Well I would imagine that a
lot of us moan and groan when we hear that particular gospel of the vineyard
because it goes against everything really, or so much of what our American
culture and society are. It doesn’t make
it evil in itself but just, you know, we have this concept that if I work, then
I should get a wage. And if I do more,
in my mind than somebody else, then I should get more than someone who seems to
do less than what I think they are doing.
It’s kind of that thing you
know, that we feel that somehow somebody is getting away with something and I’m
not. Ever had that feeling? You watch what somebody else is doing? Key words.
You watch what somebody else is doing and they seem to be doing so much
less than yourself and yet you probably know that they are getting a paycheck
at the end of that period just like yourself.
So maybe you kind of start thinking inside, well—if they are getting by
with less and still getting paid for it why should I work myself to the
bone? Why not? Everybody else is doing it, right? It’s kind of that mentality.
The unfairness of that
gospel just goes against everything.
Again this is fear of being cheated.
If someone gets what I am getting but they didn’t put in as much work,
well somehow it just isn’t right, huh?
It just isn’t fair.
What happens when we get
into that kind of mentality? Grumble,
grumble, grumble! Ever find yourself
grumbling about something? How come your
brother gets a bigger piece of the pie than yourself? You’ve all sat at table and seen that happen,
huh? You know, how come one of the other
kids, you know, gets to stay out later than you ever did? I know in my family I was the youngest and of
course my brothers and sister said I was spoiled because I was the youngest and
I got away with more than they did. My
comeback always was, “I watched you older ones do it, and I learned.” I was smarter, so I could in a sense get away
with more because I knew how to work the system. But isn’t it true too probably as parents, by
the time the 4th, 5th, or whatever might come along
you’re kind of tired aren’t you? And so
maybe you are a little more lenient. But
whatever.
You see when and I think we
are the center of the universe that’s where the problem arises. If I think that the sun rises and sets upon
Pat Grile, which it doesn’t, then I will get upset if I think somebody else is
getting more than I think they should, or I’m not getting what I think I deserve.
Now everybody praises Fr. Bill
Bueche or Fr. Stillmock, or Fr. Vella, or this or that, because huh, Grile you
don’t get into that. But see we
can. I think everybody is praising them,
seeing what they are doing, but don’t you see what Pat Grile is doing? Grumble, grumble, grumble! It’s kind of an insidious thing.
Go into the gospel. The first group that was hired right at the
beginning of the dawn, they insist that it was unfair. Why?
Because I suppose you could see it this way, they lament the salary
difference because it did not benefit them.
Okay, they agreed on the usual wage, but they’re upset because they
thought they were going to get more. But
look at the last group. They’re looking,
we agreed on the usual daily wage and they are praising the salary difference,
because it benefited them.
Ever hear that phrase, “it
all depends on whose ox is being gored”?
You look at somebody else but when it’s you that’s getting the
injustice, oh wow do the tentacles go up.
What if there was a third
group in this gospel. What if somebody
showed up say at 5:15 or 5:30. I would
bet that the group who were hired first and that group who were hired at 5:00
would join ranks. Because they would both be then saying how unfair it was that
someone who only worked 15 minutes, and maybe this hourly wage isn’t such a
good idea landlord. Because why are you
putting them equal to us?
It’s all this kind of stuff
of entitlement. Every hear that phrase
before? Where we think we are
entitled. We are Roman Catholic, therefore
we are entitled to something. You know
those Lutherans, or those Methodists, or those Presbyterians, or God forbid
those Baptists or anybody else you know.
Or those Muslims, or those Jewish people. Anybody else of a different faith or
tradition, they don’t quite have it all.
It’s the Roman Catholics who have it all. We’re better.
We’re more equal.
I had a very good mentor who
told me that one time. He said, “Pat,
don’t ever think you are more equal because you’re a priest or because of
something that you do.” Ask yourself
sometimes that question. Do you think
you’re more equal? If we’re equal, we’re
equal. It’s not because of our
education, our status in life, the color of our skin or anything else.
What’s the gospel trying to
say? All of this is leading up to the
reality. As Jesus says it’s a parable
about the kingdom of heaven. When we
talk about the kingdom of heaven we are in a different dimension. Okay, so we need to accept that fact and that
reality. That’s what Jesus is trying to
say. When you talk about the kingdom of
heaven it’s so different from what you and know about the human dimension. We live in the human dimension but Jesus is
trying to hold us up to something even bigger and more.
Remember I said something
about if you feel you are the center of the universe and the harsh reality is
you and I are not? Why? Because there is something much bigger than
Pat Grile or any one person here. We are
a part of it. And in the kingdom of
heaven the important thing is, it’s not what you get but that you work in the
vineyard. The work itself is the
reward. It’s the joy of contributing
your part to the creation of the world with Jesus. It is important to know that you and I have a
part to play in creating this world.
And there’s the joy, there’s
the sense of contributing something.
Then when we realize that, hopefully you and I won’t get into this thing
of comparing or contrasting ourselves to somebody else.
Does that make sense? It’s a more gentle way to live, I think. Because then you don’t have to worry about
that, “It ain’t fair”. No, you won’t
even get into that. Realize everyone
here has something to contribute.
So that’s what Jesus is
trying to say. When you talk about the
kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, everyone here has a part and a role to
play. So don't worry if somebody else
seems to be getting away with more, or seems to be doing less. What’s important is that you and I see that
each of us have something to give and contribute. The joy of contributing to the creation of
the world with the Lord. What a
beautiful way to say it.
A friend was telling me
something, at a job that he had in a factory that he had there was a particular
man who was there with him. And he said
this gentleman all the time was always watching everybody else. He spent most of his day kind of doing his
work but watching to see if somebody else was doing less or somebody else was
doing more. He said this man never
smiled. He never laughed. And he said finally, you know, he watched his
life slip away. He was so busy watching
he never lived it.
So don’t do that to
yourself. See your goodness, your
uniqueness, the value that you have.
When you and I see our own goodness and value and uniqueness we in turn
hopefully will see that in one another, and then rejoice that everybody has a
part to play in the kingdom of God.