Are you envious because I am generous? Am I not free to do as I wish with what is mine? The parable of the Workers in the Vineyard that we read about in today’s Gospel is among the parables of Jesus that we easily identify with because of how it speaks to our experience as creatures in relationship. It is a parable that Jesus intended to remind his listeners (as well as us) not only of how God’s ways are different from ours but also on how God relates to us. God’s relationship to us is characterized by justice tempered by compassion and kindness. Far from the ‘retributive’ God of the old dispensation, a God who punishes the sins of a father on the children (cf. Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9), Jesus presents to his listeners a God who is gracious and generous. The God of Jesus is a caring Father who goes out of his way to take care of the needs of his children without any discrimination. In the parable, the owner of the vineyard takes the initiative of going out to look for laborers to hire. While it would have been expected of him to stay home and wait for laborers to come to him, the owner of the vineyard himself goes out seeking the laborers. But the generosity of the vineyard’s owner doesn’t stop there. He continues to go out at different times during the day to make sure that no willing laborer is left un-hired. Not even the fact that those he found idle at the eleventh hour would work for only an hour deterred him from hiring them. He was more interested in them earning their livelihood than in the money he was to pay them or the amount of work they shall have done. His joy rested in the knowledge that those who were in need of being hired were not denied the opportunity. The compassionate generosity of the God of Jesus also extends to how he relates to his creatures. God is fair and just when it comes to dealing with our transgressions. God never ‘repays’ us according to our deeds (cf. Psalm 103:10). In the parable, the owner of the vineyard remains true to his word and pays all the laborers at the end of the day. While it can be argued that compared to how he treated the ‘latecomers’ he was not fair to those who labored in his vineyard for a whole day, his actions reveal a just and fair individual. He did not shortchange or cheat those who had worked for longer hours in his farm. He paid them the amount they had agreed upon. And as he clearly reminds them when they questioned his sense of justice and fairness, he reminds them that he is free to do as he wishes with his wealth. It was a response that might not have calmed their rage. But it serves to enlighten us about the justice of God. If we were to go by our human understanding of justice (rendering to one what rightly belongs to him/her), those who worked long hours should have been paid more than those who came at the last minute. Granted the owner of the vineyard was at freedom to do as he wished with his money, ‘fairness’ dictated that just as he was generous to the ‘latecomers,’ he should have also been generous to the ‘first-comers.’ Inasmuch as they had agreed on what they had to be paid, he was also at liberty to add a bonus to their agreed-upon- wage. However, God’s justice is different from human justice. God’s justice is not only fair; it is compassionate and merciful as well. As the Responsorial Psalm has put it, God’s justice is shown in his compassion toward all his works. To God, there are no favorites (cf. Acts 10:34). God treats alike those who call to him for all are his children.