CATHOLIC HOMILIES: 25TH SUNDAY HOMILY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A
By: Fr Andrew Ekpenyong
HOMILY THEME: A THIEF OF JOY.
1. Real Danger. Right now, the 78th UN General Assembly is taking place at the UN Headquarters in New York. Running from 19th to 26th Sept. 2023, Heads of State and Government are reviewing the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Whatever your view of the UN, her General Assemblies have brought sworn enemies to the same building. The Church welcomes every opportunity to bring the message of Christ to these meetings. Pope Francis got a standing ovation when he addressed the UN General Assembly in 2015 and used the occasion to repeat the words of Pope St Paul VI, given to the UN in 1965: “The real danger comes from man….” We see that even in today’s Gospel reading (Mt 20:1-16). “Are you envious because I am generous?”. Imagine, some human beings became sad because others got what they need to live well for one day? Comparison stole their joy.
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2. The Parable. In today’s Gospel reading our Lord tells the parable of the landowner and likens it to the Kingdom of God. There is a lot to learn from various characters in the parable: the generous landowner, the late hires, the early birds, etc. Let me focus on the early birds. Here is the punch line from the landowner following their complaints: “Are you envious because I am generous?” (Mt 20:15). The Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2539) states: “envy is sadness at the sight of another’s goods and the immoderate desire to acquire them for oneself, even unjustly. When it wishes grave harm to a neighbor it is a mortal sin”. The early bird laborers in the parable felt cheated, felt underpaid only because they compared their wages with what the late hires got. If they had not made the envious comparison, they would not have felt cheated; they would not have become sad. When Mark Twain wrote that comparison is the death of joy, he obviously meant what I describe here as envious comparison. When Theodore Roosevelt and others declared that comparison is the thief of joy, he and others also meant envious comparison. Some people even advice that we should not compare ourselves to others: “Don’t compare your life to others, you have no idea what they have been through”. Sam Cawthorn. The early bird laborers were not too unreasonable at their expectation of more wages than the late hires. Since the landowner had chosen to be generous with the late hires, perhaps, he could also have been generous with the early birds but that was his prerogative. The misdeed of the early birds was their grumbling: “So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’” They felt sadness over the good fortune of the late hires. It was envious comparison. This challenges you and me to make comparisons that are kind and not envious, comparisons that lead to gratitude and happiness and not grumbling and sadness, comparisons that rejoice at other’s good fortune. Here is an anecdote to that effect.
3. Anecdote. “Comparing yourself with the good fortune of others is bound to bring a lot of misery in its wake. If you really want to get into that comparison mood, then compare yourself with those who are less fortunate. A man who had just lost his job was sitting dejectedly in his balcony and watching people pass by when his eyes fell on a beggar who was rummaging through garbage for some food. The man in the balcony felt grateful and happy that at least he had enough to eat and was not reduced to what the beggar was doing. The beggar saw a one-legged person who was hobbling around on crutches and felt happy that he had all his limbs intact. The one-legged person saw someone being taken in a wheelchair and counted himself fortunate that he could at least move around on his own. The person in the wheelchair saw a funeral vehicle taking away a dead body and thanked God that she was alive.” Latika Teotia. Wait a second, Latika’s practical advice can deliver us from immediate envy but if we take Scripture seriously, then today’s 2nd reading (Phil 1:20-24,27) challenges us to appreciate our situation without comparisons: “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.” The early birds, the late hires, the jobless, all have a lot to be grateful for and to hope for. Even the dead can now be grateful that they will be sick no more, that they will be with Christ forever, enjoying eternal joy.
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