At noon today, the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and with pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters,
In today's gospel passage (cf Mt 20:1-16) we find the parable of the day labourers which Jesus recounts in order to communicate two characteristics of the Kingdom of God: the first, that God wants to call all people to work for his Kingdom; and the second, that at the end of time, he wants to give everyone the same reward: salvation, eternal life.
The owner of a vineyard, who represents God, goes out at dawn and hires a group of labourers, agreeing with them about their salary of one denarius for the day; it was the agreed-upon wage. He then goes out again at later hours of the day - five times that day he goes out - as late as the final hours of the afternoon, to find other un-hired workers who he engages. At the end of the day, the landowner gives the order for each of them to receive one denarius, even those who had only been hired an hour before. Naturally, the workers who had been hired in the earlier hours of the day began to grumble, because they saw each of the workers being paid the same salary regardless of the length of time they had worked. However the owner reminded them that they had received what they had agreed to be paid; if he wanted to be generous toward others, they had no right to feel cheated.
In reality, this injustice on the part of the landowner is meant to disturb all those who hear the parable, to raise us to a new level, because here, Jesus is not seeking to address a problem with labourers or fair salaries, but rather, he wants to explain something about the Kingdom of God! There is a message in all of this: in the Kingdom of God there is no unemployment, everyone is called to do his or her part; and at the end of time, everyone will receive their wage paid in divine justice - not human justice, lucky us! - that is to say, the salvation that Jesus Christ has won for us through his death and resurrection. This is salvation that is not merited but given - salvation is free - so the last will be first and the first will be last (Mt 20:16).
With this parable, Jesus wants to open our hearts to the logic of the Father's love, which is free and generously given. It's a matter of being amazed and fascinated by God's thoughts and ways which, as the prophet Isaiah reminds us, are not our thoughts and not our ways (cf Is 55:8). Human thoughts are sometimes marked by self-centred interests and personal reasonings, and our pitiful and winding paths cannot be compared with God's wide and straight paths. He uses mercy - don't forget this: He uses mercy - he forgives, he is filled with generosity and goodness that pours out for all of us, opening for all of us the boundlessness of his love and grace which alone can provide the fullness of joy for the human heart.
Jesus wants us to contemplate the landowner's gaze: the gaze with which he sees each one of the workers waiting for work, and calls them to go into the vineyard. His is a look that is filled with attention, goodness; a look that calls, that invites us to get up, to set out on a journey, because he wants every one of us to live, he wants us to live a full and committed life, free from emptiness. God never excludes anyone; he wants each of us to experience his fullness. This is the love of our God, of our God who is a Father.
May Blessed Mary help us to welcome the logic of love in our lives, a logic that frees us from the presumption of deserving God's reward and negative judgements about others.
After the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Yesterday in Oklahoma City (United States of America), Stanley Francis Rother, a missionary priest who was killed for hatred of the faith because of his work of evangelization and human rights in favour of the poor in Guatemala was proclaimed Blessed. His heroic example helps us to be courageous witnesses of the gospel, committed to promoting human dignity.
I greet you all with affection, Romans and pilgrims who have come from various countries. In particular, I greet the choir from the Italian Catholic Mission in Berna, the Roman community of Communion and Liberation, and the faithful from Villadossola, Offanengo and Nola.
I wish you all a good Sunday. And please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
Blessed Stanley Rother was killed on July 28th, 1981, after returning to Guatemala to minister to his flock, despite several death threats and warnings his life would be in danger. 'Well, a shepherd cannot run from his flock,' he is quoted as saying in explanation of his decision to return in the face of such danger.
Greetings of His Holiness, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters,
In today's gospel passage (cf Mt 20:1-16) we find the parable of the day labourers which Jesus recounts in order to communicate two characteristics of the Kingdom of God: the first, that God wants to call all people to work for his Kingdom; and the second, that at the end of time, he wants to give everyone the same reward: salvation, eternal life.
The owner of a vineyard, who represents God, goes out at dawn and hires a group of labourers, agreeing with them about their salary of one denarius for the day; it was the agreed-upon wage. He then goes out again at later hours of the day - five times that day he goes out - as late as the final hours of the afternoon, to find other un-hired workers who he engages. At the end of the day, the landowner gives the order for each of them to receive one denarius, even those who had only been hired an hour before. Naturally, the workers who had been hired in the earlier hours of the day began to grumble, because they saw each of the workers being paid the same salary regardless of the length of time they had worked. However the owner reminded them that they had received what they had agreed to be paid; if he wanted to be generous toward others, they had no right to feel cheated.
In reality, this injustice on the part of the landowner is meant to disturb all those who hear the parable, to raise us to a new level, because here, Jesus is not seeking to address a problem with labourers or fair salaries, but rather, he wants to explain something about the Kingdom of God! There is a message in all of this: in the Kingdom of God there is no unemployment, everyone is called to do his or her part; and at the end of time, everyone will receive their wage paid in divine justice - not human justice, lucky us! - that is to say, the salvation that Jesus Christ has won for us through his death and resurrection. This is salvation that is not merited but given - salvation is free - so the last will be first and the first will be last (Mt 20:16).
With this parable, Jesus wants to open our hearts to the logic of the Father's love, which is free and generously given. It's a matter of being amazed and fascinated by God's thoughts and ways which, as the prophet Isaiah reminds us, are not our thoughts and not our ways (cf Is 55:8). Human thoughts are sometimes marked by self-centred interests and personal reasonings, and our pitiful and winding paths cannot be compared with God's wide and straight paths. He uses mercy - don't forget this: He uses mercy - he forgives, he is filled with generosity and goodness that pours out for all of us, opening for all of us the boundlessness of his love and grace which alone can provide the fullness of joy for the human heart.
Jesus wants us to contemplate the landowner's gaze: the gaze with which he sees each one of the workers waiting for work, and calls them to go into the vineyard. His is a look that is filled with attention, goodness; a look that calls, that invites us to get up, to set out on a journey, because he wants every one of us to live, he wants us to live a full and committed life, free from emptiness. God never excludes anyone; he wants each of us to experience his fullness. This is the love of our God, of our God who is a Father.
May Blessed Mary help us to welcome the logic of love in our lives, a logic that frees us from the presumption of deserving God's reward and negative judgements about others.
After the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Yesterday in Oklahoma City (United States of America), Stanley Francis Rother, a missionary priest who was killed for hatred of the faith because of his work of evangelization and human rights in favour of the poor in Guatemala was proclaimed Blessed. His heroic example helps us to be courageous witnesses of the gospel, committed to promoting human dignity.
I greet you all with affection, Romans and pilgrims who have come from various countries. In particular, I greet the choir from the Italian Catholic Mission in Berna, the Roman community of Communion and Liberation, and the faithful from Villadossola, Offanengo and Nola.
I wish you all a good Sunday. And please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
Blessed Stanley Rother was killed on July 28th, 1981, after returning to Guatemala to minister to his flock, despite several death threats and warnings his life would be in danger. 'Well, a shepherd cannot run from his flock,' he is quoted as saying in explanation of his decision to return in the face of such danger.
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