In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, the Master pays the last group first (Mt 20:8). His purpose in paying them first, as it is so often, is to teach the earliest group, His long-time disciples, more about His mercy. Their responses showed that, although they worked obediently and sacrificially for the Master, they still hadn't grasped and embraced the depth and richness of the Master's mercy. They failed the mercy quiz. They were watching the Master's money rather than the Master's mercy. "Thereupon they complained" rather than rejoiced (Mt 20:11).
Here's another mercy quiz:
What difficult circumstance is the Lord using to teach you mercy? We modern disciples can also miss the lesson and fail the mercy quiz. Fix your eyes on the mercy of Jesus.
| PRAYER: | Father, may I be like You: "rich in mercy" (Eph 2:4). |
| PROMISE: | "Thus says the Lord God: I Myself will look after and tend My sheep." –Ez 34:11 |
| PRAISE: | St. Bernard often humbled himself before God in prayer, which fueled his life of bringing reform and reconciliation. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College