All is Grace
A Nursing Home was celebrating its Thanksgiving Day. Before dinner, the Director invited the Senior Citizens to express their thanks as they gathered around the table. One by one they voiced out their thanks: one for good health, the other for the gift of family and still another for selfless care-givers.
One old little lady got the attention of everyone when she declared: “Lord, thank you for my two good teeth; one on the upper jaw and one on my lower jaw that match perfectly so I can still chew my food. Everything is grace from you even my last remaining teeth!”
The Gospel (Mt 20:1-16) reminds us that all is grace. Jesus’ parable points out God’s generosity. God is magnanimous – big hearted! For this reason, the prophet Isaiah in the First Reading (Is 55:6-9) proclaims that God’s ways is higher than our ways; His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
I would like stress three Reflections:
1. God is immensely different. God has a greater vision. He sees the bigger picture. He has immense understanding. For this reason, he tells us: Seek first the Kingdom of God.
2. God is extraordinarily generous. This parable reminds me of the prophet Jonah. God sent him to preach to the city of Nineveh. But he refused. He escapes from his calling because he felt God will be merciful to the Ninevites who are Israel’s fiercest enemy. True enough, when he preached to them, they repented to Jonah’s disappointment. But we cannot control the way God blesses others – even those we consider “not deserving.”
3. We should be grateful to Him because all is God’s grace.Magnanimity is God’s character. Hence, the challenge is for us to pass on God’s goodness and generosity to others. God encouraged the Israelites to be generous by reminding them of their roots. Once upon a time they were slaves in Egypt and at the mercy of their captors. Since we have the capacity to share, be generous intentionally. Indeed generosity is also a privilege.
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