25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) - 20 September 2026
20th September 2026
“To be merciful is to have the same attitude toward men as God has, to think of men as God thinks of them, to feel for men as God feels for them, and to act toward them as God acts towards them.” – Ven. Fulton Sheen
A reflection on today's Gospel taken from the Angelus Address by Pope Benedict XVI at Papal Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo on Sunday, 21 September 2008:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
You may remember that when I addressed the crowd in St Peter’s Square on the day of my election it came naturally to me to introduce myself as a labourer in the vineyard of the Lord. Well, in today’s Gospel (see Mt 20: 1-16), Jesus recounted the very same parable of the owner of the vineyard who at different hours of the day hires labourers to work in it. And in the evening he gives them all the same wages, one denarius, provoking protests from those who began work early. That denarius clearly represents eternal life, a gift that God reserves for all. Indeed those who are considered the “last”, if they accept, become the “first”, whereas the “first” can risk becoming the “last”. The first message of this parable is inherent in the very fact that the landowner does not tolerate, as it were, unemployment: he wants everyone to be employed in his vineyard. Actually, being called is already the first reward: to be able to work in the Lord’s vineyard, to put oneself at His service, to collaborate in His work, is in itself a priceless recompense that repays every effort. Yet only those who love the Lord and His Kingdom understand this: those who instead work only for the pay will never realise the value of this inestimable treasure.
It is St Matthew who recounts this parable, an apostle and an evangelist. I like to emphasise that Matthew lived this experience in the first person (see Mt 9: 9). Indeed, before Jesus called him he worked as a tax collector and was therefore seen as a public sinner, excluded from “the Lord’s vineyard”. But everything changed when Jesus passed by his table, looked at him and said to him: “Follow me”. Matthew rose and followed Him. From a publican he immediately became a disciple of Christ. From being “last” he found himself “first”, thanks to God’s logic, which - for our good fortune! - is different from the logic of the world. “My thoughts are not your thoughts”, the Lord says, speaking through the mouth of Isaiah, “neither are your ways my ways” (Is 55: 8). St Paul also experienced the joy of feeling called by the Lord to work in His vineyard. And what a lot of work he accomplished! Yet, as he himself confessed, it was God’s grace which worked in him, that grace which from persecutor of the Church transformed him into an Apostle to the Gentiles, to the point of saying: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” However he immediately added: “If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell” (Phil 1: 21-22). Paul clearly understood that working for the Lord is already a reward on this earth.
The Virgin Mary is the perfect branch of the Lord’s vine. In her germinated the blessed fruit of divine love: Jesus, our Saviour. May she help us to respond constantly and joyously to the Lord’s call and to find our happiness in toiling for the Kingdom of Heaven.
Prayer for a Happy Death (St John Henry Newman)
O my Lord and Savior, support me in my last hour in the strong arms of Thy Sacraments and by the fresh fragrance of Thy consolations. Let the absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me; and let Thine own Body be my food, and Thy Blood my sprinkling; and let my sweet Mother, Mary, breathe on me, and my Angel whisper peace to me, and my glorious saints and my own dear patrons smile upon me, that, in them all and through them all, I may receive the gift of perseverance, and die as I desire to live, in Thy faith, in Thy Church, in Thy service, and in Thy love. Amen.