August 20, 2025
Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church
Lectionary: 421
Reading 1
All the citizens of Shechem and all Beth-millo came together
and proceeded to make Abimelech king
by the terebinth at the memorial pillar in Shechem.
When this was reported to him,
Jotham went to the top of Mount Gerizim and, standing there,
cried out to them in a loud voice:
"Hear me, citizens of Shechem, that God may then hear you!
Once the trees went to anoint a king over themselves.
So they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.'
But the olive tree answered them, 'Must I give up my rich oil,
whereby men and gods are honored,
and go to wave over the trees?'
Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come; you reign over us!'
But the fig tree answered them,
'Must I give up my sweetness and my good fruit,
and go to wave over the trees?'
Then the trees said to the vine, 'Come you, and reign over us.'
But the vine answered them,
'Must I give up my wine that cheers gods and men,
and go to wave over the trees?'
Then all the trees said to the buckthorn, 'Come; you reign over us!'
But the buckthorn replied to the trees,
'If you wish to anoint me king over you in good faith,
come and take refuge in my shadow.
Otherwise, let fire come from the buckthorn
and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'"
Responsorial Psalm
R. (2a) Lord, in your strength the king is glad.
O LORD, in your strength the king is glad;
in your victory how greatly he rejoices!
You have granted him his heart's desire;
you refused not the wish of his lips.
R. Lord, in your strength the king is glad.
For you welcomed him with goodly blessings,
you placed on his head a crown of pure gold.
He asked life of you: you gave him
length of days forever and ever.
R. Lord, in your strength the king is glad.
Great is his glory in your victory;
majesty and splendor you conferred upon him.
You made him a blessing forever,
you gladdened him with the joy of your face.
R. Lord, in your strength the king is glad.
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/082025.cfm
Commentary on Judges
9:6-15
Today we have a rather unusual reading. Gideon is now gone
and, true to form, the people have relapsed once more into idolatry. Our
reading is taken from a section of Judges dealing with the reign of Abimelech
as king.
The story of Abimelech does not really belong in this book.
The only reason for his appearance is that he was the son of Gideon-Jerubbaal,
but he was not one of the judges, nor even a king of Israel. He is presented as
a highly disreputable character. He was the son of a Shechemite woman and was
made king of Shechem by the Canaanites as the result of intrigue and a show of
force on his part. His only exploits were the massacre of his brothers, his
struggles with the rebels of Shechem and his assault on the Israelite town of
Thebez, which ended ignominiously in his death.
The narrative is undoubtedly historical and throws light on
conditions of the period, the 14th century BC. Abimelech’s failure served the
author-editor’s belief that there could be no other king in Israel, but one
chosen by Yahweh. That would not happen until the appointment of Saul. As with
Rome at a later period, there was a strong anti-king feeling among the
Israelites and it is reflected in today’s reading.
As the reading opens we are told that:
…all the lords of Shechem and all Beth-millo came
together, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at
Shechem.
Shechem, as we saw before, is in the very middle of
Palestine, and at that time in the territory of Manasse. Beth-millo is probably
the same as the Migdal-Shechem mentioned later in the story (but not in our
reading). Millo is derived from a Hebrew verb meaning ‘to
fill’ and probably refers to the earthen fill used to erect a platform on which
walls and other large structures were built. Beth Millo then may mean
‘stronghold’ (see Judg 9:46).
News of the proclamation was brought to Jotham, Abimelech’s
youngest brother. He went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted at
the top of his voice. He was totally opposed to his brother becoming king and,
after making his speech, he will take flight to be beyond Abimelech’s reach.
Mount Gerizim will later be the mountain which, for the people of Samaria, will
become the rival to the Temple in Jerusalem. It is featured in the dialogue
that Jesus has with the Samaritan woman when she asks him which place is the
right one in which to worship God (see John 4:1-42).
What follows is known as Jotham’s fable. It is the earliest
example in the Bible of a fable using plants or animals to illustrate a human
moral. Later examples include the fable that Nathan told to David to make him
aware of his terrible combined sin of adultery and murder in connection with
Bathsheba (2 Sam 12:1-4) or the fable of King Jehoash about a thistle proposing
marriage to a Lebanon cedar (2 Kings 14:9). Ezekiel, too, uses a fable to speak
of how Nebuchadnezzar deported King Jehoiachin and put Zedekiah on the throne
instead.
As a literary form, it was found everywhere including
Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece. In Greece, one thinks of the fables of Aesop,
part of the literary lore of children up to our own day. The one that is told
here may have existed independently and was adapted by Jotham to express his
evaluation of Abimelech.
Jotham’s fable betrays a mistrust of the monarchy such as we
find in the period just before the choice of Saul as Israel’s first king (1 Sam
8). So here, olive, fig, and vine trees, of value for man, refuse kingship as
serving no useful purpose. They represent Gideon, who refused to be king or
found a dynasty. The thornbush, fruitless and noxious, accepts it and
represents Abimelech, a person entirely unsuited for the role.
The fable then follows:
The trees once went out to anoint a king over themselves.
As we mentioned, fables of this type, in which inanimate
objects speak and act, were popular among Eastern peoples of that time – and
indeed in our own, though now they may be more likely to take the form of a
Disney cartoon.
The fable continues:
So they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’
But the olive tree declined and answered them:
Shall I stop producing my rich oil by which gods and
mortals are honored and go to sway over the trees?
Oil was used in the worship both of the true God and of
false gods; it was prescribed in the worship of Yahweh. It was also used to
consecrate prophets, priests and kings. In speaking of Jesus as the ‘Christ’,
we are speaking of an anointing with oil. Christos means
‘anointed’ and hence that he is a King. The Hebrew equivalent is Messiah.
But in fact, Jesus was not anointed with oil; rather, he was baptised with
water by John the Baptist.
Back to the fable:
Then the trees said to the fig tree,
‘You come and reign over us.’
The fig tree replied:
Shall I stop producing my sweetness and my delicious
fruit and go to sway over the trees?
Then the trees said to the vine:
You come and reign over us.
The vine also declined:
Shall I stop producing my wine that cheers gods and
mortals and go to sway over the trees?
Wine was used in the libations both of the Temple of
Jerusalem and of pagan temples. But it was also commonly believed that the gods
participated in such human experiences as drinking wine (remember Bacchus—the
god of wine).
All in all, the olive tree, the fig tree and the vine were
all plants which produced fruit of great importance to the people of the Near
East. All are mentioned frequently in the Scriptures, including Gospels.
Lastly, the trees approached the thorn bush:
So all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign
over us.’
The bramble replied to the trees:
If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then
come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and
devour the cedars of Lebanon.
The cedars of Lebanon, the most valuable of all Near Eastern
trees, is here symbolic of the leading men of Shechem who are being warned of
the consequences if they do not show their loyalty to Abimelech, whom they have
made king.
The ‘bramble’ is probably the well-known buckthorn, a
scraggly bush common in the hills of Palestine and a constant menace to farming
there. It produced nothing of value and was an apt figure to represent
Abimelech. In offering shade to the trees, the thornbush symbolised the
traditional role of kings as protectors of their subjects, but there is an
element of sarcasm in such a plant offering shade to other trees all much
taller than itself. There seems to be an implication that the protection of kings,
especially Abimelech, is no better than the thornbush.
Overall, the story reflects Israel’s distaste for monarchy
at this time. It implies that the most valuable and productive people are not
interested in being kings. Instead the role is taken by the utterly useless
brambles (symbolic of Abimelech).
We too can sometimes avoid taking on responsibilities
because we are reluctant to give up something we like doing. As a result, the
task may have to be done by people who are incapable or unsuitable. On the
other hand, we may have ambition for some role for which we are not suited and
which frustrates the use of the real gifts we have. Discernment is often needed
to discover whether we are really in the place that God wants us to be or
whether we are making good use of the talents he has given us.
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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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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1204g/
Wednesday,
August 20, 2025
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 auditors 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 auditors. 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 laborers. “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:
(a)
the landowner himself goes out personally five
times to contract workers.
(b)
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.
(c)
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:
(a)
The landowner was not unjust, because he acts
according to what he had agreed with the first group of workers: one denarius a
day.
(b)
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.
(c)
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.
(d)
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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