Reflections

Sunday, September 24, 2017

*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?’

(Matthew 20:14-15)

Earlier in this passage, the workers who were hired first grumbled, “You have made them equal to us…” Our human minds are not content with being equal. We want to be higher. Yet, to be treated equally by you, Lord, is to have all, even when others have all. Your infinite Love is not divided. Thanking you for making us one in you, for making us equal.

“Odyous of olde been comparisonis, And of comparisonis engendyrd is haterede.” John Lydgate wrote that in the 15th century and Shakespeare, in As You Like It, changed it to “Comparisons are odorous.” I like Shakespeare’s version. Why are we so intent on measuring? We are like the Pharisees who broke down your law to fit human standards. How far could one walk on the Sabbath? What was the portion of the oldest son? Even Peter, your rock, asked “How many times?”

Someone said that you made us in your image and we keep trying to return the favor. We cannot pin you down to human standards, and we could never earn your merciful love. If you didn’t give freely, without limit, you would not be God and we would be doomed. As St. Paul so wisely stated, “God forbid that I should presume to pass judgment, even on myself.”

Teach me to love, to forgive, and to rejoice that we are one in you.

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