August 18, 2026
Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Mt 19:16–22

Today is Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time. The passage taken from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew presents to us a parable that Jesus spoke to His disciples. Let us reflect upon it.

In today’s Gospel at Holy Mass, we see a landowner who goes out to hire laborers for his vineyard. Jesus says: He went out to hire at dawn, at mid-morning, at the third hour, and at the eleventh hour. Now, who is this landowner? Clearly, Jesus Himself is that landowner. And what is this vineyard of which Jesus speaks? Evidently, this vineyard signifies the Church of God. Today, the master of the vineyard hires workers to labor in his vineyard (cf. Mt 20:1, 3, 5–7), and this brings to mind the vocation of each one of us.

I wish to speak about what many Christians understand by vocation and the reward they believe they ought to receive. Each of us, at different stages of life, receives God’s call. Some have received the sacrament of Baptism from birth. Others receive the sacraments of initiation in adulthood. When we come to the end of this earthly life and stand before God’s throne, those who received the sacraments of initiation from birth consider that God called them first, rather than those who received the sacraments of initiation in adulthood, and that they have done more to fulfill God’s holy will. Therefore, if God does not grant them a greater reward, they feel this is unjust. Likewise, those who received the sacraments of initiation in adulthood, if they see that God does not reward them according to His justice, will also feel unjustly treated. Their reason for deeming God unjust is that they follow the logic of this world—a logic which teaches that the more one gives, the more one receives.

Today, Jesus asks us not to view the gracious God according to the logic of this world, but to regard Him according to the logic of God’s Kingdom. God calls us out of love; He does so as He wills, by His own free will. We are called by the Lord at various stages of life, chosen because of God’s love, to act according to His divine will. And God will reward us according to all that we have done. For in God’s sight, we are all made in His own image; He always grants us the portion He knows is best. He will never treat us unjustly. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (cf. Mt 5:45).

O God, who have prepared for those who love you
good things which no eye can see,
fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love,
so that, loving you in all things and above all things,
we may attain your promises,
which surpass every human desire.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica