The joy of being last instead of first

Good News ReflectionWednesday of the 20th Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 19, 2009
Today's Saint: John EudesPray for the spiritual formation of priests:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/JohnEudes.htm
Today's Readings:Judges 9:6-15Ps 21:2-7Matt 20:1-16http://www.usccb.org/nab/081909.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_19.mp3
The joy of being last instead of first
The landowner that Jesus describes in today's Gospel reading seems as unfair to us today as he seemed to the Jews who first heard this parable. We can better understand the point Jesus is making if we think of it in terms of parenthood. A loving mother cares about each of her children equally. Although she gives more attention to those who need it more, she loves the last born no less then the first born, even if she has a large household.
God the Father is like a vineyard owner who gives equally to all, regardless of how long anyone has worked in his service. Since we cannot earn our way into heaven, equal benefits are not an injustice to those who labored for his kingdom all of their lives.
Rather, God's been giving us complete and perfect love since the moment of our conception in our mother's womb. Although we've become aware of his goodness a lot sooner than those who only discover a relationship with him at the last minute, he has been loving them since the moment of their conception, too. He can do no less.
Early in life, we learned that we can get more approval from Mom or Dad if we get more A's on the report card or more trophies in sports than our siblings. Such competition affects us after we grow up. When God blesses us, we think: "I earned it!"
And when we feel unblessed because bad things happen to us, we think: "I'm not sure God loves me as much as he loves others. Why? Because I have to earn God's approval and no matter how hard I try, I'm just not good enough." And: "My prayer hasn't been answered yet because I haven't said enough Rosaries."But none of that is necessary with God. God is so generous in his love for us that we don't have to do anything to receive blessings from him. Well, actually, there is one thing we do have to do: We have to approach the vineyard owner with our hands open.
In God's vineyard, the last is put first, because the one who is last is the one who's not competing with others to earn first position. This is the person who knows that God's love is always available simply because God IS love. We don't have to climb any ladder of heavenly success; we're instantly on the top rung the moment we discover that God already loves us fully. The only reason we serve him and work hard for him, giving him our best, unwilling to be mediocre, is simply because we love him so very much.
What happens next is so awesome, it's saintly. We lose the selfishness that has kept us from putting others first. We find joy in helping our brothers and sisters receive the Father's assistance ahead of us, happily praying for them more than we pray for ourselves. And we get excited when the "lazy bums" in the family, the ones who've been rebelling against God all their lives, finally join the Christian workforce and benefit from God's love as much as we do.
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