Homily: 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time 

September 20, 2026

My dear brothers and sisters, in the gospel reading of today, we see again a similar message we have seen for two Sundays, Jesus continues to teach on Christian life and principles that will bring us very close to the heart of Christ. Two Sundays ago, Jesus’ message centered on the need for settling our differences with a Christian heart, last Sunday it was on the heart of forgiveness a Christian should posses and today a similar message continues, the heart with which a Christian should relate to God and his fellow Christian.

In this gospel, Jesus teaches with the parable of workers in a vineyard. In the relationship between the owner of this vineyard and his workers, one statement shines eternally; “you too go into my vineyard,” It never mattered whether you came by 6am or 9am or 12pm or 3pm or 5pm, what mattered for the landowner was that you get into the vineyard and sincerely commit yourself with the work of the Master. Brothers and sisters, we are called to hear the voice of God in the voice of this owner of the vineyard telling us, “You too go into my vineyard.” The vineyard of God is so great that each of us has something to do for God. Nobody should be idle; nobody should be a spectator in the Christian community.

This parable is a great encouragement to us that we should remove our whole attention from the rear mirror with which we see only the bad things in our past. What is important is that in our different ways and states of life, we commit ourselves to the work of God. It doesn’t really matter whether we have wasted so much time, many opportunities, whether we have really messed up in the past. God continues to give us ample opportunities to serve Him as good Christians. The good repentant thief crucified by the side of Jesus had of a horrible past, by the standard of justice alone, he should be damned. However, in line with Jesus’ message today, this thief focused on Jesus and the grace of God. He became preoccupied on how he could make amends and be a changed person and not on how bad his past was. This change of mindset fetched him a seat beside Jesus in the kingdom of God.

John Newton, an English sailor and slave ship captain in the year 1772, wrote the famous hymn “Amazing Grace.” This man had been a slave trader and had taken part in the most inhumane and cruel treatment of people. He called himself a wretch that deserved nothing but contempt and punishment but instead he found himself pardoned and raised to a position of trust and responsibility. He described it as an amazing grace, and he wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace” that is sung till today. When we sincerely commit ourselves to Jesus, we can see how amazing the grace of God can be. In line with the word of God in Philippians 4:13, we will see that we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us.

We can see that this amazing grace and love of God played out in this parable when the owner of the vineyard was writing the paycheck. The workers who first began work expected their Master to follow the principles of strict justice based on merit. By human standards of judgment, they might be considered correct in their reaction, but by divine standard, they were found wanting. They understood God as a business partner, an employer, a bookkeeper or accountant who computes hourly wages of employees based on merit, but our God is more a God of love and mercy than justice. We that are God’s children are all called to be like the God we serve. The first reading of today tells us: “for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Yes, the order of justice is fundamental, but it is not definitive. In the kingdom of heaven, justice is completed and surpassed by love. There is no full justice without love. We all are called to live out this heavenly ideal in our relationship with others.

Brothers and sisters, this parable should give us new hope and new courage. No matter the past or the challenging situation, let us align ourselves with God and be sincerely committed. The superabundance of the reward that God has for us will indeed be amazing. We should take to heart the words of the prophet Isaiah in today’s first reading: “seek the Lord while He may be found, call on Him while He is near (…) return to the Lord (…) for He will abundantly pardon.