Sunday, September 18, 2011 (Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
The Holy Rosary is the storehouse of countless blessings.
-- Blessed Alan de la Roche

READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: Isaiah 55:6-9
6 Turn to the Lord and pray to him, now that he is near.
7 Let the wicked leave their way of life and change their way of thinking. Let them turn to the Lord, our God; he is merciful and quick to forgive.
8 “My thoughts,” says the Lord, “are not like yours, and my ways are different from yours.
9 As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways and thoughts above yours.

Psalms:  Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18
2 Every day I will thank you; I will praise you forever and ever.
3 The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; his greatness is beyond understanding. 
8 The Lord is loving and merciful, slow to become angry and full of constant love.
9 He is good to everyone and has compassion on all he made. 
17 The Lord is righteous in all he does, merciful in all his acts.
18 He is near to those who call to him, who call to him with sincerity.

Second Reading: Philippians 1:20-24, 27
20 My deep desire and hope is that I shall never fail in my duty, but that at all times, and especially right now, I shall be full of courage, so that with my whole being I shall bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.
21 For what is life? To me, it is Christ. Death, then, will bring more.
22 But if by continuing to live I can do more worthwhile work, then I am not sure which I should choose.
23 I am pulled in two directions. I want very much to leave this life and be with Christ, which is a far better thing;
24 but for your sake it is much more important that I remain alive. 
27 Now, the important thing is that your way of life should be as the gospel of Christ requires, so that, whether or not I am able to go and see you, I will hear that you are standing firm with one common purpose and that with only one desire you are fighting together for the faith of the gospel.

Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16(The Workers in the Vineyard)
1 “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a man who went out early in the morning to hire some men to work in his vineyard.
2 He agreed to pay them the regular wage, a silver coin a day, and sent them to work in his vineyard. 3 He went out again to the marketplace at nine o'clock and saw some men standing there doing nothing,
4 so he told them, ‘You also go and work in the vineyard, and I will pay you a fair wage.’
5 So they went. Then at twelve o'clock and again at three o'clock he did the same thing.
6 It was nearly five o'clock when he went to the marketplace and saw some other men still standing there. ‘Why are you wasting the whole day here doing nothing?’ he asked them.
7 ‘No one hired us,’ they answered. ‘Well, then, you go and work in the vineyard,’ he told them.
8 “When evening came, the owner told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with those who were hired last and ending with those who were hired first.’
9 The men who had begun to work at five o'clock were paid a silver coin each.
10 So when the men who were the first to be hired came to be paid, they thought they would get more; but they too were given a silver coin each.
11 They took their money and started grumbling against the employer.
12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘while we put up with a whole day's work in the hot sun—yet you paid them the same as you paid us!’
13 ‘Listen, friend,’ the owner answered one of them, ‘I have not cheated you. After all, you agreed to do a day's work for one silver coin.
14 Now take your pay and go home. I want to give this man who was hired last as much as I gave you. 15 Don't I have the right to do as I wish with my own money? Or are you jealous because I am generous?’”
16 And Jesus concluded, “So those who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last.”