The Catholic Calendar for Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Judges 9:6-15
Psalm 21:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Matthew 20:1-16

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

"So the last will be first, and the first will be last"

Did you ever notice how hard this parable is to swallow sometimes? How often have you read these words of Our Lord and sympathized with those who were in the field all day? It often strikes me that this is grossly unfair. Why should this be so?

But think about it -- those in the field earlier had been approached earlier. The people standing to the side were not idle, they simply had not yet been reached. Would it be fair to deprive a person who, through no fault of their own, had been overlooked? Indeed, because they had been so long neglected, perhaps compassion demands something more.

Many of you reading these meditations -- going to church, feeding the poor, helping your friends, reaching out in love -- you've been called to the fields for a long time. You've had time to grow used to the job, and are perhaps even a little weary now. Perhaps your work in the last half of the day was not so vigorous as your work in the early part of the day. Perhaps, instead of seeing injustice, we should rejoice in the replenishment of the workers. We should delight in the fact that there are more of us to share the difficult labor.

Perhaps those called late in the day had a weary wait. And they too rejoice in being called to the fields. We are all workers together. Let us all delight in our togetherness, and not fret over when and where God chooses each to work His will. Rather let us all pray that we might be the instruments of that will when we are called.

- JuandelaCruz

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