(20.09.2026) 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The joy of belonging, the deep human need to feel wanted, and God's generous love that values dignity over productivity.

1. Introduction: The Deep Human Need to Belong

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Every human heart carries a quiet, persistent question throughout life: Am I wanted? Do I have a place here, and does my presence truly matter?

Today's Gospel parable of the laborers in the vineyard speaks directly to this longing. We often read Matthew 20 as a lesson on economic fairness or divine grace, but at its heart, it is a story about belonging. It addresses the painful ache of standing on the outside looking in, and it reveals a God whose heart is constantly searching for those who feel forgotten, unneeded, or left behind.

2. An Illustrative Story: The Gift of Feeling Needed

There is a touching story of a priest visiting an old age home who noticed an elderly resident sitting near the main door every morning. Rain or shine, the man arrived on time to welcome guests and open the entrance, taking his small duty very seriously.

When asked why an elderly resident was given this responsibility instead of simply being allowed to rest, the director replied: Father, the work itself is not the important thing. When we give them something to do, they feel that they are still wanted. If we take everything away from them, some begin to feel that they are useless.

We live in an increasingly consumeristic world that measures human value strictly by productivity, wealth, and speed. When a person can no longer produce, earn, or accomplish as much as before, society subtly treats them as though their worth has decreased. But the human heart needs something far deeper than mere usefulness; it needs acceptance and love.

 3. The Pain of Not Being Chosen and the Generosity of God

In today's Gospel, the landowner goes out at five in the afternoon and finds people still standing idle in the marketplace. He asks them: Why do you stand here idle all day? Their answer is heartbreaking in its simplicity: Because no one has hired us.

Behind those words lies more than just the economic worry of a lost daily wage; there is the quiet pain of not being chosen. Everyone else had found a place, but they were still standing outside as unwanted.

In the Old Testament, we see this same emotional ache in the story of Hannah. In the First Book of Samuel, Hannah grieves deeply because she cannot have a child. Her husband Elkanah looks at her sorrow and asks: Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons? He could not remove her burden, but he wanted her to know that she was already precious and valued in his eyes.

God speaks this same truth to each of us through the prophet Isaiah: I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Before we can do anything or produce anything for God, we are already loved and wanted.

4. Catholic Teaching and the Wisdom of  Saints

The Church teaches that every human being possesses an inherent dignity given by God, independent of their worldly output or success. When we feel unchosen by the world, the lives of the saints show us that we are deeply chosen by God.

Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez:

Saint Alphonsus was a widowed, broken man who lost his wife and children and experienced commercial failure in his trade. Feeling useless to the world, he joined the Jesuits late in life as a simple lay brother and was assigned to be the doorkeeper at a college in Majorca. Society saw him as an elderly man with no special talents, fit only to open doors. Yet for forty-six years, every time the door bell rang, he would look at the door and say in his heart: I am coming, Lord! He treated every unwanted visitor, student, and beggar who knocked as if they were Christ Himself. Alphonsus proved that no role is small when done with love, and that being a welcoming presence is one of the highest vocations.

Saint Germaine Cousin:

Born in France with a deformed hand and a painful disease, Germaine was treated as useless and unwanted by her family. Her stepmother forced her to sleep under the stairs on a bed of vine branches and sent her out to tend sheep in the fields all day to keep her away from the family. Society saw no value in her. Yet Germaine knew she belonged to God. In the fields, she gathered other poor, abandoned children, sharing her meager crusts of bread and telling them: God loves you, and you are precious to Him. Her life reminds us that even when the world leaves us standing in the marketplace unhired and unloved, God considers us His treasure.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church:

 * CCC 1934 reminds us that created in the image of the one God and endowed with an equal rational soul, all men have an equal dignity.

 * CCC 2447 reminds us that spiritual works of mercy include comforting the afflicted and bearing wrongs patiently, ensuring that those on the margins feel the warmth of Christ's body.

5. Practical Applications for Daily Life

How can we build families and parish communities where everyone knows they have a valued place?

 * Consult and Include the Elderly: A daughter-in-law asking her mother-in-law for cooking advice, or a son asking his retired father for his opinion on a decision, gives them something priceless: a valued place in our lives.

 * Validate Worth Beyond Productivity: Remind retired family members, sick relatives, and resting religious that their dignity comes from who they are in God's eyes, not from what they accomplish.

 * Celebrate the Inclusion of Others: Reject comparison and spiritual jealousy. When someone else receives an opportunity, praise, or responsibility, choose to rejoice with them rather than feeling diminished.

 * Speak Words of Welcome: Make a conscious effort to tell those who feel sidelined: We are happy that you are here, and your presence matters to us.

 6. Self-Reflection and Conclusion

As we prepare to receive the Holy Eucharist today, let us quietly ask ourselves:

 1. Is there someone in my family, workplace, or parish who feels unneeded, ignored, or left out?

 2. Do I measure my own worth or the worth of others by productivity rather than God-given dignity?

 3. Am I able to rejoice when God extends His generous love and mercy to those who arrived last?

My dear friends, at this holy altar, Jesus invites all of us to His table whether we arrived at the first hour or the eleventh hour. No one here is an extra; no one here is unneeded.

May we leave this Mass filled with the peace of knowing we are deeply wanted by God, and sent out into the world to make others feel loved, valued, and welcome.

Amen.