OMELIE / Omelie EN

26/6/2016

24/09/2017 - 25ª dimanche du T. O.  - année A

24/09/2017 - 25ª dimanche du T. O.  - année A

1ª lecture  Isaïe 55,6-9  du Psaume  144/145  2ª lecture  Philippiens 1,20c-27a  Évangile  Mathieu 20,1-16

Saint Paul confide the Philippians the desire to be called by Jesus to the eternal life to enjoy His presence: “Life to me, of course, is Christ, but then death would be a positive gain”. However he declares himself ready to renounce it, if his life here on Earth was regarded by the Lord as useful to the brothers! He does not want that his desire to be with the Lord could have even the slightest appearance of selfishness, because at any rate he wants to be of help to the faith of the faithful. This confession of the apostle’s urges us. Do you belong to Jesus Christ? Have you been won over by Him? Are you living a faith that is keen, sincere, constant? Then you too will search for any possible occasion to be of help to the brothers, to be a missionary for whom does not believe, to be a father for whom is still without eternal life! Jesus did not benefit us, forgive us and renew us and he did not give us the Holy Spirit, just for us to keep living thinking only of ourselves, not even because we then can think, for others too, only of their health and of their worldly wellbeing. He wants us for His cooperators in God’s vineyard in every moment!

Today’s parable explains well how our Lord is continuously in search of whoever would make efforts for Him. He is like the owner of a vineyard who, at every hour, goes out to see if there is someone without a job. Are you among those? Maybe you are working hard, maybe you are super-busy in a lot of different activities, but all of them outside His vineyard, aren’t you? Or do you have a commitment, small or big, in God’s Kingdom? Do you contribute to the brothers’ faith?

Be prepared to answer the Lord: he keeps searching for who would do a service with Him, His job, for the spiritual wellbeing of men, for building the Church. Be attentive to His proposals, or to His callings. Are you young? Are you an adult? Are you old? Are you a child or a teenager? There is room for everybody, there is work to do for you too. There are no right people and other not suitable; the places are nor reserved for somebody worthier. It is the Lord who assigns the jobs. He is looking among those who are ignorant, among those small and poor, even among those who feel rejected by everyone else. He is assuring it telling about the recurring trips of the “landowner” in search of “workers for his vineyard”! The image of the vineyard reminds different parables by different prophets that compare it to God’s people. Working in the vineyard means then to be busy for the good of God’s people: today we would say <for the Church>. Working in order to build the Church, or for its restoration, means working for the spiritual wellbeing of every single person, in order to see them united to Jesus, enjoying His wisdom, and to establish harmony and love for each other, and nobody living just for themselves. If the Church is healthy, if in it burns the fire of God’s love and if in it mutual love is still alive, everybody will benefit, even those who are not part of it: it is always true that it is like the yeast, like the salt, like a small flame whose warmth and light spread all around it.

Of today’s parable, above all, the ending amazes us: it seems like this is very important to Jesus. The last one to arrive, the one of the eleventh hour, that worked less than anybody else, receives the same salary as the one that was laboring since the very first hours of the day, and the latter finds the employer unfair.

My experience instead is the following: when I am laboring for the Lord, I gain joy for every person that gets closer to Him, it does not matter if they arrive at the last minute. My joy is my brother’s joy. My reward is Jesus’ joy, it is having that same heart of His. When I work and labor for the Lord, neither I ask nor I search for anything for me, because I have become a little like Him, I am capable too of selfless love! I understand that God’s thoughts are different from those of men: but, when we live for Him, His thoughts become ours, and they fill us with joy!

Isaiah, the prophet, tells us the same thing, that God’s thoughts are different from ours, that is to say better, perfect. Ours are very often unreliable and narrow-sighted. It is not Him that needs to change, it is us that need to learn from Him. God’s reward cannot be compared to the one that can be given by men: the latter measure, halve things, or double them. God, when he decides to reward us, gives Himself to us: He cannot be divided, nor can be doubled. This is why His reward is everything, for everybody, for whom worked hard and for whom worked less.

Jesus, do not give anything to me, give me only the possibility to see my brothers finally happy, to see them safe in your hands, united to you and satisfied with you: your joy will be my joy and my reward will be perfect!