25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 20 September 2020

DAILY MEDITATION: ISAIAH 55:6-9

My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways. (Isaiah 55:8)

There’s no doubt about it—there are times when we just can’t understand why God doesn’t see things our way. Why doesn’t he just give us the job we want or the healing we are asking for or the reconciliation we long for? It would make so much sense, Lord, just to do what I’m asking.

But we also know that, in this life at least, we won’t always understand God’s ways. They are as far above us as the heavens are to the earth (Isaiah 55:9).

Today’s Gospel illustrates this point exactly. Who would pay the same wage to the laborer who arrived early and the one who arrived an hour before quitting time? Only God can be so generous as to want to care equally for all those who come to him, whether they arrive early or come much later.

And that’s why we can be thankful that God’s ways are so far above our own. Look at how the Lord cared for his chosen people over the centuries. Even though there were many occasions when he could have abandoned them, he never did, no matter how far they had strayed. They only had to seek him to find mercy (Isaiah 55:6-7).

Each week at Mass, we are privileged to witness God’s mercy in action, when he transforms ordinary bread and wine into Jesus’ Body and Blood. What a God we have, who loves us so much that he gives us not only his mercy but his very self in the Eucharist! This is so much beyond anything we could ever expect or imagine.

Yes, God’s ways are above our ways. He gives his love and mercy without measure, without cost, to anyone who comes to him. Early bird or latecomer, sinner or saint—all are welcome. As we are nourished by Jesus in the Eucharist, may our ways grow to become ever more like his.

“Father, I praise you for your mercy, which knows no bounds!”

Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18
Philippians 1:20-24, 27
Matthew 20:1-16

Source: Word Among Us