In the Epistle for today St. Paul encourages us to put forth our best efforts so that we may be worthy of the reward. We must chastise our bodies, fast and abstain; we must put forth every effort to receive the crown of glory. Just as the athlete must mortify himself, practice, and strain every muscle in his body in order to win, so must every Catholic put forth a similar effort for the salvation of his soul.
The tepid and those who only put forth a half-hearted attempt are not worthy of the reward. God is most interested in our wills. What we earnestly desire and truly strive for is very important to God. Half-hearted efforts are not efforts at all. Things that are half-done are not done at all. Men are often deceived by the half-hearted efforts of others, but God will never be. We have been commanded by God to love Him with our entire being; not just half way, but all the way.
Everyone does not receive the same gifts and talents and therefore some will find it easier and others more difficult to reach the goal. Some will reach the goal sooner and others later. But, none of that is essential to the point at hand. God is most interested in seeing that we love Him to such an extent that we strive with every fiber in our being to reach Him. We must be consumed with a burning love for Him, and all else must fade in the comparison.
The Gospel for today shows us a similar idea in the hiring of the laborers for the vineyard. What is of importance is that the laborers put forth the labor. They worked to reach the goal. Everyone was paid the same, beginning from the last even to the first.
In the performance of our duties true humility forbids us from making the comparison of ourselves against our neighbors and seeking some kind of prideful vainglory in the comparison. Only God can truly judge another man's soul. Only He knows the efforts that were exerted. Only He knows whether a person is motivated by true love or by pride or some other passion.
Only those who worked were paid. But among all those who did work it must be obvious that some did more work than others. And likewise the labors of some were probably of greater value than others _ not because of quantity but because of quality. Yet, all received the same payment for their efforts. As long as they truly worked in the vineyard they were paid. No one was slighted because each received the just payment for a day's labor (regardless of how much or little of the day he worked.). God is interested in the fact that we work _ if we accomplish much or little in the eyes of the world is not important to Him. It is the intention or the will that He looks at.
When we see others (whom we perceive as less worthy) put on the same level as ourselves we think that we have been slighted. Our pride suggests that God is not fair.
If we were truly in love with God we would not see Him as unfair but as generous and good. If we were truly honest (humble) far from feeling slighted, we would see our own unworthiness and perceive ourselves (not others) to be the unworthy benefactors of God's benevolence.
We do not know the graces or the burdens that our fellow men have received or born and so we therefore have no true measure by which to compare him. We can get a glimpse of some of the graces that we have received if we examine our conscience, but then the poor use that we have made of these graces also appear before us.
Christ did not tell His disciples to pattern their lives after other men. He said: Learn of Me for I am meek and humble of heart; Take up your cross daily and come follow Me; etc.
Let us strive with every ounce of our being to be made worthy to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Do not look to the right or the left, and do not look back. These are temptations which can only harm us. Let us keep our eyes on the goal. Let us run the course and fight the good fight with all that we have. Even if we find that we are running to the goal alone and everyone else is running the wrong way, do not become distracted but look forward to the loving arms of God Who is reaching out for us.
Because in accordance with the words of the First Council of Orleans, some pious Christian congregations in the earliest ages of the Church, especially the clergy, began to fast 70 days before Easter, on this Sunday, which was therefore called “Septuagesima”—the 70th day. The same is the case with the Sundays following, which are called Sexagesima, Quinquagesima, Quadragesima, because some Christians commenced to fast 60 days, others 50, others 40 days before Easter, until finally, to make it properly uniform, Popes Gregory and Gelasius arranged that all Christians should fast 40 days before Easter, commencing with Ash Wednesday.