September 20, 2026 – 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

+ From the Gospel according to Matthew (20:1–16)

At that time, Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. He agreed with them for a denarius a day and sent them into his vineyard. Going out again around nine in the morning, he saw others standing in the marketplace, unemployed, and said to them: ‘You go into the vineyard too; I will give you what is just.’ And they went. He went out again around noon and around three o’clock, and did the same. Going out once more around five o’clock, he saw others standing there and said to them: ‘Why are you standing here all day doing nothing?’ They answered him: ‘Because no one has hired us.’ And he said to them: ‘You go into the vineyard too.’
When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman: ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, starting with the last and ending with the first.’ Those hired at five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. When the first ones arrived, they thought they would receive more. But they too received a denarius each. Upon receiving it, however, they grumbled against the landowner, saying: ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, who bore the burden of the day and the heat.’
But the owner, answering one of them, said: ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go. But I want to give this last one the same as I give you: can I not do what I want with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first, last.”

The Word of the Lord