August 19, 2026
Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 421
Reading 1
The word of the Lord came to me:
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,
in these words prophesy to them to the shepherds:
Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the shepherds of Israel
who have been pasturing themselves!
Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep?
You have fed off their milk, worn their wool,
and slaughtered the fatlings,
but the sheep you have not pastured.
You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick
nor bind up the injured.
You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost,
but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally.
So they were scattered for the lack of a shepherd,
and became food for all the wild beasts.
My sheep were scattered
and wandered over all the mountains and high hills;
my sheep were scattered over the whole earth,
with no one to look after them or to search for them.
Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
As I live, says the Lord GOD,
because my sheep have been given over to pillage,
and because my sheep have become food for every wild beast,
for lack of a shepherd;
because my shepherds did not look after my sheep,
but pastured themselves and did not pasture my sheep;
because of this, shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I swear I am coming against these shepherds.
I will claim my sheep from them
and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep
so that they may no longer pasture themselves.
I will save my sheep,
that they may no longer be food for their mouths.
For thus says the Lord GOD:
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I
shall want.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Only goodness and kindness will follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern the reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,
he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o'clock,
he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard,
and I will give you what is just.'
So they went off.
And he went out again around noon,
and around three o'clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o'clock,
he found others standing around, and said to them,
'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.'
He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.'
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
'Summon the laborers and give them their pay,
beginning with the last and ending with the first.'
When those who had started about five o'clock came,
each received the usual daily wage.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,
but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
'These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day's burden and the heat.'
He said to one of them in reply,
'My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?'
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081926.cfm
Commentary on
Ezekiel 34:1-11
This is a powerful passage whose meaning extends far beyond
those to whom it was originally addressed. The Jerusalem Bible comments:
The image of the king-shepherd is deeply rooted in Eastern
literary tradition. Jeremiah used it of the kings of Israel to rebuke their
slackness in office and to proclaim that God would give his people new
shepherds who would pasture them with integrity and from these shepherds would
come a ‘Branch’, i.e., the Messiah. Ezekiel takes up the theme from Jeremiah,
later to be resumed in Zechariah. For their wickedness he rebukes the
shepherds, here the kings and lay leaders of the people. Yahweh will take from
them the flock they have ill-treated and himself become the shepherd of his
people. This is, in effect, the proclamation of a theocracy [as existed before the
era of the kings] and, in point of fact, the monarchy was not restored after
the return from exile. But the time was to come when Yahweh would give his
people a shepherd of his own choice, another David. The terms in which this
prince’s reign is described and the name ‘David’ by which he is called suggest
a messianic age in which God himself, by means of his Messiah, rules his people
in justice and peace.
In this text of Ezekiel we discern the outline of the
parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7), but more especially of the allegory of
the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-18), which by virtue of its original context here
is seen to be a claim to messiahship on the part of Jesus. The Good Shepherd is
later to become one of the earliest themes of Christian iconography. (edited
citation)
Today’s reading confines itself to an attack on “the
shepherds” of Israel. Later on, the prophet describes Yahweh himself as a very
different kind of shepherd altogether in images which are later taken up by
Jesus in the Gospels.
By “shepherds” here the prophet primarily is pointing a
finger at the rulers of the people, although prophets and priests are also
included. At that time, there was no real division between secular and
religious rule.
The image of the king as shepherd was common throughout that
part of the world. In an earlier chapter, Ezekiel had singled out the princes,
priests and prophets for special rebuke (chap 22). David, of course, had been a
shepherd when he was chosen and anointed as king and successor to Saul.
The principal accusation is that the shepherds spend their
energies on looking after themselves and neglecting the needs of their sheep.
They have enjoyed the milk of the sheep, dressed themselves in their wool and
sanctimoniously offered them in religious sacrifices. Of course, sheep are
raised precisely for their meat, milk and wool. The crime here was the
mistreatment of their people (their ‘sheep’). The rulers and leaders totally
neglected the needs of the sheep. They did not feed them and especially they did
nothing to care for the weak and the sick and wounded.
They made no effort to go in search of those who had strayed
or were lost. Says Jeremiah:
My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led
them astray, turning them away on the mountains…
(Jer 50:6)
In the Gospel, Jesus will tell the parable of a God who, as
a shepherd, will leave the whole flock and go in search of just one sheep which
is lost (Luke 15:4).
Even worse, the sheep were treated with cruelty. The result
was that the sheep became scattered far and wide and became the prey of wild
animals. This refers to Israel‘s exile and dispersion and their suffering from
hostile foreign nations:
…my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth,
with no one to search or seek for them.
In view of such a situation, what will the Lord do? He will
do two things. First, he will call his shepherds to account. They pastured
themselves, but not their sheep, so the sheep will be separated from them. They
will no longer be shepherds and no longer be in a position to exploit the sheep
for their own benefit.
Second, the prophet says God himself will become their
shepherd:
For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my
sheep and will sort them out.
A passage like this gives all of us matter for reflection.
It can be applied both to our secular rulers and our religious leaders. In our
day there are still too many ‘shepherd-leaders’ who live lives of corrupt
luxury while their people wallow in poverty and disease.
So too in the Church, there has been a history of the
leadership abusing its position, so that service was replaced by power,
simplicity by material comfort, and vocation by privilege. While the more
blatant forms of abuse have, thankfully, disappeared, there can still be abuse
of power and privilege, and a pattern of being served rather than serving.
And to what extent has the leadership in some areas failed
to reach out to those on the edge, to those who have scattered and strayed far
from the Church? There have been too many unfortunate examples of shepherds
covering over the heinous wrongdoings of some who were entrusted with
shepherding.
We might also ask what proportion of the Church’s energies
and concerns are concentrated on the already converted, on maintenance rather
than on mission? Here we can include not only bishops, priests and religious,
but all Christians who regard themselves as ‘practising’.
‘Shepherding’ is the responsibility of all who are entrusted
with the care of others—parents, teachers, medical personnel, social workers—in
other words, most of us, in one way or another.
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Commentary on
Matthew 20:1-16
Today we have another parable of the Kingdom. And it is not
unrelated to the previous story of the rich man. At a first reading we might be
strongly inclined to side with the grumblers in the parable. After all, it did
not seem at all fair that those who only worked for one hour should get exactly
the same as those who had worked from early in the morning and through the heat
of the day.
Even though all had agreed to work for a stipulated amount,
still in all fairness and decency, one feels that the early comers should have
been given more, or the latecomers less. However, if we find ourselves agreeing
with this, then it shows that our thoughts are human thoughts and not God’s. A
little further reflection will make us feel grateful that God works like the
employer in the vineyard.
The story seems, as often happens in the Gospel, to reflect
the situation of the early Church. The first Christians were all Jews. Before
their conversion they had been trying to live according to the requirements of
their Jewish faith. They belonged to a people who had thousands of years of
religious history; they were God’s own people. Then, Gentiles began to be
admitted into the community. Some of these people probably came from totally
pagan environments. They may have lived very immoral lives and yet, once
accepted and baptised, they enjoyed all the privileges of the community.
Somehow, it did not seem right.
But this is the justice of God which we need to learn.
Without exception, he gives his love—all of his love—to all those who open
their hearts to it. It does not matter whether that happens early or late. One
reason for that is because God’s love can never be earned, only accepted. And,
as the previous story indicated, the genuine needs of all should be met. The
fact that the latecomers were only employed at the last hour does not make
their needs any less than those who came earlier. God’s justice is measured by
our needs, not by mathematical divisions.
What each of the workers received was a symbol of the love
of God, who is the vineyard owner. All—early arrivals and latecomers—got
exactly the same, the love of their Master and Lord. There are not various
degrees of that love. It is always 100 percent. God is Love; he cannot not love
and he cannot not love totally. He cannot and will not give
more of that love to one than another.
This is indeed something we should be grateful for. Because
it can happen—perhaps it has already happened—that I move away from God and his
love; I may move very far. But I know that at whatever time I turn back to him,
even if it be the 11th hour, he is waiting with open arms. Thank heavens for
the justice of God!
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Wednesday,
August 19, 2026
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
God our Father,
may we love you in all things and
above all things and reach the joy you have prepared for us beyond all our
imagining.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 20: 1-16
Jesus said to his disciples: 'Now the
kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for
his vineyard. He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day and
sent them to his vineyard. Going out at about the third hour he saw others
standing idle in the marketplace and said to them, "You go to my vineyard
too and I will give you a fair wage." So, they went. At about the sixth
hour and again at about the ninth hour, he went out and did the same. Then at
about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing around, and he
said to them, "Why have you been standing here idle all day?"
"Because no one has hired us," they answered.
He said to them, "You go into my vineyard too."
In the evening,
the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff, "Call the workers and pay
them their wages, starting with the last arrivals and ending with the
first." So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward
and received one denarius each. When the first came, they expected to get more,
but they too received one denarius each. They took it, but grumbled at the
landowner saying, "The men who came last have done only one hour, and you
have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day's work in all
the heat." He answered one of them and said, "My friend, I am not
being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? Take your earnings and
go. I choose to pay the last comer as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do
what I like with my own?
Why should you be envious because I am generous?"
Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.'
Reflection
Today’s Gospel
presents a parable which is found only in Matthew’s Gospel. It is not in the
other Gospels. Like in all parables, Jesus tells a story about daily elements,
daily things of the life of the people. He presents a picture of the social
situation of his time, in which the listeners recognize themselves. But, at the
same time, in the story of this parable, there are things which never take
place in the reality of the life of the people. And this, because speaking
about the master, Jesus thinks about God, about his Father. And this is why in
the story of the parable; the master does things which are surprising which
never take place in the daily life of the listeners. But, in this strange
attitude of the master, it is necessary to find the key to understand the
message of the parable.
•
Matthew 20: 1-7: The five times that the
landowner goes out to look for labourers. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a
landowner going out at daybreak
to hire workers for his vineyard. He
made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day and sent them to his
vineyard”. This is how the story begins and it speaks for itself and does not
need too many comments. In what follows, the landowner goes out four times to
call other workers to go and work in his vineyard. Jesus refers to the terrible
lack of work at that time. Now some details of the story:
•
The landowner himself goes out personally five
times to contract workers.
•
When he contracts the workers, he fixes the
salary only for the first group: one denarius a day. To those of nine o’clock
in the morning he says: I will give you what is just, fair. With the others, he
does not fix anything. He contracted them only to work in the vineyard.
•
At the end of the day, when it was the time to
pay the workers, the landowners orders the administrator to carry out this
service.
•
Matthew 20: 8-10: The strange way of fixing the
accounts at the end of the day. When it was evening, the landowner of the
vineyard told his administrator: Call the workers and pay them, beginning from
the last ones to the first ones. Here, at the time of drawing the accounts,
something strange takes place, which does not happen in normal life. It seems
that things are inverted. The administrator begins to pay those who were
contracted just an hour before. The salary is the same for all: one denarius as
it was agreed with the first ones who were contracted at the beginning of the
day. When the first came, they expected to get more but they too received one
denarius each. Why does the landowner act like that? Would you do the same? It
is precisely in this surprising gesture of the landowner that the key of
understanding this parable is hidden.
•
Matthew 20: 11-12: The normal reaction of the
workers before the strange attitude of the landowner. The last ones also
receive their salary as those who were contracted first. The story says that
these began to grumble against the landowner and said: “The men who came last
have done only one hour and you have treated them the same as us, though we
have done a heavy day’s work in all the heat”. This is the normal reaction of a
good sense. I think that all of us would have had the same reaction and would
have said the same thing to the landowner. Would we have not?
•
Matthew 20: 13-16: The surprising explanation of
the landowner who gives the key of the parable. The response of the landowner
is the following: “My friend, I am not being unjust to you. Did we not agree on
one denarius? Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the last comer as much
as I pay you; have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why should you be
envious because I am generous?” These words give the key which explains the
attitude of the landowner and indicates the message which Jesus wants to
communicate to us:
•
The landowner was not unjust, because he acts
according to what he had agreed with the first group of workers: one denarius a
day.
•
It is the sovereign decision of the landowner to
give to the last ones the same amount that he had agreed upon with those of the
first hour. These do not have the right to complain and claim anything.
•
Acting with justice, the landowner has the right
to do the good that he wants with the things that belong to him. The worker, on
his part has this same right.
•
The last question touches on the central point:
Why should you be envious because I am generous? God is different and his
thoughts are not our thoughts (Is 55: 8-9).
•
The background of the parable is the
circumstance of the time, for Jesus as well as for Matthew. The workers of the
first hour are the Jewish People, called by God to work in his vineyard. They
bear the weight of the day, from Abraham to Moses, for over one thousand years.
Now at the eleventh hour, Jesus calls the pagans, the gentiles to work in his
vineyard and they succeed in having the preference in the heart of God. “Thus,
the first ones will be last and the last will be first.”
Personal Questions
•
Those of the eleventh hour arrive, they have
advantages and receive priority in regard to entrance into the Kingdom of God.
When you wait in line for two hours, and a person arrives, and without saying
anything she places herself before you. Would you accept this? Can these two
situations be compared?
•
God’s action surpasses our calculations and our
human way of acting. He surprises us and sometimes is uncomfortable. Has this
happened to you in your life? What lessons have you drawn from this?
Concluding Prayer
Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life. I
make my home in the house of Yahweh for all time to come. (Ps 23: 6)
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