The first reading for Mass began by telling us to, “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near.” This is some very good advise, and also a reminder that our earthly lives will not go on forever. It seems like so much of the time, we are caught up in the present moment and our attention is on the things that are immediately demanding our attention. We have our hands full with so many tasks each day that life can become sort of a treadmill with a long to do list, if we aren’t careful. There’s always one more errand to run, one last phone call to make, or another household chore to be done before we call it a day. Then, it starts all over again the next day. We hardly have time to think straight sometimes.
However, God thinks a lot differently than we do. The first reading ends by saying:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”
To put this in perspective we need only consider the vast size of the universe, and the incomprehensible age of our planet. Many people consider Stephen Hawking to be the world’s most intelligent scientist. He is also an atheist who believes that he has proven that God doesn’t exist. The universe happened because of a spontaneous combustion, all by itself. However, Mr. Hawking only views the universe through temporal or physical matter. Catholics believe that God exists outside of time and matter, in the same way that love (or our conscience) can not be detected with our physical senses. God existed before time as we know it, or before the big bang occurred. He was the cause of the big bang.
Human beings can only comprehend things to a particular point, beyond that is much that we do not yet understand. It is a highly documented fact that Jesus brought people back to life, that had been dead for four days or more. Then, he rose from the dead after three days, himself. This isn’t a fairy tale. Too many people witnessed it, on multiple occasions, for it not to be true events that took place.
Saint Paul has no doubts about Jesus, in today’s second reading for Mass. He said:
“Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.”
It sounds like Saint Paul was caught between the two decisions. To seek his own happiness by his death and eternal life with Christ, or seek the good of others, because this is what the Lord would want him to do.
Jesus told a parable in today’s gospel about a landowner who did not have this dilemma though. He wasn’t torn between the two. Torn between his own selfish desires, or the desire to love people the way that God loves people. The landowner’s thoughts in today’s gospel, very closely resembles the way that God thinks of us, and loves us. He was generous, to a fault, by paying the same wage to those who worked a full day, and to those who only worked an hour. It didn’t seem fair to the workers that some put out ten times the effort and received the same pay as those who only worked for one hour.
However, God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are above our thoughts. We look at the temporal world and what is happening in the present moment. God doesn’t look at our lives in the same way. He wants all of us in His kingdom, without exception. There is room for all in His kingdom and He loves each and everyone of us, the good and bad alike. His vision is beyond ours. Those who make it into heaven one day, will understand their past sins when they get there. It will all be sorted out in the end. What is important, is that he doesn’t lose anyone along the way.
Wasn’t it a beautiful thing, the way the landowner in the parable Jesus told, kept going back to look for more ‘workers’ throughout the day? He didn’t stop looking for them, right up until the very end of the day. How beautiful can that be? God loves us so much that He isn’t willing to let us go that easily. He never gives up on us. Life isn’t over until it is over, and He keeps the door open to His kingdom until the very last moment, to allow all to enter, who will accept Him, while there is still time.
There is only one payment, one reward for all, and that is the joy of everlasting life. The gospel ended by saying, “Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Perhaps that is how we are gathered into His kingdom, to stand before His throne. Each and every one of us will surely be filled with joy though, just to be there.
Sunday Mass Readings:
Isaiah 55: 6-9 / Psalm 145 / Philippians 1: 20c-24, 27a / Matthew 20: 1-16a
