Johannine Hours              Matthew 20:1-16              August 1997
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en
199708
August 1997
Matthew 20,1-16
John, known as Chrysostom, "golden mouth," lived for a few years as
a hermit before becoming a priest, then bishop of Constantinople,
at the end of the fourth century. In a meditation for the feast of
Easter, he invites everyone to be joyful, taking up the Gospel
parable:

Let those who live their faith, those who love the Lord, come to
taste the enchantment of this feast! Let the faithful servants
enter, full of gladness, into their master's joy. Let those who
have borne the weight of fasting come and receive their salary.

Those who began their work at the first hour will receive their
just wages today; those who came at the third hour will rejoice
with thanksgiving; those who will only arrive at the sixth hour can
approach without fear, they will not be deprived; if some have
lingered until the ninth hour, they can come without hesitation;
the workers of the eleventh hour will not suffer for their delay.

For the Lord is generous: he receives the last just as the first;
he grants rest to the workers of the eleventh hour just as to those
who began their work at dawn. He shows mercy to the last and fills
the first; he gives to the former without forgetting the latter; he
does not only consider the work, but already grasps the
intention...

Let no one lament their poverty: the Kingdom is open to all; let no
one weep over their sins: forgiveness has risen from the tomb; let
no one fear death: the Lord's death has freed us; he brought down
death when it kept him in chains.


How can we too enter into that joy, and realize that nothing in our
life is excluded from the joy of the Resurrection?
In what situations do I need to remember this forgiveness and this
liberation?


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