CALLED TO LABOUR FOR THE LORD a homily for the 25th Sunday in Year A.

You can listen to the audio here.
At one point my father was his own shop steward.  My dad always paid his union dues and so did my mother.  My house was not only very republican in outlook it was also very pro-union while also being very Catholic.  So reading this passage always riles me.  The ‘trade unionist’ within me is not happy that the landowner does not remunerate the ones who worked longer more generously.  It’s a simple principle that the worker deserves his wages.  Indeed, traditionally one of the sins that cried out to heaven for vengeance was to deprive the labourer of his wages.  It still amazes me that after all my studies and prayer I can still expect God to behave like a human being and subject Him to my limitations.  The message of this Gospel passage is that God is in charge and we are labouring in His vineyard for His glory not our reward.  We depend on His generosity and mercy not on our merits.  God is not confined by human cultural expectations.  He can be generous to whom He chooses and as He chooses. 

What does it mean to labour for the Lord?  To labour in a vineyard is to care for the vines that the owner has planted, to follow his plan for their care and not one’s own.  It also means getting rid of weeds, caring for the vines, pruning them and planting new healthy plants.  In the end it means participating in the harvest.

Too many Catholics seem to think that working for the Lord is only what the ‘priests and nuns’ do.  They seem to think that lay Catholics only have to get on with their lives, show up on Sunday, pay up and keep quiet.  Yet that was never the Church’s teaching let alone that of our Lord.  All of us by our baptism are immersed into Christ and share in His mission, His task to make the Father known to the world, to reveal His love and mercy.  We do not have to do this by going to the far side of the Earth nor even by standing on the street corners handing out leaflets.  We can, and ought to, witness to Christ by how we live our daily life.  This is the royal road to Heaven: to carry out the duties of our state of life while avoiding evil and doing good.  This is how we labour for the Lord.

            What does that mean?  Firstly, doing the duties of our state of life means living to the full the vocation we are in, whether single, married, religious or clergy.  It means living our obligations to our family and to the Church, and working in an honest and responsible manner.  This means that we make time for those we love to serve and care for them, caring for our family, our home and our parish.  It means that we come to Mass on Sunday to worship God and, examining our conscience regularly, go to confession.  It means that we do not receive Holy Communion if we suspect or know that we are in a state of mortal sin.  It means that we make loving God and our neighbour the centre of our life.

Secondly, we must avoid evil.  Avoiding evil means more that merely not doing evil.  It means avoiding those places, persons or things that might lead us into sin.  That can include books, TV shows or parts of the internet, certain conversations, etc.  The list is almost endless.  It even means resisting evil thoughts.  Why do we commit the same sins again and again?  It is because we do not change our way of thinking.  The thief who continues to think about stealing will steal again.  If we change how and what we think our behaviour will follow.  We are all of us different so what to one person is harmless can be a grave temptation to another.  That means that we must also have a care not to lead or put anyone else in a situation where they might be lead to sin.  Avoiding evil also means opposing evil.  It can mean standing up and speaking out when something wrong is happening.  We need the courage to be whistleblowers!  Also we cannot claim to be good Catholics we support any person, party or policy that supports or leads to evil.  Could one claim to be a good Catholic while supporting the legalization of child abuse or slavery?  No!  How then can a good Catholic support those who advocate abortion or gay marriage?  We cannot both work for God’s Kingdom and oppose it.   One does not weed a vineyard by feeding the weeds or cutting down the vines.

Thirdly, we must do good above all to those we live and work with but it is not limited to them.  Anyone in need is our neighbour and a potential object of our care.  We do good not only by showing charity and sharing our goods, our time and our love with those in need but above all by doing so for love of Christ and by offering Him to them.  To do good without offering Christ is to give less as Pope Benedict has said.  Doing good covers a wide array of possibilities.  It depends not only on the need of the recipient but also on the degree of our capacity.  Sometimes all we can offer is a shoulder to cry on or even just our presence.  As long as we offer what we can for the sake of Christ He will do the rest.  If everyone, everyday went about looking for an opportunity to help others, to do good, what kind of world would we live in?  How much easier it would be for those who are disabled, disadvantaged or in any kind of need?  Would there be a housing crisis or would there be homeless people if everyone was seeking to do good to others?  I think not.

If you want your life to be a true success, if on the last day you want to receive from the Lord the precious payment of Eternal Life I urge you to examine your life and ask yourself:  Are you doing your duty as a Catholic to the best of your ability?  Are you really caring for those around you for the sake of Christ?  Are you doing your best to avoid evil and oppose it wherever it appears?  Are you seeking to do good to those you meet wherever you meet them?  Are you labouring for Christ or for yourself? 

Our Lord has told us that those who labour for Him as He has asked will be rewarded at the Harvest with joy and glory beyond imagination but those who labour for themselves, who oppose His Kingdom will weep in the dark forever.  While we are still in this world let us labour for Christ who laboured on the Cross for us so that His joy might be complete and our joy with Him.