Isaiah reminds us that our thoughts and ways are not the same as God’s, and St. Paul in Philippians seems to pick up that tension between the ways of God and human deviance, which he describes as “to live in the flesh”.

In our own time, human ways and thoughts, appear to be very far away from the way of living revealed by Jesus. Recently, I had the privilege of speaking to a religious sister who had worked in Gaza providing aid and support for the people. She spoke eloquently of the suffering of the people there following the recent military intervention by Israel. As she spoke the words of Isaiah could not have been more relevant as she described the complete lack of respect for human life and the dehumanisation which permeates so much human decision making.

As increasing world view which sees the deepening division between rich and poor as acceptable and which finds comfort in privilege, luxury and entitlement, will not connect easily with Jesus’s message in today’s Gospel narrative. Jesus reverses the popular view of justice with his own teaching that God’s generosity goes beyond the expectation of his audience and that the first will be last and the last first. Industrial relations, employment law, and global foreign policy would ‘go aground’ if they took seriously the teaching of Jesus in this parable.

“Open our hearts, O Lord, that we may pay attention to the words of your Son”. Our Baptism commits us, not only to listen to the words of Jesus but to put them into action. Our flesh and blood lives are to make present and visible the life-giving truth and love of Jesus, is that not what our celebration of the Eucharist is about?

So, where do we begin?

Quite rightly, we must be attentive to the knowledge, the facts, the opinions and attitudes that guide contemporary political and social thought and action. At the same time, by paying attention to the words of Jesus and to the Gospel, we are those who must provide the balance and corrective of divine thought and divine ways. It is the message of Jesus which must shape our world and all human decision making. It is not for human thinking to shape the message of Jesus. Christians are called to contribute life giving wisdom to human living. How can we do this? St. Paul in I Corinthians 16 give the answer: “The spiritual person, on the other hand, can assess the value of everything, and cannot be assessed by anyone. For who has ever known the mind of the Lord, to be his counsellor? But we have the mind of Christ”.

Our thoughts and ways must be that of Christ, challenging though that might be.

Iain Mc Gilchrist, in his book “The Master and his Emissary”, tells this story. A wise spiritual master looked after a small community that flourished, because he was able in his wisdom to look after their needs and concerns. He soon realised that he could not do everything, but more importantly, that he must not get involved with certain simple, everyday administrative matters, if he was to maintain the ability to see the broad, open, wise picture. So, he appointed his bright second in command to take care of administrative details. But the emissary did not know what his master knew and thought he knew everything. He saw himself as the real master and took the master’s role. As a result, master, emissary and community all fell into decay. The emissary knew all about policies, facts and figures but lacked wisdom and the bigger picture.

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Today’s liturgy is all about God’s immense generosity towards us. The same reward is given to the labourer who began work either earlier in the day or late in the day. Although it may seem to go against justice, the reward is the same for all the labourers at the end of the day. Are we envious of others getting ahead when we have done the work quietly for some time? However,  as the first reading reminds us, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. Do we begrudge God’s generosity towards everyone? When we celebrate the sacred liturgy, God’s immense generosity is manifested towards us in numerous ways. The gathering of the community together, is a great gift of welcoming and embracing each other. The Word of God is proclaimed to us, in which the living word of God’s message of love is revealed to us. The great gift of the Body and Blood of Christ is broken and poured out for us, as a means of communion with God and each other. Grace is lavished upon us, and all we can do is accept it with gratitude and love. How do we approach the celebration of the sacred liturgy? What is our attitude? Is it one of thanksgiving, humility, and acceptance? Living out the liturgy in our daily lives, means that we accept everything that comes our way as a gift, knowing that God’s immense generosity is always at work. As the introduction of many of the prefaces remind us “it is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks.” As God has shown his immense generosity towards us, let us share this immense generosity with each other.

Bidding Prayers -

For the Church -

that she may welcome all who come to the Lord’s vineyard, whoever they are and whatever the hour.

For workers - 

that labourer faced with poor working conditions or unjust wages may find support in Christian social teaching and solidarity in the Christian community.

For our parish community - 

that this eucharistic assembly may be the gospel’s model of community in which there are neither first nor last but only sisters and brothers in Christ.

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These hymns have been taken from the Laudate hymnbook:

702 God, my King, your might confessing

609 In bread we bring you

707 Let us with a gladsome mind

880 Tell out my soul

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