Memorial of Saint Pius X, Pope

Lectionary: 421

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?’

 

Before Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891) the Church’s official teaching about labor echoed the attitudes of the landowner in this parable. The worker should be grateful for whatever pay he is given; and the employer should be generous. Because Jesus taught, “you always have the poor with you.” the wealthy should give to the poor as God gives to them.

Few people conceived of a world without poverty. Notions of a better life for everyone, with universal education, health care, leisure and upward mobility simply didn’t exist in the mind of the church. Those things might happen in utopia, but they will occur only in heaven.

With his encyclical, Pope Leo asserted the worker’s right to receive a living wage. He based his teaching on the long established principle of ownership and property. If the farmer has the right to eat his own crops and provide for his family from there, the industrial worker should also enjoy the fruit of his labor. He should be paid a just wage, not a charitable stipend.

With that being said, we can turn our attention back to the teaching of this parable. It is not about labor/management relations; it is about attitudes within the Communion of the Saints.

First we notice that the landowner is not you or me. I don’t own the church. Although I am a “cradle catholic” I have no privilege over those who joined yesterday. Although I or my ancestors sacrificed to build this parish church, I welcome anyone who will join the church and I want to hear what they have to say, in whatever language they speak. If they can learn English I can learn Spanish, or at least I can try to sing these Spanish songs. (In the last few years, when we gather to celebrate our provincial liturgies, we friars usually sing several Spanish hymns.)

Secondly, we notice the landowner explained his policy to “one of them.” His speech is a literary device which Saint Matthew uses to instruct us, the congregation who hear the gospel. The landowner does not go on the defensive, explaining himself to the angry mob. He doesn’t owe them even an explanation.

That refusal to explain himself throws into sharper relief the message of the parable, God’s gracious generosity. He owes nothing but gives everything. His mercy and his justice are pure unearned, unmerited generosity. When I suppose that God owes me something because I work hard and keep my nose clean, I lose sight of God’s Goodness.

This parable may stir up an argument but its intent is to silence the arguer. We should contemplate God’s goodness, not quibble about it. This truth about God is too large to explain or defend; it must be apprehended in prayer. With Saint Francis we sing about it, “You are all good, supreme good, totally good.”