-2023: Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Acts 16:14b

14 One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.

GOSPEL

Matthew 20:1–16a

1 “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’ 5 So they went off. [And] he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. 6 Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’ 8  When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ 9 When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. 10 So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’ 13 He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14 Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? 15 [Or] am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Notes

Catholic Daily Readings 9-24-2023: Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2023 | ORDINARY TIME

TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

YEAR A | ROMAN MISSAL | LECTIONARY

First Reading Isaiah 55:6–9

Response Psalm 145:18a

Psalm Psalm 145:2–3, 8–9, 17–18

Second Reading Philippians 1:20c–24, 27a

Gospel Acclamation Acts 16:14b

Gospel Matthew 20:1–16a

GREEN