Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
20 September 2026
First Reading: Isaiah 55:6-9
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18
Second Reading: Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a
Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16a
Reflection
By: John Paulo Gonzales
Let us picture this: a hard day’s work at the office: a truckload of paperwork, deadlines running concurrently with each other, pressure from multiple authority figures, on top of the widely changing landscape our daily interactions. These present to us giants that need to be conquered every day, which is why it is relieving to receive our salary for a “job well done.” Normally, those who have worked longer at the company receive a proportionate increase in their salary, while juniors are extended the hope of reaping the same benefit come the proper time.
In today’s Gospel, the dynamic of compensation is not so straightforward. In the story, some laborers have been scouted early in the day to render work in the open field, only to realize that at the day’s end, they would receive the same wage as those who started later but ended with them at the same time. The question arises: “Why were they given the same amount?” Does the question sound familiar? This is when what we read becomes a personal experience.
In the story of the Prodigal Son, a comparable inner tempest can be seen. When the profligate son returned home to his father only hoping to be given bare sustenance the same as that given to the least in the household—only to be treated to the finest drapes, food, and festivity instead—the elder brother lamented to their father: “All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. (Luke 15:11-32)”
What is challenging in the Gospel is its relatability. At any point, we can find ourselves wrestling with the same thing: the feeling of not being given what we perceive we are worth… of not being given what we asked for... that indignance; for we know how much we have worked (compared to others). If we have reservations about naming what we deserve, we know how much we have pained (especially more than others did); but the Gospel today helps us realize how easy it is to identify with those who express their injuries openly and how helpless we can be at intuiting those whose pains we do not see readily.
In the Gospel, the problem was not that the grumblers had the temerity to ask, as to ask the Lord is an option not denied (Mark 7:7), but that they were much more keen on keeping score with the late workers. They could have asked the landowner if they could be requited for the work they believe goes beyond the usual daily wage, but instead, they objected to the following: “You have made them equal to us”—which can be taken as a denial of grace. As spectators ourselves, the lesson is just as crucial. It may be easy to associate with someone whose feelings we find personable that we fail to see the feelings of those who, buffeted by their own situation, may not have the strength to voice out their agony with any urgency anymore.
In the Gospel, we may find ourselves given to the groaning of those who started work early because their pain sounds familiar; their plea, we heard in plain; but we can be so unwitting to those subject to a different struggle. Where others have a headway at work, others may find themselves unable to even start. We have much to learn from God, the Landowner, who understood the late starters: “Why do you stand here idle all day?” […] “Because”—they answered—“no one has hired us.” As it turns out, the problem of the late workers is one that has existed for as long as work itself—and is one we still find relevant today. When we espouse God’s love in the way we look at His beloved in our midst, we realize that while all their good work is valuable, no pain from anyone is discountable. The Gospel also points to a most eminent truth: God is sovereign and supreme; He can give to whomever He wants; He remains generous, nevertheless. The Sacrifice of Christ makes a special point, however. The Father is already free to give to whomever He wants; but with the spiritual adoption won by the blood of Christ, who, then, is estranged from God’s generosity? Is there anything barring God from giving anyone a good thing? In this spirit, we can better understand God’s Own indignance in saying: “Am I not free to do as I wish with [what I have]? Are you envious because I am generous?”
If I can opine, the Gospel takeaway is not so much that “there are the blessed, and there are those who are not.” This is a line of thought tempting to the broken, especially to those who have been dented for so long; but that we can find ourselves—at any point—at either end of the discourse—between the “blessed this time” and the “blessed in time.” Anyone, at a time we are vulnerable, can be a “lost sheep,” so it is consoling to remember two things: first, God leaves the ninety-nine (comfortable) to recover the one who is lost (Luke 15:1-7; Matthew 18:12), and second, a community of believers provides a nurturing space where help can be sought and obtained.
Generosity is one revelation of God’s Personal Character—the fullness of which His heart speaks; and it is so expressive that in the Kingdom of God, there is preference for the last, the least, and the lost, so while we are in the world, we do not lose sight of those we must first seek to extend our generosity.
We are called to be generous so that in the order of things, with everything put in its proper place, we know that generosity is the measure to uphold. We all experience our peaks and troughs. One moment, we may be content, and another, we are in need. To the extent that we are capable of generosity, we are called towards it, and for the times when we are struggling, there is grace. To be generous when we are able is virtue, and to be generous when we are unable is great love. Lastly, though the world is rife with triggers for our indignation, there is Christ with Whom we can share our struggles and candid pleas, and our neighbors whose plights—resembling our crosses—we can help ease and offer in prayer.
Prayer
God, thank You for Your Presence. Thank You for reminding us today that as many are the crosses we bear, so do others endure their own sufferings. Please help us lighten each other’s burdens where we can, offer to You the parts we cannot help anymore, and to share with You everything just the same because You are our constant trusted Companion.
As we continue the Season of Creation, we also raise up to you our environment, natural and social, ravaged by inclement weather and multiple forms of violence. Please help us become Your good and faithful stewards. These, we ask, in Jesus’ most holy Name, Amen.
