Pope John Paul II, commenting on this parable, invited us to look face to face with this world of ours with its concerns and hopes: a world - the Pontiff added - whose economic, social, political and cultural situations present more serious problems and difficulties than those described by the Second Vatican Council in one of its documents10. In any case," the Pope commented, "this is the vineyard, and this is the field in which the lay faithful are called to live out their mission. Jesus wants them, like all his disciples, to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (cf. Mt 5:13-14)".
Sterile complaints, which imply a lack of faith, are not pleasing to the Lord, nor even a negative and pessimistic sense of what surrounds us, whatever the circumstances in which our life unfolds. This is the vineyard, and this is the field where the Lord wants us to be, in the midst of this society, with its values and its deficiencies. It is in our own family -this and no other- where we have to sanctify ourselves and where we have to bring God, in the work that awaits us every day, in the University or in the Institute? That is the vineyard of the Lord where He wants us to work, without false excuses, without longing, without enlarging the difficulties, without waiting for better opportunities. To carry out this apostolate we have the necessary graces. And this is the basis of all our optimism. "God calls me and sends me as a laborer into his vineyard; he calls me and sends me to work for the coming of his Kingdom in history.
This vocation and personal mission defines the dignity and responsibility of each lay faithful and constitutes the fulcrum of the whole formative work (...). Indeed, God has thought of us from all eternity and has loved us as unique and unrepeatable persons, calling each of us by name, like the Good Shepherd who calls his sheep by name (Jn 10:3). But God's eternal plan is revealed to each of us only through the historical development of our life and its events, and therefore only gradually: in a certain sense, from day to day ". In every day we are called by God to carry out his plans of redemption; in every situation we receive effective supernatural help so that the circumstances around us can serve as a motive to love God more and to carry out a fruitful apostolate.
St. Paul, in the Second Reading of the Mass , writes to the Christians of Philippi: I find myself in this alternative: on the one hand I wish to go away to be with Christ, which is by far the best thing; but on the other hand, I see that it is more necessary for you to remain in this life. Such was his hope in Christ, such was his love for those first Christians whom he had brought to faith! Paul writes while imprisoned and suffering because of those who, out of rivalry, want to hinder his work. Nevertheless, this does not take away his peace and serenity, and he does not cease to continue working in the vineyard of the Lord with the means at his disposal. Let us reject pessimism and sadness if at times we do not obtain the results we had hoped for.
Hablar con Dios