“Sorry, but some people are complaining,” the lifeguard explained as I was ushered out of the swimming pool because of my psoriasis. My condition was not contagious. No medical practitioner from the hotel even bothered to check me before asking me to leave despite the medical certificate I showed the manager.

I was angry at the hotel for mistreating me like that, but I was also angry at God. The usual questions that I asked Him before surfaced again. “Why did You allow me to have this sickness? Do You really love me?” I was like a kid throwing a tantrum. And God, just like a loving Father, simply hugged me, knowing very well that I may not yet understand His explanation.

On days like these, though I can’t comprehend everything that God wants to explain to me, I can always understand His love. 

Oying Isidoro (oying.isidoro@gmail.com)

reflect

Are there situations in your life that are hard to accept?

Lord, allow me to accept Your plans even if they are hard to comprehend at the moment. Help me to believe that Your plans are always for my best.

Sts. Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang, and companions, pray for us.

First Reading | Isaiah 55:6-9

There are moments of grace in every person’s life, and Isaiah urges us to be vigilant in recognizing and embracing them. Sometimes, this means accepting a grace we do not fully comprehend, trusting God to guide us on a journey with an uncertain outcome. We can either fear the unknown or embrace it as an adventure with Jesus—the second choice leads to greater faith and transformation.

⁶ Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near. ⁷ Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked his thoughts; let him turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving. ⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.  ⁹ As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.  

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18

R: The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

² Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever. ³ Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. (R) ⁸ The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. ⁹ The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. (R) ¹⁷ The Lord is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. ¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. (R) 

Second Reading | Philippians 1:20-24, 27

Saint Paul’s conversion to Christianity profoundly transformed his life, reshaping his perspective so that everything became rooted in his relationship with Jesus. Is it the same for us? Has the grace of God so captivated our hearts and minds that He has become our all? Perhaps, our journey along this path is still unfolding, inviting us to deeper surrender and faith.

²⁰ Brothers and sisters: 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.

Gospel | Matthew 20:1-16 

Jesus reminds us today of a profound Gospel paradox: The last will be first, and the first will be last. At first, this may seem perplexing, but it reveals one of the foundation stones of God’s Kingdom. Jesus teaches that true life and blessing come when we shift our focus away from ourselves and toward God and others. 

Gospel Acclamation

Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son. 

¹ Jesus told his disciples this parable: “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, the landowner 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.”

Reflect

“You will never be happy if your happiness depends on getting solely what you want. Change the focus. Get a new center. Will what God wills, and your joy no man shall take from you.” (Bishop Fulton Sheen)

Read the Bible in one year! Read PSALMS 126 - 130 today.

I remember being at a children’s party once, sponsored by a church organization, where there was gift-giving for kids. At the end of the gift-giving, some children were sulking while others nearly in tears. Not realizing that what they got were actually the more important ones (educational books compared to the “bigger” ones that are toys), they were upset that they received “smaller” packages. 

Yes, children have a keen sense of justice, but their idea of justice is still crude and shallow. For them, equality means arithmetic equality—same size, same price, same amount, same quantity. While arithmetic equality is indeed a component of justice, justice is still served beyond mathematical sameness. When one of her children is sick, for example, it is a demand of justice that the mother spends more time, attention, and even affection towards the sick child. When a province is still highly undeveloped, it is a demand of justice that it gets a bigger share from the national budget. This is proportionate equality.

From the vantage point of arithmetic equality, the workers hired earlier seem to have been treated unjustly—but they were actually paid according to their agreed-upon contract: a denarius for the whole day (see Matthew 20:2). So, no injustice was actually done them. When the landowner paid the same denarius to the workers hired late, he was being generous. Maybe he saw something the early workers did not. Maybe he knew that the late workers also wanted to work, but no one hired them. Perhaps he saw that the other workers, though hired late, worked very diligently as gratitude for being hired. The landowner saw things from above. That’s why he could be generous.

Arithmetic equality is justice seen from below. It is justice at its crude, minimum level. Proportionate equality is justice elevated and perfected in love. It is justice viewed from above; that is why, it can be associated with the Kingdom of God. 

Fr. Joel O. Jason

reflection question

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard is not just about justice. It is a parable about the “disturbing” generosity of God. How have you experienced God’s generosity?

The Lord is just and merciful. Amen.

Today, I prayed -