Our Eternal Payday

I had to go to Mass at 7:00 a.m. with Gabe this morning because I have to work today. This weeks homily was our annual parish financial review, which was not very spiritually interesting. A few weekends ago, however, the Gospel was a one of my favorite parables... its the one about the man who, in the morning, hires workers at an agreed upon daily rate, to work in the field. At midday the man hires more workers. Near the end of the work day, he hires more workers.

When the work is done, the man pays every worker equally... they all get the same amount. When the workers from the morning complain, the man tells them they understood and received the agreed upon wage and they should not complain. It was up to the man's discretion as to what each would get paid.

It's such a great example of God's mercy... no matter how late we show up to the field, the pay is the same, the reward is equal. Like children, our human qualities inherently want the world to be "fair" but, to God, "fair" doesn't mean fair to us, but fair to Him. And what is more fair than anyone who seeks Him gets Him... anyone who truly searches for redemption and salvation gets it, no matter how late in the "work day" we try?

That is supremely and divinely fair. And completely opposite of how humans would define fair. Even understanding that, there is a part of me who kinda sides with those morning workers are coming from.

The bible says God's ways are not our ways and the more I understand my faith the more I realize just how far away I am from where I need to be. The goals set by the Almighty are so lofty (no pun intended) that I wonder if I will ever get close to reaching them.

I guess the thing I have to remember is that we never know when our work day will end, so we better get into the fields as soon as possible. The last thing you'd want is to show up to the fields when the work is done.