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(Is.55:6-9;\xa0\xa0 Ps.145:2-3,8-9,17-18;\xa0\xa0 Phil.1:20-24,27;\xa0\xa0 Mt.20:1-16) \xa0 \u201cYou too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.\u201d \xa0 Our readings today reveal that the Lord is near, merciful, and just, and that these three qualities are one in God.\xa0 For the Lord\u2019s justice is shown in His mercy, and His mercy in His nearness to us.\xa0 And so we should \u201cpraise [His] name forever.\u201d Isaiah conveys to us that the Lord\u2019s thoughts and ways are \u201cas high as the heavens are above the earth\u201d with respect to our own thoughts and our own ways.\xa0 As David proclaims, \u201cHis greatness is unsearchable.\u201d\xa0 But the prophet also encourages the faithful to \u201cseek the Lord while He may be found, [to] call Him while He is near\u201d; and the king declares, \u201cThe Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.\u201d\xa0 And is not the closeness of our great God \u2013 made most evident in the presence of Jesus among us \u2013 illustrated in the Lord\u2019s parable?\xa0 Does not the landowner go out at all times of day to draw laborers into his vineyard?\xa0 Even to the final hour He invites us into His kingdom, coming to us always with the hope of making us fruitful workers upon His land. And why does the Lord remain so near?\xa0 Why does He call to us so incessantly?\xa0 Is it not because He is so \u201cgenerous and merciful,\u201d because He is \u201cgood to all and compassionate toward all His works\u201d?\xa0 Is it not that we should turn from our idleness and the wickedness of our thoughts and ways that He ventures into the marketplace to find us?\xa0 Does Jesus not come to redeem us from this world of sin?\xa0 And should we not therefore \u201cturn to the Lord for mercy, to our God who is generous in forgiving,\u201d whose calling us to work in His vineyard is more that He should be able to give us all we need than that we might labor for Him?\xa0 And is His mercy not proven by His form of justice?\xa0 For does He not give all a full day\u2019s pay, even those with Him but an hour?\xa0 Do not all who come to His kingdom know the blessings He pours forth?\xa0 This is His way, this is His justice \u2013 the way of mercy and love.\xa0 And it is by this love He remains so near us who may now proclaim with Paul: \u201cChrist will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death,\u201d for His love is inseparable from us who believe, who have entered into His vineyard and share in His blood. And should we not be merciful as He?\xa0 Should His justice not become our own?\xa0 We should not be as those servants who \u201cgrumbled against the landowner\u201d for His generosity, courting envy in our hearts, but allow the Lord to be \u201cfree to do as [He] wish[es] with [His] own money.\u201d\xa0 Should we not wish the same joy upon all souls as we ourselves have been blessed to know?\xa0 Though we may have had to bear \u201cthe day\u2019s burden and the heat,\u201d should this limit our generosity to others who have come late?\xa0 We should rather with our Lord desire all to enter His vineyard, to be close to us, that all might receive the benefit of His merciful justice.\xa0 We should thank Him that His ways are not our own, for then never would He have come near to us, and empty and idle we would be standing still. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Stumblebum" from Cleansing Human Frailty, fourth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, how our envy would kill us \u2013 let us rejoice in your mercy toward all, counting ourselves blessed to do your will.\xa0 YHWH, truly you are generous in forgiving, gracious and merciful to all, coming even at the eleventh hour to save us from our sin and share with us all the blessings of your kingdom.\xa0 Let us set to work for you this day, this hour, rejoicing always that we might labor for you. O LORD, we thank you that your ways are far above our ways, for where we would condemn, you would forgive, and so we would ourselves be condemned without your mercy.\xa0 It is indeed your desire to save all souls and we need but turn our desire to you to find you present to us.\xa0 Help us to leave the ways of this world behind and follow in the way of your Son, embracing the Cross as though it held all treasure for us, as if it is the greatest gift you give\u2026 as if it were the way to Heaven, which it is. O LORD, why should we complain against your generosity, your mercy?\xa0 Should we not rather seek to be like you?\xa0 Then we would share in all the riches of your kingdom with nothing to keep us from praising your Name.