Dear St. Raphael Parishioners,
         
Laborers in the Vineyard:  The owner of the vineyard in today’s parable acts in mysterious ways. Why does he pay a full day’s wage to men who only worked one hour?  Even more, he pays the late workers first.  The laborers who worked the whole day see how much the others are getting and resent it.  If the landowner had discreetly paid the workers in the order they were hired, maybe nobody would have noticed.  The full-day workers would have taken their pay and gone home already.  But instead, the owner flaunts his extreme generosity in front of all the workers.  How strange!
 
Notice also that the owner has no naïve hopes for the last group of workers.  He asked them “Why are you standing idle all day?”, which at least hints that they are not the most ambitious men he has met!  But this owner also tells the full-day workers that he is not cheating them, an opinion they did not agree with.  What exactly is going on with this unpredictable vineyard owner?  Obviously, Jesus is not telling us how to run a business with this parable.
 
What happens when we compare ourselves with others?  Are we better off or worse off than they are?  Have we been given more blessings, more talent, more good fortune, or less?  One of the hardest things parents have to teach their children is that life does not always seem fair, in the sense of everyone getting exactly equal treatment.  Some people are born into wealth, and some into poverty.  Jesus made clear that the amount of money we have, even if we earned it, is not all-important. 
 
We believe God gives us what we need, in order to reach the most important goal.  That goal is for each of us to spend eternity with Him.  The gifts that God gives us to reach this goal are what we call grace.  God gave us all saving grace when Jesus died for us on the cross.  But in other ways, God sends grace to us each day, whether we notice or not.  And while it may not always seem like something we want, this kind of grace is how God keeps us in His saving plan.
 
Mass of Remembrance:   The annual Mass of Remembrance for departed parishioners was this Saturday morning.  Members of our Altar and Rosary Sodality attended to pray for the departed and their families who mourn them.  I am working on plans for a special evening meeting for parishioners grieving the loss of a loved one.  It may be considered a “grief support group”.
 
Archdiocesan Day of Renewal:  Fr. Matthew and three members of our Ad Hoc Committee will attend a special Archdiocesan event this Monday in Rosemont.  This Archdiocesan “Day of Renewal” aims to help parishes meet the challenges we face in evangelizing a world such as we live in.
 
God bless us all,
 
Fr. Matthew