Daily Catholic Lectio
Sun, 20 Sep 2026
XXV Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isa 55:6-9. Phil 1:20-24, 27. Mt 20:1-16
Perspective Change
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,” says the Lord through the prophet Isaiah. When our thoughts and ways change, our actions also change. Today’s first reading comes from the end of the second part of the Book of Isaiah. It serves as a prelude to the mighty acts and restoration that God is about to bring to Israel.
The people of Israel have realised that their sins have caused their destruction. They are also afraid that God will deal with them according to their faults. In this context, Isaiah says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found,” and reminds them that God’s thoughts are completely different from human thoughts, and His ways from our ways.
When our perspective changes, we begin to understand the mercy of God. The justice of God means mercy.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus presents a parable about the Kingdom of heaven. Though it is a parable, it is not found in Matthew’s main collection of parables, but within the discourse concerning the community.
Through this parable, we can understand a problem that existed in Matthew’s community. Some may have thought that those who became believers first were greater than those who came later, or that the Jews who came first were superior to the Gentiles who joined later. The parable teaches that all are equal and that the gift given to all is the same. It also reveals that God is both just and merciful.
There are many characters in the parable: the workers who came first, those who came last, and the manager of the vineyard. But the main character is the owner of the vineyard. He is called the landowner, the lord, and the master.
The master goes out looking for workers for his vineyard. The exact work is not mentioned. In a vineyard, many workers were normally required for planting vines, removing weeds and maintaining the vineyard, or harvesting grapes. These kinds of work had to be completed quickly. Therefore, many workers were needed.
The master goes out early in the morning because the strongest workers would normally be hired first. As happens even today in many places, labourers would gather in a public place waiting to be hired.
The master goes out five times: at six in the morning, nine, noon, three in the afternoon, and five in the evening. At six in the evening, everyone receives the wage. Therefore, the first group works twelve hours, the second nine hours, the third six hours, the fourth three hours, and the last group only one hour.
Their working hours are different, but the wage is the same: one denarius.
This disturbs the workers. It also disturbs us as readers. But the master is not disturbed. He knows what he is doing, and he acts freely.
The master also changes the order: “Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” Normally the first would leave first. But here the last become first. The master also decides that everyone will receive the same wage.
Those who came first think that they will receive more. But when they too receive only one denarius, they begin to murmur.
They expected the mercy shown to the last workers to become extra payment for themselves. But the master reminds them of justice: “Friend, did you not agree with me for one denarius?”
In the first part of the parable, the master keeps going out to search for workers. In the second part, he remains in one place while the workers come before him one after another.
The master addresses the complaining worker as “friend.” In Matthew’s Gospel, the word “friend” appears in three significant places. The man without the wedding garment is called “friend.” Judas Iscariot, when he betrays Jesus, is also called “friend.” In each case, someone who should have lived as a friend fails to do so.
Why do the first workers murmur?
Instead of looking at the master standing before them, they look at the denarius in their hands. They forget that their master is capable of being both just and merciful.
From the master’s point of view, every worker is important. He knows that the need of each one is the same.
How can we leave the perspective of the worker and receive the perspective of the master?
Paul gives us an answer in today’s second reading. He experiences a struggle between living and dying. Yet he says, “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” Christ gives meaning both to his living and to his dying.
When we hold on to the Lord, our perspective changes.
We begin to put the denarius aside for a moment and look at the master and at the other workers. We begin to understand that life does not treat everyone in the same way. We learn patience. We begin to smile because murmuring changes nothing. We learn to carry the burden of the work and the heat of the day. We begin to realise that it is not the logic of mathematics, but the mystery of God’s grace that changes our life. We begin to understand that justice of God means mercy.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
A Yesni Prays Initiative
Image courtesy: source unknown
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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