Sermon – Rejoicing in the Grace Received by Another (Matthew 20:1-16) – September 20, 2026

In today's Bible, Jesus tells the parable of the workers hired in the last hour.

The story goes like this:

A man left his house at dawn to hire workers for his vineyard. Some were hired early in the morning and therefore worked under the sun all day. In the later hours of the day, around five o'clock, the employer hired others; these worked for only one hour, from five to six. When it was time to pay the wages, the employer gave everyone the same amount. One of those who had worked all day complained, but the employer said to him: “Friend, I am not being unfair to you; didn’t you agree with me on one dinar?”

That was the minimum wage at the time. So what is Jesus trying to teach us with this parable?

First, we must understand that Jesus uses parables because he wants us to deeply consider what he is telling us.

So what is the advantage of analogy?

It's about being able to put ourselves in the characters' shoes. An analogy can transport us to a scene, a story.

The purpose of today's analogy is to put us in the place of the first workers called in. They worked all day and complain about being paid the same as everyone else. They believe it's unfair to receive the same pay as those who worked less.

So what would we think? It really does seem unfair.

So what does God think and what does He want to teach us?

We understand this from the boss's response. He says:

I want to give this last one as much as I gave you. Don't I have the right to use my possessions as I see fit? Or are you jealous because I'm being kind?

Would it be fair for one person to serve God their entire life and go to heaven, while another person finds Jesus in the last moments of their life and also goes to heaven?

In today's Bible, those who work all day envy those who work less and receive the same pay.

This is envy of another person's spiritual well-being. And that's exactly what Jesus wants to teach us with the Gospel today.

According to Saint Thomas Aquinas , envy is sadness felt at the good fortune or well-being of another person. This good fortune is seen by the envious person as an evil that diminishes their own reputation or worth.

This jealousy is a sin against the Holy Spirit. According to the Catechism, a sin against the Holy Spirit consists of rejecting God's grace ; this is rejecting salvation.

The Catechism teaches that there are six sins against the Holy Spirit:

1. Despair of salvation – the belief that one cannot escape.

2. Thinking we'll get away with it without deserving it.

3. Denying a known fact.

4. To envy a favor another person has received.

5. Persisting in sin.

6. To persistently and deliberately refuse to repent of sins until the moment of death, that is, to fail to make the final repentance.

   
   

We, as a Church, are one Body. As Saint Paul said, Jesus is our Head and we are the Body.

And this whole body is united through the grace of Christ.

Therefore, when God bestows a favor upon one member of the Church, the whole Body benefits.

For example, when great blessings are bestowed upon the Virgin Mary, we too receive our share of that blessing.

But let's look at Satan's attitude. He sees the blessings that the Virgin Mary receives and feels pain and resentment. That is jealousy!

The devil sees the Virgin Mary as a rival.

Likewise, when someone consistently views their brother not as a member of the Body of Christ, but as a rival, they have fallen into the trap of Satan's logic.

We have to admit that if we feel jealousy, like the person hired in the first hour, it's because deep down we see God as someone who owes us something.

And we regard His reward as something we should receive in return for our services.

God does not owe us paradise, because we do not deserve it.

He promised us paradise in return for the good deeds we do freely and generously, by His grace.

He died for us of his own free will. And every day he bestows his grace upon us of his own free will.

We deserve nothing. On the contrary, we respond to God's free and generous love with sin.

Neither Christians baptized as babies nor those baptized as adults deserve heaven.

We cannot deserve something that is beyond our natural capabilities. We deserve it through the blood of Christ shed on the cross.

Everyone who enters Paradise will do so solely through the mercy of God.

And God is free to be generous to whomever He wills.

It is our duty to love God and serve Him; this is to give Him what He deserves.

God deserves infinite love; therefore, it is a great honor, grace, and privilege that He has still granted us the opportunity to love and serve Him in this world.

We received it for free, and we must offer our service to God for free as well.

Therefore, we should look at that brother who works very little and receives much from God, and see in him a blessing for ourselves as well.

This is the heart of my Heavenly Father! He measures not according to what I deserve, but according to His own generosity.

May the Virgin Mary help us to always rejoice when someone receives a blessing from God, knowing that this blessing is a gift for the whole Church.