Reflection for Sunday, September 28, 2014
By Dave O’Donnell
In this coming Sunday’s gospel we hear the parable of the vineyard workers who are all paid for a full day’s labor despite the different number of hours they worked. This is a retelling of the theme: “The first shall be last and the last shall be first”. Why is this theme repeated so often and what does it mean?
I believe life is not about standing in lines and comparing myself to others although it does seem that way at least sometimes. Life is a journey. The fellow who didn’t stand in line and wait for his turn is the “good thief” who on a cross next to Jesus asked for forgiveness and was promised paradise that very day. (the only one Jesus ever promised paradise to)
Today’s parable reading for me is about embracing life where I am; I needn’t wait until I am first in line. I must be in the now, and bloom where I am planted and not wait until just the right moment when things are perfect.
When I was in first grade I admired and maybe was even a little jealous of the eighth graders, but I embraced being a first grader, learned what first graders had to learn and moved on to eventually being a freshman in high school. I look back on those years happily. Embrace life!
Embrace the now! It is all we have. Yes, the first shall be last and the last shall be first, and blessed is the one who embraces the opportunity of the now.
We are a community of laymen and laywomen who, with vowed Passionists, seek to share in the charism of St. Paul of the Cross through prayer, ongoing spiritual formation, and proclamation of the message of Christ Crucified.
