Well, the Gospel today raises some serious problems, I think. And I've often wondered if Caesar Chavez had a problem with that parable, because this vineyard owner has a very strange salary system and he justifies it with a philosophy that, well, is highly questionable. He says, I'm allowed to do as I please with my own money, am I not? On the face of it, that could be opening the door to injustice and exploitation.

But before we get too upset, let us remind ourselves that this Gospel is not a lecture on economics or labor relations; it's a parable. It's a made-up story to illustrate a very important theological teaching. And that theological point is very powerfully made in the reading that we had from Isaias today when he put these words in the mouth of God. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways," says the Lord.

Because this story does not say that the vineyard owner was unjust. Oh, no. It says that this owner was unusually generous. He's saying I can do what I want with my own money, not meaning I can be unjust if I want to be unjust, but I can do what I like with my own money, meaning I can be generous if I want to be generous. Don't sit in judgment on me. You know, you're speaking out of a mean-spirited way. I am a  generous person; give me credit for that. That's what he's saying.

And so what is this parable about? It's about the generosity of God. Jesus is telling us how God deals with you and with me. God is good. God is generous. There's not one of us that deserves heaven. Not even the greatest saints who ever lived deserved heaven. Certainly they and we have to work hard to live out our Christian life. That's a given. We cannot take the kingdom of God for granted. But above all that, we need God's grace. We need the graciousness of God. And that's a gift that we cannot earn.

We do of course have to be at least standing there in the marketplace ready for the call. And I think the perfect illustration of this parable can be seen any day outside Home Depot. You can go there any day you like and you'll see 20, 30 men standing there waiting to be hired. They are not lazy. They are not looking for a handout. They're willing to work. But it all depends on the graciousness of someone coming along and hiring them. And that's this Gospel. We should be ready to work, we should be ready to live the Christian life, we should be there in the marketplace waiting for the call. But it all depends on the graciousness of God, God's great gift of grace to us.

Let's be honest with ourselves. I think what gets under our skin about this parable is that the people who came last,  who only work one hour got the same wage as those who had been working from early morning. That doesn't sit well with us. We're inclined to say, Well, that's not fair. Even if it might be just, it's certainly not fair. At least that's the way we would judge it. And certainly that's the way we judge it if it's applied to the Christian life.

You know, we would find it very hard to accept that if the last words of let's say Hitler, or Stalin or the 9/11 hijackers, if their last words where, "My God, I am sincerely sorry for everything I've done. I love you with all my heart," if those were the last words, we would find it very hard to accept that they might be in heaven. We would say that's not fair, that's not just.

But let me ask you, who amongst us would want to be judged by God with really strict justice? Not me, for one. That's for sure. And I would certainly not vote for placing any limitation whatsoever on the goodness, and the mercy, the graciousness of our God. That's it. God is gracious: He gives grace, He gives gifts. Like this man in the Gospel, He can do what He likes with his money. What does He do? He gives it to us. He gives us what we need in order to get to heaven. And He does it out of the goodness, and the graciousness and the bounty of his loving heart.

The society that we live in is often ruled by certain little commonly-accepted axioms like: "You get what you  earn," "You get nothing for nothing," "There's no such thing as a free lunch," or, "A full day's wage for a full day's work." You know, we've heard those phrases. You might have used them yourself. But that is not the Gospel. The Gospel is saying the last shall be first and the first shall be last. The Gospel is always challenging us. It's always turning things upside down. God's ways are not our ways. That's the message of scripture.

The Gospel is always challenging us. It's urging us be perfect as your Heavily Father is perfect. What a huge challenge. Huge challenge. Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. That means that we are called. This is wonderful but difficult. We are called to be as generous, as open-hearted, as compassionate, as gracious as our God is to us. Huge challenge that we face.

And we depend on the goodness of the Lord and the graciousness of the Lord to help us to really strive after that to be perfect as our Heavily Father is perfect. As prophet Michael said, "We are called to do justice, to love goodness and to walk humbly with our God."

Well, if we are to be perfect, if we are to be holy as our Heavenly Father is holy, I would suggest that it's very, very important for us to have a good theological and scriptural foundation and be well rounded in the social teachings of our Church. And, therefore, I would highly recommend the movement -- and we have a branch of it within  our own parish -- the movement that's known as Just Faith that studies the Gospels, the traditions of the Gospels and social traditions of our Church.

And so I'm very pleased to invite a member of that movement to address us for a few minutes, Anita Johnson. Anita. Address on Just Faith by Anita Johnson

Good afternoon. My name is Anita Johnson. I'm part of a Just Faith program. I'd like to tell you about it so that you can decide if it would be helpful for you.

Last September I met an incredible group of people. We all share a common desire to put our faith into action. We wanted to understand how we could best live like Christians in this complicated world. Each of us was in a unique situation but all of us knew that we wanted to grow in our faith and to more fully act on our belief that Jesus wants the world to have more justice and more peace.

The Just Faith experience helped us understand the world better. More importantly, the experience helped us better understand the Gospel call to befriend the poor and the outcast. With this understanding, we could make careful decisions about how to live more purposefully. Because we had a strong group of friends to bounce ideas off of, our plan  stayed real. At the same time we were challenged to expect more from ourselves. At least that's how it worked with me.

We read some fascinating books, watched some thought-provoking videos, and had discussions with incredibly devoted people. We did a lot of thinking, and talking and reflecting, and of course we prayed. Just Faith includes opportunities to get to know people who are struggling.

At one of these events I met a young woman who had spent her childhood in foster homes, something like 25 different foster homes in 16 years, 25 different schools. As a teacher, I know how destructive and disruptive that kind of instability is. She faces a tremendous disadvantage now as a direct result. But I saw how a dedicated counselor at Catholic Charities is supporting her efforts to make a good life for herself. That to me is good news.

And I can be part of it. I am part of the solution. I'm part of the Church. One of the things we studied and explored was Catholic social teaching. I found it to be a wellspring of wisdom. It takes Christ's call to work for justice in the world and talks about how it can be applied to real life in modern times. I found the guidance it provided has helped me discern a direction for my life.

Just Faith is a place to meet other people who want to help, people who are responding to Jesus' call to build the  kingdom of heaven here on earth. Together we struggled with the confusion and frustration that beset all people who want to change the world. Because we struggled together and because we learned to turn to prayer, we remained hopeful and energized.

My prayer for each of you is that you receive the grace to determine if the Just Faith experience is for you, and if you think it is, that you have the courage and that you are able to make the time to participate.

There will be two groups starting this fall. One is a traditional Just Faith group. The other is shorter and is specifically about climate change, an environmental and economic problem that affects the poor and the outcast even more that it affects the rest of us.

If you have questions, we would love to talk with you at the table outside after mass. We will also have an information session Tuesday evening. Please come and stop by. Thank you.