Pope Leo xiv – General Audience
St. Peter’s Square – Wednesday, 4 June 2025
Cycle of Catechesis – Jubilee 2025. Jesus Christ our Hope. II.
The life of Jesus. The parables 8. The laborers in the vineyard. “
And he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard’” (Mt 20:4)
The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard
It can also calledThe Parable of the Generous Employer’
Matthew 20:1-7
The kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius[a] a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’
So they went. 5 Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.
And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’
“It is right that each person has what he needs to live”.
Pope Leo’s Catechesis:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I would like to revisit one of Jesus’ parables. Once again, it is a story that fosters our hope.
At times, we may feel that we cannot find meaning in our lives. We feel useless and inadequate, just like the laborers in this gospel, waiting in the marketplace for someone to hire them. But sometimes time passes, and life goes by, and we do not feel acknowledged or appreciated. Perhaps we did not arrive on time, others appeared before us, or we were held up by problems elsewhere.
The metaphor of the marketplace is also very relevant in our times too, because the market is the place of business, where, unfortunately even affection and dignity are bought and sold in an attempt to earn something.
And when we do not feel appreciated, acknowledged, we risk selling ourselves to the first bidder. Instead, the Lord reminds us that our life is worthy, and his wish is to help us discover this.
In the parable we are commenting on today, there are laborers awaiting someone who will hire them for the day. We see in Chapter 20 of the Gospel of Matthew, and here too we find a character whose behavior is unusual, who surprises and challenges us.
He is the owner of a vineyard comes out in person to find his laborers.
Evidently, he wants to establish a personal relationship with them.
As I was saying, This is a parable that gives hope, because it tells us that this landowner goes out several times to go and look for those who are waiting to give meaning to their lives.
The landowner goes out immediately at dawn and then, every three hours, he returns in search of workers to send to his vineyard. Following this schedule, after going out at three o’clock in the afternoon, there would be no reason to go out again, because the working day ended at six.
But his tireless master, who wants at all costs to give value to the life of every one of us, instead goes out at five.
The laborers who had remained in the marketplace were probably giving up all hope.
That day was coming to nothing! Nevertheless, someone still believed in them.
What point is there to take on laborers only for the last hour of the working day?
And yet, even when it seems we are able to do little in life, it is always worthwhile.
There is always the possibility of finding meaning in life, because God loves our life.
And the originality of this landowner is also seen at the end of the day, at pay time.
The master had agreed to pay the first workers, who go into the vineyard at dawn,
one denarius, which was a typical day’s wage.
He tells the others he will give them what is right.
And it is right here that the parable provokes us: what is right?
For the owner of the vineyard, that is, for God, it is right that each person has what he needs to live. He called the laborers personally, he knows their dignity, and on the basis of this, he wants to pay them, and he gives all of them one denarius.
The story says that the laborers from the first hour are disappointed.
They cannot see the beauty in the landowner’s gesture.
He was not being unjust, but simply generous.
He looked, not only at merit, but also at need.
God wants to give his Kingdom, that is, a full, eternal and happy life, to everyone!
And this is what Jesus does with us,
He does not establish rankings. He gives all of himself to those who open their hearts to him.
In the light of this parable, today’s Christian might be tempted to think, ‘Why start work immediately?
If the pay is the same, why work more?”
St. Augustine addresses these doubts, saying: ‘Why put off him who calls you, when you are certain of the reward but uncertain of the day? Take heed, then, lest perchance what he is to give you by promise, you take from yourself by delay”.
I would like to say, especially to the young, do not wait, but respond enthusiastically to the Lord who calls us to work in his vineyard.
Do not delay — roll up your sleeves, because the Lord is generous and you will not be disappointed! Working in his vineyard, you will find the answer to the profound question you carry within you: what is the meaning of my life?
Dear brothers and sisters, let us not be discouraged!
Even in life’s darkest moments, when time passes without giving us the answers we seek,
let us ask the Lord to come to us again and find us waiting for him.
He is generous and he will come soon!
Summary of the Holy Father’s words:
My dear brothers and sisters:
In our ongoing catechesis on the Jubilee theme of “Jesus Christ our Hope”, today we reflect on Jesus’ parable of the workers of the last hour. (Matthew 20:1-16).
The landowner who gives the same wage even to the workers of the eleventh hour is an image of God our Father, who constantly goes out to seek those who come to him.
His love and generosity abundantly rewards those who, however late, respond to his invitation to share in his kingdom of full and eternal life.
God never gives up on us; he is always ready to accept us and give meaning and hope to our lives, however hopeless our situation may seem and however insignificant our merits may appear.
May all of us, and especially our young people, be generous and enthusiastic in responding to his call to work in his vineyard!
