“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all” (Tit. 2:11) Christ’s message of salvation is available to everyone. It is not meant for one particular group of people, religion, nation, or race. All of us are equally worthy of it. Salvation is not our merit; it is the sheer mercy of God. God chose the people of Israel as his own to become a channel of God’s mercy to all the other nations. Anyhow, they could not grow out of a narrow mindset and accept others as heirs of salvation designed by God. The gospel passage of the day presents to us this exclusive mentality through the parable of the labourers in the vineyard. The owner of the vineyard comes out in the given interval, and when he comes out, he sees labourers standing outside idle. The owner could have easily avoided them. However, he allows them to come into the vineyard for the work with the agreement of one denarius. Similarly, he brings in people at noon, the third hour, and the fifth hour with the same agreement of one denarius. At the end of the day, the owner gives one denarius to the one who came in the first hour, and another one came in the fifth hour as per the agreement. Nevertheless, those who came for work in the early hours disagreed with the decision of the owner of the vineyard, claiming that they worked all day and that their hard work was equated with that of those who came in the late hours and worked for only an hour.
When we think from a human perspective, the revolt of those who came early appears to be just one. Anyhow, we need to keep in mind that they all agreed on one denarius. This parable reveals our own salvation history. The Lord is the owner of the vineyard. The workers chosen in the first hour denote the people of Israel. They were chosen as God’s own people not because of their merit but because of the sheer mercy and grace of the Lord. God chose first the people of Israel so that they would become channels of God’s salvation to all. However, they got into the mentality of exclusivism and considered others as gentiles. They did not have any relationship with the gentile world because, according to them, they were all condemned to doom. Jesus came to share the eternal life once we lost it because of our sins. Now, his meritorious sacrifice will make not only the Israelites but the entire humanity worthy of it. However, the Israelites could not digest Jesus reaching out to the so-called outcasts within the community, such as tax collectors, prostitutes, etc. Similarly, we see Jesus reaching out to the Samaritan woman, the Zero-Phoenician woman, etc. In fact, they all represent the workers who came to the vineyard later in the day. However, self-righteous leaders of Jesus’ time could not digest his acquaintance with them because of their exclusive mentality that these outcasts were not worthy to be saved. Jesus wants them to understand that eternal life is no one’s personal merit. It is freely given. Salvation is open to all. It is not limited by the barriers of culture, religion, etc. In the first reading taken from the prophet Isiah, we read: “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion for him and for our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways, my ways, declare the Lord.”( Is. 55:7-9)
As we reflect on this gospel passage, let us examine and see: do we have exclusive thinking and a self-righteous mentality that would make us think that we are worthy of salvation through our own merit? Do we entertain the thought that only Catholics will be saved? We are called to welcome all. Let us grow into the mindset of Christ and be the channels of his mercy, helping everyone to experience the salvation that Jesus is.