Sunday 20 September 2026
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 55:6-9. The Lord is near to all who call him – Ps 144(145):2-3, 8-9, 17-18. Philippians 1:20-24, 27. Matthew 20:1-16.
The first are last and the last are first
There are few things as sweet as a Sunday afternoon in spring. I love finding a park or a trail with few others around and enjoying nature as it shakes itself into a new season. That is part of the reason why I understand the people who complained in today’s Gospel. Some of them worked for 12 hours; others for only one. Yet they all got paid the same. The ones who had time for a walk got as much as those who didn’t.
God has a knack of turning things upside down while the rest of us are left scratching our heads. That is the mystery of God. The first are last and the last are first; those who wait as important as those who work. The prophet Isaiah says, ‘the heavens are as high above earth as my ways are above your ways’. Tuck those words into your memory and take them for a walk.
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