Today’s gospel story of the laborers in the vineyard is a brilliant exposition of the all-too-human tendency to envy and even resent another’s good fortune. Who among us hasn’t experienced the feeling at some time or another?

God’s ways are not our ways. God’s thoughts are not like ours. You can say that again—and Isaiah does, insisting that the divine perspective is as up, up, and away from ours as heaven is from Earth.

It was a hot summer day, and the family had spent the afternoon at the swimming pool and then made a quick trip to the grocery store. It was time to get home and prepare dinner.

Everyone loves an underdog—in sports, politics, historical battles—but it’s usually when that person is involved in some kind of heated competition. What about the average guy who just beats back difficult life circumstances and comes out ahead?

Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

Our sins are nothing but a grain of sand alongside the great mountain of the mercy of God.