Christ the Cornerstone

As in love, we only possess what we are able to give away

Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked his thoughts; let him turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. (Is 55:7-9)

The Gospel for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mt 20:1-16a) seems grossly unfair. Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who hires workers at an agreed upon wage. Some spend the whole day laboring for their pay. Others are brought in toward the end of the workday and, so, spend just a few hours working.

We know the outcome of this parable. At the end of the day, the landowner pays every worker the same amount, which means that those who worked significantly less than a full day receive the same compensation as those who worked all day.

Understandably, the daylong workers feel cheated. Their sense of basic fairness is offended, and they complain: “These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat” (Mt 20:12).

The landowner doesn’t deny that there is a contradiction here, but he reminds them that there is something more powerful and important than simple fairness. According to Jesus, the landowner replies:

My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous? (Mt 20:13-15)

And then Jesus adds: “Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last” (Mt 20:16).

Jesus is telling us that God’s ways are not our ways. He is teaching us that the virtue of generosity overrides ordinary fairness, and that those who give freely without measuring the cost receive far more than they give away.

St. John Paul II frequently taught that we only truly possess the things (both spiritual and material) that we are able to give away. Love is the prime example. We can’t cling to love or hoard it. Love must be given away, and the more we can share our love unselfishly, the more fully it becomes our own.

Pope Benedict XVI underscored this teaching when he emphasized that God’s inner nature (the Blessed Trinity) demonstrates the principle that true love cannot be contained but must be shared generously.

All spiritual gifts—including hope, joy, and peace—are meant to be given away. But so are our material possessions, which do not belong to us in any exclusive or permanent sense because we cannot take them with us when we die. One way or another, we must let go of the things we have and allow them to benefit others. Why not follow the example of the landowner in this parable and be generous as well as just?

Generosity is one of the four characteristics of Christian stewardship. With gratitude, accountability and the willingness to give back to God with increase, generosity confirms our understanding that everything we have, and everything we are, comes to us from a generous and loving God. We do not deserve what we have been given, and we do not “own” anything absolutely.

We are stewards (guardians or caretakers) of spiritual and material blessings that belong ultimately to God alone. All God asks of us—his faithful stewards—is that we nurture and develop our gifts (instead of burying or neglecting them) and that we share them generously with others (who are equally undeserving).

Next week (September 20–23), representatives from our archdiocese will join with participants from other parishes and dioceses in the United States and many other countries for the 64th annual International Catholic Stewardship Conference, which this year will be held in New Orleans. Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, N.J., will present the keynote address on “Stewardship, Synodality, and Transformational Giving.”

Please join me in praying that the teaching about generosity reflected in this Sunday’s Gospel will be reinforced by all the parish and diocesan leaders who “carry this message” to their fellow Catholics so that when it comes to sharing all God’s gifts, we may all conduct ourselves in ways that are worthy of the Gospel of Christ (cf. Phil 1:27a).

If we truly are generous—sharing God’s gifts gratefully, responsibly and with increase—the last truly will be first and the first will be last. †