St. Mary Parish, Manchester at 210 West Main Street, Manchester, MI 48158 US - This is the Vineyard
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In commenting on the parable in today’s Gospel (cf John Paul II, loc cit, 3), Pope John Paul II has written that the urgency of this call has increased since the days of the Second Vatican Council (cf Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et spes ). He emphatically states: This then, is the vineyard; this is the field in which the faithful are called to fulfil their mission. Jesus wants them, as he wants all his disciples, to be the ‘salt of the earth’ and the ‘light of the world’ (cf Matt 5:13-14).
The Lord is not interested in useless complaining which shows a lack of faith. Nor does he want us to have a negative or pessimistic outlook on the people and circumstances around us. This is the vineyard; this is the field where the Lord wants us to work, inserted into the middle of the world.
It is in our very own family and no other that we have to become saints. Likewise, it is in our job that we meet God and introduce others to him.
This is the vineyard. We must not wait for imaginary ‘better opportunities.’ We have the graces necessary to do an effective apostolate wherever we are.
This fact should be the basis for our optimism. God calls me and sends me forth as a labourer in his vineyard. He calls me and sends me forth to work for the coming of his Kingdom in history. This personal vocation and mission defines the dignity and the responsibility of each member of the lay faithful and makes up the focal point of the whole work of formation, whose purpose is the joyous and grateful recognition of this dignity and the faithful and generous living-out of this responsibility.
In fact, from eternity God has thought of us and has loved us as unique individuals. Every one of us he called by name, as the Good Shepherd ‘calls his sheep by name’ (John 10:3). However, only in the unfolding of the history of our lives and its events is the eternal plan of God revealed to each of us. Therefore, it is a gradual process; in a certain sense, one that happens day by day (John Paul II, loc cit, 58). God gives us special graces so that our circumstances can be an occasion for loving him more and doing a genuine apostolate.
In the Second Reading of today’s Mass, St Paul tells the Christians of Philippi: I am caught in this dilemma: I want to be gone and be with Christ, which would be very much the better, but for me to stay alive in this body is a more urgent need for your sake (Phil 1:20-24; 27). How great was Paul’s longing for Christ!
Paul writes from prison. He suffers because of people who out of jealously want to undermine his apostolic work. Nevertheless, all this does not take away his peace. He continues to work in the vineyard of the Lord with the means at his disposal.