A Curious Standard:
The Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2026
September 20, 2026
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Isaiah 55:6-9; Psalm 145; Philippians 1:20-27; Matthew 20:1-16
This Gospel is certainly challenging because God’s justice is larger than our sense of fairness. Our human justice tells us that it is unfair to give the late arrivers the same reward as those who toiled long and hard already. We build laws around such matters so that equality is built into our practices rather than a sense of equity. We get incensed when someone gets something free when we have earned all that we have achieved through sweat and toil. These matters split people into different political parties. We did things the right way; others should put in the same effort as we did. We hear the same with immigration. When someone is seeking asylum because their lives are endangered, we say, “They should apply for citizenship the way that we did. We did it the right way. They should not get a free pass, or it they do, what do I get?” We fall into the trap: If we compare, we despair.
Notice that the landowner did not cheat anyone. His generosity did not diminish what the first laborers received. We make comparison because our human justice is about limited resources, but this landowner tells us that his generosity is without limits. God does not become less generous to me because God is being generous to you. We think that equality is God’s way, but what God gives to each person is equitable, equity not equality. Instead, God asks us to consider, “What does love require?” In this case, the workers are not cheated because they have been cheated. They are angry because someone else has been treated generously, and we might not understand that someone else’s blessing does not mean we have lost something.
The question moves away from justice when we frame it in a new way. God’s actions are about restoring life. God may know that someone needs to eat or provide for one’s family. God is telling the person that they deserve to eat tonight. Our justice tells us that the other person has not made right choices and is therefore hungry. God's justice is not about rewarding achievement and punishing wrongdoing. God seeks to put things right—to restore people to dignity, relationship, community, and life.
Our hearts are big enough to think like God. We can ask ourselves if we can rejoice because God is generous to others. We have to learn to participate in God’s generosity. God’s generosity is about giving people what they need to be fully alive in restored dignity. Can I allow God to be generous even when that generosity does not seem fair to me? Does a blessing for someone who is different from me make me feel uncomfortable? Does someone receive forgiveness that I do not think is deserved? These are questions that Jesus puts before us in this parable.
When we come to the Eucharistic table, we presume that we are all the same, that we all think alike and share the same values. We stand before our God who is ready to feed us. Some have been here for a long time; others are newer; some receive more than they deserve; still more have wandered and are now returning. We do not know each person’s story but we do know that God will feed each one according to what is needed. When we come to the Eucharistic table, we all receive the same Christ. Let him be generous. Celebrate and rejoice. He alone is enough for us.
Scripture for Daily Mass
Monday: (Ephesians 4) I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace
Tuesday: (Proverbs 21) Like a stream is the king’s heart in the hand of the LORD;
wherever it pleases him, he directs it. All the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes,
but it is the LORD who proves hearts.
Wednesday: (Proverbs 30) Two things I ask of you, deny them not to me before I die:
Put falsehood and lying far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; provide me only with the food I need
Thursday (Ecclesiastes 1) Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun? One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays.
Friday (Ecclesiastes 3) There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every thing under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build.
Saturday (Ecclesiastes 11) Rejoice, O young man, while you are young and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart, the vision of your eyes; Yet understand that as regards all this God will bring you to judgment.
Gospel:
Monday: (Matthew 9) As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
Tuesday: (Luke 8) The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.”
Wednesday (Luke 9) Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority
over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God
and to heal the sick. He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic.
Thursday (Luke 9) Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, “John has been raised from the dead”;
others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”; still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.”
Friday (Luke 9) Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”
Saturday (Luke 9) While they were all amazed at his every deed, Jesus said to his disciples, “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” But they did not understand this saying.
Saints of the Week
September 20: Andrew Kim Taegon, priest, martyr, Paul Hasang, martyr, and companion martyrs (19th century),were Korean martyrs that began to flourish in the early 1800’s. The church leadership was almost entirely lay-run. In 1836, Parisian missionaries secretly entered the country and Christians began to encounter hostility and persecutions. Over 10,000 Christians were killed. Taegon was the first native-born priest while the rest were 101 lay Christians.
September 21: Matthew, evangelist and Apostle (first century), may be two different people, but we have not historical data on either man. Since Matthew relies heavily upon Mark’s Gospel, it is unlikely that the evangelist is one of the Twelve Apostles. The Apostle appears in a list of the Twelve and in Matthew’s Gospel he is called a tax collector. The Evangelist is writing to Jewish-Christians who are urged to embrace their Jewish heritage and to participate in their mission to the Gentiles. To Matthew, Jesus is the fulfillment of the hopes of Jews and the inaugurator of a new way to relate to God.
September 22: Tomas Sitjar, S.J. and the martyrs of Valencia (1866-1936), were killed in the Spanish Civil War just a week after the war broke out. Sitjar was the Rector of Gandia and was formerly the novice director and metaphysics professor. The Jesuit Order was suppressed at the beginning of the war, which sent the men to disperse into apartments, but since they were known to the community, they were sought out, imprisoned, and later executed because of their belief in God.
September 23: Pio of Pietrelcina, priest (1887-1968) was affectionately named Padre Pio and was a Capuchin priest who received the stigmata (wounds of Christ) just as Francis of Assisi did. He founded a hospital and became the spiritual advisor to many at a monastery at San Giovanni Rotondo.
September 26: Cosmas and Damian, martyrs (d. 287), were twins who became doctors. They were noted because they never charged anyone a medical fee. They died in the Diocletian persecution. Great miracles have been attributed to them and the Emperor Justinian is claimed to be healed through their intercession.
This Week in Jesuit History
- September 20, 1990. The first-ever Congregation of Provincials met at Loyola, Spain, on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the approval of the Society and 500th anniversary of the birth of St Ignatius.
- September 21, 1557. At Salamanca, Melchior Cano wrote to Charles V's confessor, accusing the Jesuits of being heretics in disguise.
- September 22, 1774. The death of Pope Clement XIV, worn out with suffering and grief because of the suppression of the Society. False stories had been circulated that he was poisoned by the Jesuits.
- September 23, 1869. Woodstock College of the Sacred Heart opened. With 17 priests, 44 scholastics, and 16 brothers it was the largest Jesuit community in the United States at the time.
- September 24, 1566. The first Jesuits entered the continental United States at Florida. Pedro Martinez and others, while attempting to land, were driven back by the natives, and forced to make for the island of Tatacuran. He was killed there three weeks later.
- September 25, 1617. The death of Francisco Suarez. He wrote 24 volumes on philosophy and theology. As a novice he was found to be very dull, but one of his directors suggested that he ask our Lady's help. He subsequently became a person of prodigious talent.
- September 26, 1605. At Rome, Pope Paul V orally declared St Aloysius to be one of the "Blessed." The official brief appeared on October 19.



