We find in this week's liturgy that God will be forming us, His beloved children, to think the way that He thinks and love the way that He loves. We are told that His ways are above our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughts. In fact, His thoughts and His ways are higher than the heavens are above the earth compared to our thoughts and our ways. Yet, we are His children and, thus, are called and chosen to think and act in heavenly ways. We are to rise in Christ above all earthly ways and conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospels.
We have a teaching by Our Lord in the Gospel according to St. Matthew (Chapter 20:1-16a) about the ways of God in the parable of the landowner who hires many throughout the hours of the day, even to the last hour, to work in Our Father's vineyard. In this parable we find that God is always seeking us out to live and serve in the Kingdom of God, even those who have been standing by idle most of their lives. We should rejoice that God never gives up on anyone. The way of God, the way God thinks and acts, is to call everyone to the happiness of living and serving in the Kingdom of God. God desires that all find and fulfill the Purpose and Meaning of Life that is found in God alone (see Teaching One of the Lay Formation Program).
We must ask ourselves: Do we desire everyone to come into the Kingdom of God? Are we rejoiced when others find the Purpose and Meaning of Life, even if they have been standing around idle most of their lives? Are we giving witness that draws others to the Kingdom of God? Are we actively inviting others into the Kingdom of God?
We also find that, at the end of the day, God is generous with ALL of the workers who have responded to the call. Yet, we see those that worked all day grumbling because others received the same wage. What we find is that God is generous, but man can be narrow and ungrateful. We are not to project our ideas of what is just and how things "should be" upon God. Rather we are to be open to embrace the ways of God. God is good, compassionate, generous, kind, merciful, loving and just. Are we?
Remember that God's ways and thoughts are above our ways and thoughts. We are God's children and are called and chosen to conduct ourselves as faithful members and witnesses of the Kingdom of God. If we embrace this way of life then the whole world will become Catholic. We are to honestly examine whether we have embraced the ways and thoughts of God.
Turn to Our Lady, Our Blessed Mother, and ask her to lead you to embrace the ways and thoughts of God. Ask for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to transform you into faithful members of the Father's family. Learn from Jesus how to please God in your thoughts, words and actions. This week, and always, embrace the opportunities of formation to come to live and proclaim the dignity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Father Zachary of the Mother of God, SOLT
