Commentary for Sunday

PREVIOUS SUNDAY

25th Sunday of Year A

September 24, 2003

FOLLOWING SUNDAY

25th Sunday – Cycle A

THEME OF READINGS: The Way of the Christian

Go to top

Brant
Pitre

Fr. Paul
Galetto
OSA

Fr. George
Corrigan
OFM

Fr. Kieran
O’Mahony
OSA

Fr. Francis
Martin

Catholic
Climate
Covenant

St. Charles
Borromeo
Notes

Brant Pitre

Mass Readings Explained

Mass Readings Explained

25th Sunday of Year A

Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

In Matthew 20, Jesus presents the bizarre parable of the workers in the vineyard, where the owner pays the same amount to those who worked for only about an ...

YouTube

MORE VIDEOS / TRANSCRIPT

Go to top

Brant
Pitre

Fr. Paul
Galetto
OSA

Fr. George
Corrigan
OFM

Fr. Kieran
O’Mahony
OSA

Fr. Francis
Martin

Catholic
Climate
Covenant

St. Charles
Borromeo
Notes

Fr. Paul
Galetto, OSA

Sunday Scriptures In Context

25th Sunday of Year A

FIRST READING

GOSPEL

Go to top

Brant
Pitre

Fr. Paul
Galetto
OSA

Fr. George
Corrigan
OFM

Fr. Kieran
O’Mahony
OSA

Fr. Francis
Martin

Catholic
Climate
Covenant

St. Charles
Borromeo
Notes

Fr. George Corrigan, OFM

RECENT | YEAR A

Sunday Commentary

25th Sunday of Year A

The Laborers
Caught in the Midst of Assumptions
The Complaints
What Can We Say

Commentary Sources

Go to top

Brant
Pitre

Fr. Paul
Galetto
OSA

Fr. George
Corrigan
OFM

Fr. Kieran
O’Mahony
OSA

Fr. Francis
Martin

Catholic
Climate
Covenant

St. Charles
Borromeo
Notes

Kieran J.
O’Mahony, OSA

INDEX

PDF & Video Commentary

25th Sunday of Year A

Sunday 25A20 (Matthew 20:1-16) the parable of the workers in the vineyard.

Commentary on Matthew 20:1-16, the Gospel for Sunday 25, Year A, in the Catholic lectionary. Written and presented by Kieran J. O'Mahony OSA. www.tarsus.ie

YouTube

Go to top

Brant
Pitre

Fr. Paul
Galetto
OSA

Fr. George
Corrigan
OFM

Fr. Kieran
O’Mahony
OSA

Fr. Francis
Martin

Catholic
Climate
Covenant

St. Charles
Borromeo
Notes

Fr. Francis Martin

The Word Proclaimed Institute

DAILY REFLECTIONS

VIDEO ARCHIVE (CYCLE A)

The Word Proclaimed Institute

25th Sunday of Year A

Go to top

Brant
Pitre

Fr. Paul
Galetto
OSA

Fr. George
Corrigan
OFM

Fr. Kieran
O’Mahony
OSA

Fr. Francis
Martin

Catholic
Climate
Covenant

St. Charles
Borromeo
Notes

Catholic Climate Covenant

INTEGRAL FAITH

INDEX

Catholic Climate Covenant

25th Sunday of Year A

The “Ecology of Daily Life” and the place of “Justice between the Generations” are two themes that Pope Francis addresses in Laudato Si’. He uses “big picture” thinking, taking into account the common good, as opposed to individuals or businesses looking out for themselves. The vineyard owner in the parable surely gained no personal benefit from paying a full day’s wage even to those hired in the last hours. However, in doing so he raised everyone up to the same level, the very nature of justice and equality.

Interventions which affect the urban or rural landscape should take into account how various elements combine to form a whole which is perceived by its inhabitants as a coherent and meaningful framework for their lives. Others will then no longer be seen as strangers, but as part of a “we” that all of us are working to create. (151)

Since the world has been given to us, we can no longer view reality in a purely utilitarian way, in which efficiency and productivity are entirely geared to our individual benefit. Intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us. (159)

Go to top

Brant
Pitre

Fr. Paul
Galetto
OSA

Fr. George
Corrigan
OFM

Fr. Kieran
O’Mahony
OSA

Fr. Francis
Martin

Catholic
Climate
Covenant

St. Charles
Borromeo
Notes

St. Charles Borromeo

INDEX

Parish Bible Study Notes

25th Sunday of Year A

The Jerome Biblical Commentary
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, and
The Navarre Bible,
Church History by Laux (TAN Books),
AND MORE

Catholic Bible Study

25th Sunday of Year A

Edrianne
Ezell

Study Guide

Our Sunday Readings

by Edrianne Ezell

Study Guide for September 24

Here’s a link to the Sunday readings for Sep. 24 (usccb.org). Sample Commentary on Matthew 20:1-16 This parable, unique to Matthew, is similar to the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). The …

OUR SUNDAY READINGS

Vince
Contreras

25th Sunday of Year A

Vince
Contreras

YEAR A

“Do you begrudge my generosity?”

FIRST READING

How does the 1st Reading underscore the fact that God works in his own ways beyond our ability to completely see or understand?

SECOND READING

In the 2nd Reading, does St. Paul presume to have God’s plans for his life figured out? What is his overall attitude toward God’s will and providence in his life?

GOSPEL

Why are identical wages given to both early and late workers? Who is discontented and why (verses 10-12)? Is the landowner’s practice unjust, generous, or both? Why?

Who gets any less from God: the “five o’clock” converts (Gentiles)? Or those who should have known God since “the first hour” (the Jews)?

If you were one of the first workers hired, how would you have reacted to the landowner?

How do you feel about recent converts getting the same benefits as you in the kingdom?

Would you say you entered God’s kingdom early, in the middle, or late in the day? Do youever wish you had entered later in your life, or felt jealous of others who waited until the “eleventh hour”?

DOWNLOAD PDF

SOURCE: SundayScriptureStudy.com

Matt
Zemanek

Matt
Zemanek

St. Timothy Catholic Church, Laguna Niguel, CA

AGAPE BIBLE STUDY

Michal
Hunt

CALENDAR

BIBLE STUDIES

God’s Generosity

25th Sunday of Year A

One of God’s many attributes is His generosity. He is unlimited in His acts that demonstrate His compassion, love, and mercy.

1st Reading

An Invitation to Grace

One of God’s many attributes is His generosity. He is unlimited in His acts that demonstrate His compassion, love, and mercy. In the time of the prophet Isaiah (8^th century BC), the children of Israel began to take God’s works on their behalf for granted and failed to be grateful for His many blessings. As a result, they did not produce the “good fruit” of righteousness, and in judgment for their wickedness, God punished His people for their sins. And yet, as Isaiah told the people in our First Reading, God is always ready to forgive the repentant sinner and to show His mercy. God is not like human beings who harbor resentment and fail to forgive past wrongs. God’s salvation is freely extended to His covenant people and to people of all nations who seek a relationship with Him, for He is both generous and merciful.

READ MORE

2nd Reading

Christian Conduct

In the Second Reading, St. Paul wrote that we must conduct ourselves in a manner that is worthy of Christ. Paul testified that he would remain faithful to Christ no matter what the circumstances of his life. Paul bravely professed that he would honor God whether he lives and continues his apostolic work of spreading the Gospel of salvation in a life that belongs to Christ through his Christian baptism, or if he is martyred and can bear his witness of Christ in his death.

READ MORE

Gospel

Instruction in Service to the Kingdom: Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

In today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus speaks about God’s generosity. He challenges the misconception of God’s gifts as merely a reward for services rendered in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. God calls professing Christians to serve as laborers in His vineyard that is Jesus’ Kingdom of the Church. God gives His Christian children the mission to share the Gospel message of salvation and to bear the fruits of righteousness that are a sign to others to come to faith and believe in the promises of our generous and merciful God.

Have you answered God’s call to labor in His vineyard? Do you acknowledge the Lord’s blessings, and are you thankful for His mercy and forgiveness in your life? We demonstrate our gratitude to our Lord and Savior in the willing labor of our Christian witness. It is our righteous actions as Christians, living in obedience to the teachings of Christ and His Church, that is a testimony of our devotion and gratitude for His generosity in calling us, and all people, to eternal salvation and an everlasting home with Him in Heaven.

In the Greek text, the owner of the vineyard has two titles. He is the “master of the house” in verse 1 and also the “lord of the vineyard” in verse 8. The master of the house/lord of the vineyard, the laborers, and the foreman who pays the promised wage for the laborers’ service are all symbolic images. The marketplace where the master hires the laborers, the wages and the hours are also symbolic. There are two possible interpretations for the hours when the master hired the workers. The key to this parable is that it is about the Kingdom that Jesus has come to proclaim. There are seven symbolic images in the parable:

vineyard = the Church, the kingdom of Heaven on earth/house of God
housemaster/lord of the vineyard = God
laborers = those who serve the kingdom/house of God in the Old and New Covenants or who come to serve the kingdom at different ages in a lifetime.
marketplace = the world
the foreman who pays the promised wage for service = Jesus
wage = salvation
hours = salvation history from Creation to the end of the Age of Humanity, or the lifetime of a person from birth to the end of life
the harvest = the ingathering of souls into Jesus’ Kingdom of the Church in preparation for the final harvest at the end of time

READ MORE

Fr. Geoffrey
Plant

Fr. Geoffrey
Plant

INDEX

Why be envious because I am generous? Homily for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.

God’s indiscriminate and abundant generosity is extended to everybody, even to those rejected, to the outcasts that nobody wants. It is amazing grace. Grac...

YouTube