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.
Mt 20:1-16a
RembrandtEXPLANATION OF THE PASSAGE
“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard…. Going out about nine o’clock…. And he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock…. Going out about five o’clock….”
It was harvest time. It was necessary to gather in the grapes as soon as possible lest the weather (frost, perhaps?) destroy the harvest.
But this action of the landowner can be seen from a different perspective. Work was on a daily basis. And for some, no work meant no pay. And no pay meant no food. Therefore, for the landowner to go out throughout the day to hire laborers can also be seen as an act of kindness. He wanted the family of those men not go hungry.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.
The daily wage was a denarius. According to Wikipedia: “The Roman cur-rency system included the denarius (plural: denarii) after 211 BC, a small silver coin, and it was the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased until its replacement by the antoninianus.”
And on receiving it they (those who worked the whole day) grumbled against the landowner, 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.’
It is understandable that those who worked the whole day would feel bad see-ing that those who worked for only an hour also were paid one denarius.
But it is also true that the owner was not being unfair to them because one de-narius was the salary for a day’s work. Furthermore it is also true that the money was his and therefore, if he wanted to give a denarius also to those worked less hours, he was perfectly free to do so.
EXPLANATION OF THE PARABLE
The parables of Jesus were meant to challenge the behaviour and beliefs of his hearers. This parable was probably addressed to the Pharisees. Jesus wanted to teach them that God’s goodness can not be reduced to mere human retribution, understood as payment that is owed, without however, reducing it to arbitrariness and setting aside of justice. He is inviting the Pharisees not to become envious in face of God’s liberality.
A REFLECTION ON WORK
After Adam’s fall, work became a curse and a punishment. “To the man he said: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree of which I had for-bidden you to eat, "Cursed be the ground because of you! In toil shall you eat its yield all the days of your life.Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you, as you eat of the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat, Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dirt, and to dirt you shall return. (Gen 3:17-19)"
But through the incarnation, that is, by taking upon himself everything that is human, Jesus redeemed and sanctified all that is human, including work. Jesus, in fact, was a carpenter’s son. He must have worked with his hands.
St. John Bosco taught the spirituality of daily life. He used to say: “Do your ordinary duties extraordinarily well.” Work is part of one’s daily life. It belongs to the category of one’s ordinary duties. And one’s ordinary duties are a concrete expression of God’s will. Doing one’s work to the best of one’s ability is doing God’s will to the best of one’s ability.
Moreover, the spirituality of daily life can be seen as a way of putting into practice St. Paul’s counsel: “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do every-thing in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Col 3:17).”
In Pilipino, a job or work is called “hanapbuhay”, literally, seek-life. Through one’s work one seek to sustain one’s life. Through your work, you are able to pro-vide food, clothing and shelter for yourself and for your family. Christian ethics require the Christian to work to support himself. St. Paul says: “In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat (2Thess 3:10).”
But work should not just be “hanapbuhay”. It should also be “nagbibigaybuhay”, that is, life-giving. Consequently, if you are not happy with your work, ei-ther change your attitude towards your work or change your work.
Your work must also provide you with opportunities for personal and profes-sional growth. If you do not find personal and professional growth in your work, it is time to work elsewhere. St. Irenaus was a bishop of Lyons in what is now France. He wrote: “The glory of God is man fully alive.” If you find personal and professional growth in your work, would you find yourself fully alive?
Finally, work is not just about practicing one’s profession. Work is also about one’s vocation. Work is not just about earning a living or actualizing one’s poten-tials. Work is also about doing something for others. Through one’s work, one can make a contribution to humanity. Through your work you are giving yourself to a cause greater than yourself.
A teacher teaches not only to earn a living. A teacher teaches not only to practice a profession. A teacher teaches in order to shape the hearts and minds of the young, whom Rizal called the hope of the Fatherland. This is the teacher’s contribution to humanity. It is a work whose fruits go beyond the boundaries of the space and time in which he lives.
