Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.
We are all grumblers. We have grumbled when our supervisors were mean lor when a lazy coworker was promoted before us.
The Israelites grumbled against God and Moses many times in the desert. They kept preferring to be live slaves in Egypt than dead free people in the desert. When things turned hard in the Promised Land because they had not done what they should have done, they grumbled to God in the bitter hardship.
Is it surprising that the workers in the parable grumbled at the landowner? Yes, they had borne the burden of the day’s heat. Yes, they had served faithfully, but those guys who came last got the same amount they did. It was not fair.
We are not told why there were idle workers at the eleventh hour, except that no one had hired them. We can guess at why they had not been hired, but we do not know. Let us assume that they had good reasons for not being hired.
All the workers needed the usual daily wage to take care of their families. Without the daily wage, their families would go hungry and other necessities would be lacking for another day. All the workers depended on the usual daily wage promised by the landowner. It meant life or death.
I need the usual daily wage. So do you. So does everyone in the world. Our life depends on God’s mercy and grace. Yet, years ago, when a famous actor became Catholic on his deathbed, many Catholics grumbled because they had struggled for lifetimes to be faithful while this famous person, despite his way of life, got into heaven free.
Yes, we grumble at God’s grace given to others. We forget, however, that we are what we are, not because of ourselves but because of God’s mercy. The landowner allowed each worker to return home with enough money to provide for the family another day. God allows each of us enough grace to provide for our needs.