Italy- Today’s Psalm, Psalm 144, prepares us for a “strange” Gospel: God is an “unjust” judge according to human criteria, because he rewards with the same wage both those who worked twelve hours in the vineyard and those who worked only one hour (Mt 20:1-16). “What kind of dubious employer is one who does not pay the same compensation for the same work, but gives the same wage even to the latecomers…? What kind of God is this?” (K. Berger).
- Faced with the grumbling of the first-hour workers, who see themselves paid the same as those who labored for only one hour, the Master retorts: “Are you envious because I am good?” (Mt 20:15). Yes, the central point is what God says of Himself: “I am good” (Mt 20:15): a goodness that surpasses all human justice. Indeed, “the master presents himself as an exceptional lord whose way of acting with his subjects goes beyond any legalistic relationship. Only God acts like the protagonist of the parable in his relationships with human beings, and in his wake Christ…, who treats Jews and Gentiles, the righteous and sinners of any era and origin with equal goodness. Magnanimous toward all, he is especially so toward the people of the street, tax collectors, prostitutes, and the most needy” (O. da Spinetoli).
- Just as Psalm 144 affirms: “8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love. 9 The Lord is good to all, and his tenderness extends over all creatures. The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds…. 14 The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you in hope, and you give them their food in due season. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 The Lord is just in all his ways and loving in all his deeds” (vv. 8-9, 14-17).
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Psalm XXV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
17 September 2026