In the Gospel of the Mass, the Lord compares Himself to a householder who goes out at different hours to hire laborers to work in his vineyard: at dawn, at the third, sixth, and ninth hours… With the first ones—those who were hired first—he agreed on a wage of one denarius. The rest were hired for whatever was fair. At the last hour, when the end of the workday was near, at the eleventh hour, the householder went out again and found others standing around doing nothing, and he asked them: *Why have you been standing here all day idle?* And they answered him: *Because no one has hired us.* So he sent them to work in his vineyard as well. The Lord wants to teach us a fundamental lesson: there is a call from God for all people.
Some receive Christ's invitation at the dawn of their lives, at a very early age, and a particular divine favor rests upon them for having been called so soon. Others receive it when they have already traveled a good portion of the way. And all of them under vastly different circumstances—those presented by the world in which we live. The denarius that everyone receives at the end of the day is eternal glory, the participation in the very life of God, in an endless happiness at the conclusion of life's workday, along with the incomparable joy, even here, of working for the Master, of spending one's life for Christ.
To work in the Lord's vineyard, at whatever age we find ourselves, is to collaborate with Christ in the Redemption of the world: by spreading His doctrine, in season and out of season; by facilitating the sacrament of Confession for others, perhaps by teaching them how to examine their conscience and explaining the great blessings that flow from this sacrament; by inviting others to follow Christ more closely through a life of prayer; by participating in catechesis or formation work; by contributing financially to create new apostolic tools; by turning someone away from a situation in which they might offend God, through timely advice or fraternal correction; by suggesting to a friend, with the necessary prudence and after persistently asking for light in prayer, the possibility of giving themselves more fully to God…
Whoever feels called to work in the Lord's vineyard must, in many different ways, "participate in the divine plan of salvation. They must journey toward salvation and help others so that they too may be saved. By helping others, they save themselves."
It would not be possible to follow Christ if at the same time we do not transmit the joyful news of His call to all people, "for whoever in this life seeks only their own self-interest has not entered the vineyard of the Lord." Those who work for Christ are those who "strive to win souls and hurry to bring others into the vineyard"—hurry, because the time of this life is short.
HCD