euphemos

Today, the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, we have the parable of two sons, so I want to say something to those who are parents.

When children are very small, things are simple. Difficult, but simple. We parents make mistakes. We are gentle when we should be stern, and stern when we should be gentle. The kids are mostly just along for the ride. You can’t mess up being a child – you are just a child. A child makes messes. A child speaks inappropriately. A child has tantrums and rebellions and stages. Those are all just part of growing.

When children get a little older, they begin to make mistakes of their own. They begin to sin. They become complicated.

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A

There are all sorts of ways to understand this parable of the generous landowner, but, really it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to us. Anyone who’s hired people knows you don’t pay someone the same if they worked all day or if they only worked for one hour at the end of the day when it is nice and cool. 

One thing’s for sure… but first, there are all sorts of ways to explain this parable. The church fathers said probably the best way to understand this is that the Jews were called first, and then later the gentiles, but we both receive the same salvation. So there’s your scholarly answer for the day…

But one thing’s for sure in this parable of the generous landowner. Everyone got the same thing, but nobody got what they expected.

XXV Domingo Ordinario Lectionary: 133

Hay todo tipo de formas de entender esta parábola, pero realmente no tiene mucho sentido para nosotros. Cualquiera que haya contratado gente sabe que no se le paga lo mismo a alguien si trabajaba todo el día o si solo trabajaba una hora al final del día, cuando es agradable y genial. 

Una cosa es segura … pero primero, hay todo tipo de formas de explicar esta parábola. Los padres de la iglesia dijeron que probablemente la mejor manera de entender esto es que los judíos fueron llamados primero, y luego los gentiles, pero ambos recibimos la misma salvación. Así que ahí está su respuesta académica del día …

Pero una cosa es segura en esta parábola. Todos obtuvieron lo mismo, pero nadie obtuvo lo que esperaban.