I still remember my outraged seventh grade self. We went to Mass as a family, and I had matured enough to really absorb the Gospel, this one, about the workers who all get paid the same no matter how long they worked. “How can this be?” I proclaimed to my parents. “It’s not fair!” All these years later I understand this Gospel’s message: God fills our needs, fills each person to their capacity. Our days may be different. Some live a long life in comfortable circumstances while others die young in poverty. Some have great health; others struggle with disabilities. Like the 5 p.m. day laborers in the Gospel, in our world today so many talented people can say “no one has hired us.” The laborer who gets to work all day is the lucky one, having a chance to make a difference for a longer time. We are not all the same, and so God adjusts the way he loves us to our differences. The Lord gives himself, the living wage of a relationship with him, to us all. It’s a gift that can’t be measured by fairness but only by fullness, completeness.
– Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia