Daily Gospel Reflection for August 23, 2023

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Imagine the anticipation of the workers who had started at dawn when they see the foreman is paying the last laborers, the ones who had only been there an hour, the wage for an entire day. It does not seem unreasonable for them to expect that their wage will be proportionally more. But each laborer, regardless of how long he had been there, received the same amount.

This pay schedule rubs against our sense of fairness, doesn’t it? We sympathize with the laborers who had worked the longest. Come on. Is that fair?

I have heard this Gospel used as a metaphor for salvation. There are those who have been pious all their lives and worked very hard to do the Lord’s will and to win souls for Him. And then there are those who may have led a very questionable life but are fortunate enough to receive the last Sacraments shortly before their death. Others embrace a deathbed conversion. We have reason to believe that these people will all be saved.

God in His mercy saves whomever He desires to save. Look at the example of the Good Thief. God is merciful. He forgives those whose sins are minor and also those who have lived gravely sinful lives. He is merciful to all who repent.

We must always remember that God’s ways are not our ways. This Gospel is a good reminder to not judge. We don’t know why some people have lives that are entirely blessed and why others are afflicted with great suffering. God always has a plan, and He is always at work, often in ways that are completely mysterious to us, even incomprehensible. We see only through a glass darkly. But we know Who is the Lord, and we know He is entirely trustworthy. Blessed be the Lord.

Ponder:

When I look at others whose lives are graced with much more than mine, do I ever feel resentful or even wonder about God’s justice?

Pray:

O good and gracious God, thank You for all that You have given me. Help me to remember that You are always just and merciful, even when I look at events I cannot understand.

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Imagine the anticipation of the workers who had started at dawn when they see the foreman is paying the last laborers, the ones who had only been there an hour, the wage for an entire day. #DailyGospel

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