IS GOD UNFAIR?
INTRODUCTORY RITES
Gather as a family/ community; create an environment appropriate for prayer (dress appropriately - switch off your phones...).
We are conscious that Christ is present not only in the Blessed Sacrament but also in the Scriptures and in our hearts. Even when we are on our own, we remain part of the Body of Christ.
Place lighted candles, a crucifix, and the Bible on a covered table. These remind us of the sacredness of our time of prayer and could help us feel connected with our local worshipping communities.
You may sing or play an appropriate hymn. For instance:
The Sign of the Cross
Greeting and Introductory Words
L: The Lord invites us to the table of his Word: let us bless him for his goodness.
A: Blessed be God forever.
L: Sometimes we think that God is unfair! Why does he give his gifts to people who, in our opinion, do not deserve them? Why is he patient and lenient with sinners? But God’s ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts.
Let us pray that we may let God be God, that our thoughts and actions may become more like his, and that we may rejoice at his generous grace for all people.
Penitential Rite
L: We may have questioned God’s generosity and merciful love, and envied the gifts he gave others. Let us ask him to forgive us.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, in your mercy you keep forgiving sinners:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, in your generosity you keep giving us your grace:
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, in your patience you keep inviting us to imitate your ways:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
Gloria
Opening Prayer
L: God the Father of all people,
you lavish kindness equally upon all.
Teach us to welcome your grace and mercy toward others,
even as we hope to receive grace and mercy from you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
A: Amen.
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
Readings
The readings are those assigned for the day in the Lectionary.
Preferably use a Bible/ Lectionary for reading.
Reading 1 Isaiah 55:6-9
Psalm Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18
Response The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
Reading 2 Philippians 1:20-24, 27
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
Open our hearts, O Lord,
to listen to the words of your Son.
Gospel Matthew 20:1-16
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Imagine listening to Jesus when he tells the disciples the parable about the vineyard workers. What are your thoughts and feelings when you hear that the first workers got the same wage as those who worked one hour? Why do you think/ feel that way?
Sunday Snippets
Robert De Moor shares an incident from his childhood: “When the apples ripened, mom would sit all seven of us down… with pans and knives until the mountain of fruit was reduced to neat rows of filled canning jars. She never bothered keeping track of how many we did… When the job was done, the reward for everyone was the same: a large chocolate-dipped cone. A stickler might argue it wasn’t quite fair... but I can’t remember anyone complaining about it. A family understands it operates under a different set of norms than a courtroom.”
When we understand the kingdom of God as a family – with a different yardstick of fairness and equality – we will perhaps cease ‘complaining’ about owner of the vineyard!
The landowner does seem unfair. Human justice argues that those who work a full day should be paid more than those who work less.
However, we must note that the landowner pays the full-day labourers the agreed-upon wage. He generously pays the ‘late comers’ what he considers just: a full-day’s wage – the average ‘daily wage’ was enough only for the ‘daily bread’ for a family; were the owner not to pay the late comers the full daily wage, their families would go hungry.
This parable is about God’s invitation to collaborate with him in the work of the kingdom. The kingdom cannot be earned through our effort. True, we must do all we can to receive it: sow the word, launch the boat and cast the net, love with all our strength. But we do not merit the kingdom.
This parable is not about labour laws or justice. It is about the gift of grace. Ralph Milton describe how grace works: “All we need to do is say ‘Yes,’ and God gives us the whole bundle.” God does not partition grace into different amounts for different people; he gifts his grace abundantly and equally to all regardless of the hour they accept his offer.
Unfair? The first reading reminds us: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”
Will I begrudge God’s fairness to the late-comer forgetting that I am a late-comer, too, and do not merit his grace? Will I do my part of the kingdom work, and allow God’s grace to do the rest?
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: In what aspects are my thoughts and ways different from God’s thoughts and ways?
Reading 2: Is there someone or some group who “magnifies” the Lord for me? When I am around him/her/them, do I feel Christ is present? Why is that? What is it about them that “clears my eyesight”?
Gospel: Like whom do I think: the owner or the first workers? Why? What if God’s ways were like our ways, if God’s bountiful generosity did not exceed the level of simple distributive justice?
How can I discern God’s thoughts and ways towards the human community and towards his creation? What more can I do to heal relationships with God, with people, with the Earth in ways that respond with love and care to the cry of the poor and the cry of Earth?
How can I discern God’s thoughts and ways towards the human community and towards his creation? What more can I do to heal relationships with God, with people, with the Earth in ways that respond with love and care to the cry of the poor and the cry of Earth?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: Let us pray to God our Father whose generosity is always greater than we expect or can imagine: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Churchthat we may humbly accept God’s gift of salvation and recognize that every day is his gift to us, we pray…
R: For the world: that leaders may find ways together to rebuild from the pandemic and economic declines in accord with God’s ways, God’s vision of economic, social, and ecological justice, we pray…
R: For all who have been cheated and defrauded: that God may bring them justice and help them in their attempts to reclaim what they are justly owed, we pray…
R: For all who are unemployed or underemployed: that God may open opportunities for them to use their gifts and talents for the good of society and not allow their time and energy to be idled away, we pray…
R: For all who are suffering: that God may heal the sick, comfort the lonely, strengthen those fleeing violence and disasters, and give hope to those seeking jobs, we pray…
R: For greater stewardship of creation: that God may help us oppose the misuse of earth’s resources and empower us to work to protect nature for future generations, we pray…
R: For ourselves: that we may strive each day to be faithful disciples by trusting in God’s providence and showing compassion to all who enter our lives, we pray…
L: God our Father, make us generous like you, that we may live fully and bring others to life. Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
The Lord’s Prayer
Spiritual Communion
A: Jesus, I know and believe in your real presence in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is you I desire to love and receive above all things. As I am unable to receive your sacramental presence now, come and be with me in heart and soul. Let my entire self be united with you as I welcome you again and know your loving embrace. Amen.
Post Spiritual Communion Reflection
Lord, I can test how well I understand grace
by gauging my reaction to the gospel parable:
the work day ends and the owner hands out the wages;
the same wage for every worker,
whether he/she worked eight hours or just one.
My reaction? This is not fair! This is against worker rights!
I tend to think like the eight-hour workers.
I am like the older brother of the prodigal son,
doing right things mostly out of bitter duty.
That’s an occupational hazard for ‘the good’ and ‘the faithful’!
Peter and the other apostles struggled with it.
So do I.
Like the vineyard workers (and the older brother),
Lord, I think you owe me something,
that my work for you merits a reward.
I am working for myself!
But you call me to work with you, to a relationship with you,
and not for what I can get from you.
What you give me isn’t deserved payment;
it is gift – it is grace – it is YOU.
There is no greater reward than this,
and joy is the only right response to this gift.
Help me, Lord, to understand what grace is.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: Lord our God,
you are a God with a love
that surpasses even justice.
Thank you for accepting
the little ones as much as the great,
those who turn to you at the last hour
and those who have toiled all their lives.
Open us more to the free gifts of your grace,
make us accept them with gratitude
and appreciate your generosity.
Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
Blessing
L: The Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and lead us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
L: Go in the peace of Christ.
A: Thanks be to God.
Conclude with a hymn. For instance:
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