(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
Parables should be easily understood by the original hearers. It is vintage time. The grapes are ripe, even at their peak and tomorrow will be too late. It is necessary to get the grapes in immediately.
Recall the normal living for the day laborer was one day at a time, and no work meant no food for that day. It was very important to be hired early in the morning. With the importance of harvesting, it was necessary for to keep recruiting laborers throughout the day. So vital was the work that the owner promised everyone a day’s wage for their work.
So, the harvest came in by the end of the day, the goal was achieved and the grapes in. It was time to pay each worker. Without the full day’s wage, a worker could not feed his family for that day. What would we do in a similar situation? The owner chose generosity and gave each worker the day’s wage.
There is no thought of tomorrow, of how many laborers the owner would find bright and early the next day. This is it. The kingdom of heaven has come. The owner is generous. There is no tomorrow because the kingdom, once it arrives, is here forever.
In first century Palestine, the common people, who depended on the daily wage, would understand the parable and its implications in their lives. If we live the kingdom of heaven in our lives, generosity will mark our dealings. In fact, generosity is the fruit of justice and justice is the fruit of charity.
How, then, do we show or not show the presence of the kingdom of heaven in our lives?