Are we a generous people? Or are we an envious people? If we are a generous people then we should rejoice in the success and good fortune of others. The blessings that they receive reveal God’s goodness and generosity. If we are an envious people, then our hearts have become restricted and cold, so that it cannot rejoice in the good of others, much less, give to them. The envious person constantly compares himself or herself to others, forever worrying that somehow, somewhere, someone is receiving more than he or she.
In today's Gospel, the landowner is confronted by envious workers who accused him of being unfair because he made the last ones, who worked only one hour, equal to them, by giving all of them egual wages. But what is the real purpose of this parable? Its real purpose is to emphasise the truth that we have a God who is compassionate, merciful and generous. His actions go beyond the human understanding of fairness and justice. God gives us His blessings not because we merit them but they are absolutely His free gift to us.
So the question we need to ask ourselves is this: are we grateful for the many gifts that God has given us, and are willing to be generous and loving to others, just as God is to us? Or do we have envy and jealously in our hearts, always expecting to receive more and more, and yet reluctant or unwilling to give? May we learn to be like our loving God, ever so generous and loving to all.
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