23 August 2023 - Only By Grace Reflections

NOTE: Please click the Subscribe key on YouTube and press the black notification bell to receive the daily reflections. Or, open in YouTube for easy access. View and Like. Thank you. TOPIC: ARE THERE TIMES WHEN I SELFISHLY CONSIDER MYSELF MORE DESERVING THAN OTHERS?   First Reading: Judges 9: 6-15 Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 21: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7 Alleluia: Hebrews 4: 12 Gospel: Matthew 20: 1-16 In today's Gospel reading, we hear the parable of the landowner who sent for laborers to work at different times of the day so that those who were hired in the morning worked for longer hours than the ones hired much later in the day.     At evening, the foreman was told to pay the laborers but to “begin with the last one hired and end with the first laborer who was hired”. The laborers who were hired late in the day and thus worked for only a short amount of time were very pleased and surprised. The laborers who had been hired in the morning were outraged when they received the same wage as the rest of the workers. They had labored all day long and they had worked many more hours than the men who were paid the same wage for only a couple of hours of work.     Most of us would conclude that the parable seems to provide a criteria that many of us may conclude as unfit to our concept of fairness. But Jesus challenges us to step beyond the recognized norms that we have.  If the landowner chose to be generous and paid each of his laborers a full day’s wage, regardless of whether they worked eight full hours or only thirty minutes, shouldn’t this be his choice to make? God is fair and generous and gifted all of us with abundant blessings. We do not have the right to judge Him nor anyone He chose to bless with His fairness and generosity.  Our response should always be of gratitude for everything He has done for us, foremost of which is the salvation we have acquired for dying for us on the cross.     May we be set free from anxious thoughts that cause us to be jealous of others and be given the grace to control jealous emotions when they arise.    This is the 1216th installment of our CFC contemplation series focusing on the daily liturgical readings. [NOTE: As we continue to pray for Bro Bong Arjonillo’s healing and recovery, let us listen to our brother Raymond Bucu, CFC Gateway Evangelization Head, as he brings us today's reflection. All the regular reflections are between 3-7 minutes long, enough time for us to ponder what God's message is for us individually and to pray that we may live them out in our lives. This video is also available on Couples for Christ’s Facebook page. In You Tube, just type ONLY BY GRACE REFLECTIONS] #OnlyByGraceReflections #CFC #CouplesForChrist