St Francis of Assisi once reminded his brothers that everything they possessed was a gift from God. For Francis, life was not something to possess or compare, but a gift to receive with gratitude. This beautifully echoes today’s Gospel. The workers who laboured from morning expected more than those who arrived at the last hour. But they the landowner gives each the agreed wage and asks: “Are you envious because I am generous?” This is the Economy of Grace.
In God’s economy, another person’s blessing does not diminish our own. Yet how easily we become prisoners of comparison. You may have graduated years ago, while someone younger is only graduating now. You may have started a business, career, marriage, ministry, or project years ago, while someone who came later appears to be moving ahead. Why are you envious of your neighbour’s success? Why are you troubled when another person is blessed? Why would you pray for your neighbour’s downfall simply because he or she is progressing?
The Gospel invites us to change our calculation. Franciscan spirituality teaches us to replace comparison with gratitude, competition with fraternity, and jealousy with praise. Perhaps you are still waiting for your own eleventh hour. Do not lose heart. God has not forgotten you. Today, Christ asks us to trust His generosity: I have received grace; therefore, I must rejoice when another is blessed. Amen.
Fr. Kingsley Nze
Director of Pastoral Affairs
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