Wednesday 20 August 2025
St Bernard
Judges 9:6-15. Lord, your strength gives joy to the king – Ps 20(21):2-7. Matthew 20:1-16.
God’s extravagant love
We can be trapped by our sense of fairness. It can make us parsimonious in the face of the generosity of others towards others. Today’s Gospel suggests just one way in which the kingdom of Heaven is likely to confound our expectations. Jesus’ parable suggests that his reign does not work on strictly rational human lines. This can be unsettling. We can be left uncertain about what is asked of us if the rewards are distributed, as we may see it, so arbitrarily.
Yet, this is precisely where this parable might be helpful. It moves us beyond a sense of reward, the quid pro quo, to recognise what God gives is abundant gift. God will act justly, as the man who pays the agreed wage. But he will not be stopped from acting extravagantly too, as the man who gives more than is owed. In this we should not grumble but rejoice.
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