The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
"Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death."
This is how St. Paul starts the second reading today. It is what we all strive for and, according to our faith, is the very purpose of our lives. Indeed, we are called to be Christ to one another and to draw people to encounter our Lord through us and how we live. The second reading ends, "Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ."
So how well are we doing?
I thought about this when reading the Gospel this weekend. It is a parable I'm very familiar with, as many of us are, but it became brand new and full of deep insight with a small alteration in my perspective.
In the gospel this week from Matthew, Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who hires several groups of laborers for his vineyard during several different parts of the day. He even hires a group near the very end of the day, and pays them the same as the first group he hires that started in the morning. Grumbling ensues and the workers from the first group are resentful that the last group got paid the same for less work. 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?"
Now, trade out money for grace and holiness, and the labor in the vineyard for the labor in the world and re-read the parable.
What strikes me is the attitude of those who have worked since the morning. Is this not sometimes the attitude of us who have labored long in the faith? Do we not sometimes regard ourselves superior to others because of how long we've labored for the Lord, bearing the burdens of sacrifice and trial and the heat of ridicule and scrutiny? Do we believe we deserve more than those who have recently come to God and resent that they receive the same reward? Do we stand on our own holiness to look down on the holiness of others?
The reward we all receive in equal measure is salvation and everlasting life with God. Whether we are new to laboring for the kingdom or have served the Lord for many years, let us remember to conduct ourselves "in a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ."
Andrew Montpetit is a Motion Graphic Designer/Animator in West Michigan. He greatly enjoys good films and deep, substantive conversations about beauty and its pursuit. You can find his work on his website and on Instagram.
