“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.” Sometimes we experience things in life that seem to be strange or difficult to understand. Perhaps the gospel for this Sunday presents to us the normal way of thinking and the way of God. We opt for justice but God goes beyond justice. God goes beyond justice when he deals with humanity. He puts love at the center. We tend to calculate in giving the reward, but God gives out of his generosity. We tend to rationalize things with our minds, but God goes deeper into his heart in dealing with us and that is why difficult for us to understand God’s ways. But God’s ways and His thoughts are always for the best of all because He loves every person.
We can understand the complaints and fits of anger of the first workers in the vineyard. “These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.” We can understand their way of thinking, grumbling, and even their jealousy. And we too sometimes complain to God, angry at Him and we say life is unfair. But God wants us to be content with the blessings we receive every day. God wants us to be joyful when others also receive the same blessings.
Let us ponder this question: “Are you envious because I am generous?” Let us go deeper into our hearts and hopefully, we will taste the abundance of love of God towards us. Only a heart filled with love is able to celebrate when others receive blessings and suffer when others suffer.