The Value of Our Work

Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time C-2

Entrance Antiphon Ps 84 (83): 10-11 Turn your eyes, O God, our shield; and look on the face of your anointed one; one day within your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

Collect O God, who have prepared for those who love you good things which no eye can see, fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love, so that, loving you in all things and above all things, we may attain your promises, which surpass every human desire. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: Ezechiel 34:1-11; Psalm 22; Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus said, The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the market-place doing nothing. He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?' 'Because no-one has hired us,' they answered. He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.' When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.' The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.' But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' So the last will be first, and the first will be last. (Matthew 20:1-16)

The Value of Our Work There are different ways of describing the world, the universe and mankind. One important way is to say that it is at work. However, it is not easy to define precisely what it is to be “at work.” The meaning of “work” in everyday English is broad. The Concise Oxford Dictionary entry for, say, “utilitarianism” is brief and philosophically accurate. Utilitarianism is the “doctrine that actions are right because they are useful; the doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the sole end of public action.” But when we turn to the entry for “work,” the discussion of its various meanings in various turns of phrase goes on for well over a page. It does give, though, a serviceable definition at the beginning: work is the “expenditure of energy, striving, application of effort to some purpose.” The trouble with this definition is that it could apply to an engrossing recreation, such as a hard game of tennis. Still, even recreation could be, in one sense, a “work.” Man is fulfilled and gains satisfaction in the pursuit of worthy goals, and this pursuit involves the application of effort to the purpose. He works to sustain his life and those who depend on him. He works to contribute to the flourishing of his family and society in the various departments of human life, such as culture, administration and economic development. Man’s life can be described as being “at work.” If he does not work in some sense, he deteriorates, disorientates, collapses, and will die. Work is his happiness and his life. One could even say that this is dimly reflected in the characteristic state of the universe. The world is found to be, in an analogous sense, “at work.” It mindlessly strives for the fulfilment of its potential. The very order that the universe displays — galaxies do not implode, the solar system is maintained, the earth has its atmosphere and biosphere and a broad equilibrium — is a certain fulfilment of its “action.” The whole universe — with man at its head leading the way — is working to attain its goals. But the question nagging at man’s heart is, what is the value of his “work”?

It is evident to almost all societies, as it is evident to man himself, that he must work. Our Gospel today may be seen as a paradigm of this expectation. The landowner goes out repeatedly in the course of the day and finds men standing in the market-place doing nothing. He immediately sends them into the vineyard to work, promising a reward for their efforts. That is the basic pattern in life: man works, and attains the fruit or reward of his work. It is what he finds from experience to be the case, and our Lord confirms that it is the will and expectation of God. There is an unending amount of work to be done, and God does not want man to be idle. If he works, he will be rewarded. The question is, what work will bring the greatest fruit and reward? There have been those in history who have had brilliance and an abundance of energy, and who have worked mightily. The results of their “work” have been plain for all to see both in their own time, and in the ages that have followed them. Will Alexander the Great’s work and its results ever be forgotten? Many others could be cited who were the authors of spectacular work in life. But what does the Creator think, he whose work holds everything in being and makes possible whatever work is done in the world? In our Gospel passage today (Matthew 20:1-16), the landowner at the end of the day grants to the last the same payment given to the first. We are not told why this is so. Nor are we told that the landowner will do this every day he goes out looking for workers, but he did it with this set of workers. God will judge the value of our work not according to the expectations and standards of the world, but according to his own. This means that whoever we are, and however late in the day we begin to work for the glory of God, God will surprise us with his mercy and generosity. It also means that if all our life we are fortunate enough to have been working in the vineyard of God, we must not let this privilege delude us into deciding the worth of our own work. Let us work for God with love, and let him be the judge.

On one occasion our Lord was sitting in the Temple watching people putting their contributions into the treasury. He saw a poor widow make her way to the spot and place two small coins in it. He called his disciples to him and pointed her out to them. She put more into the Treasury than all the others, because while they put in what they had left over, she put in all she had to live on. She would have been rewarded much more than they for her seemingly much less “work.” Let us not be concerned for our poor abilities, circumstances and, in general, work in life. It will be most pleasing to God if we give to him all we have, striving with real effort to do his will.

(E.J.Tyler)

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Second reflection (Ezechiel 34:1-11)

Seeking Out the Lost God speaks to the shepherds of the House of Israel and condemns them because they have "failed to make weak sheep strong, or to care for the sick ones, or bandage the wounded ones." They had "failed to bring back strays or look for the lost" (Ezechiel 34:1-11). We remember how our Lord said that he was sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, and on another occasion said that he was not sent to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance. He was making the point of what was the priority. He was sent to save the world from sin. As baptised and confirmed members of Christ's faithful, we share in our Lord's mission. Our Lord continues to search for the stray and to look for the lost, and he does so through the members of his body the Church. This means each of us. In our living of our Faith day by day in family, workplace, and parish, do we have this concern for those straying or lost, or are we contenting ourselves with trying to live a devout life in the company of other devout people, and leaving it at that?

If we do not take responsibility for this, God says we will be held to account. Let us pray for a share in Christ's love for the lost sheep, for a Christlike compassion for those straying from God, and the wisdom to know what to do about it. Let us be truly apostolic in our everyday life.

(E.J.Tyler)

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