Today’s Gospel is about vineyard workers who were given the opportunity to work extra hours and other vineyard workers who worked a smaller shift. The vineyard workers who worked longer got upset about being paid the same as the vineyard workers who worked for less time.
Jesus is teaching a very important lesson in the Gospel about how people should not do good deeds and live life seeking a reward. I can apply this Gospel to my life because I am preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation. During this preparation, my classmates and I have to complete service opportunities. I can do as many service hours as I want, but if I were to expect an extra reward for doing a lot of hours, like the vineyard workers did, then I would be defeating the purpose of doing service. In the end I would be doing less service than someone who only did an hour because I would be doing it out of greed.
Jesus wanted to teach us the lesson that you can do all the work you want, but you need to do it without wanting something in return. Only then would you get the reward of happiness. If you do good deeds out of greed then you will end up mad like the vineyard workers.
