First Reading

Reading from the prophecy of Ezekiel

Ezekiel 34, 1-11

In those days, the Lord spoke to me and said: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel and say to them: ‘This is what the Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who feed themselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? But you take their milk, clothe yourselves with their wool, slaughter the fattest sheep and do not feed the flock. You do not strengthen the weak sheep, heal the sick, or care for the injured. You do not bring back the strays or search for the lost, but you rule them with cruelty and violence.

My sheep have been scattered for lack of a shepherd and have become prey to all the wild animals. My flock wanders everywhere, through the mountains and hills; my flock is scattered over the whole surface of the earth and there is no one who cares for it, no one who seeks it’.

Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ‘My flock has been exposed to plunder and has become prey to all the wild animals for lack of a shepherd, for my shepherds do not care for my flock; they feed themselves and do not feed my flock’.

Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ‘As surely as I live: I will confront the shepherds to demand my sheep from them and remove them from their position. The shepherds will no longer feed themselves. I will snatch my sheep from their mouths and they will not eat them again’. This is what the Lord says: ‘I myself will search for my sheep and care for them’ ”.

Gospel

Reading from the holy gospel according to Saint Matthew

Matthew 20, 1-16

At that time, Jesus told his disciples this parable: «The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who, at dawn, went out to hire workers for his vineyard. After agreeing to pay them a denarius a day, he sent them to his vineyard. He went out again in mid-morning, saw some standing idle in the marketplace and said to them: ‘You also go to my vineyard and I will pay you whatever is right’. He went out again at noon and in mid-afternoon and did the same.

Finally, he also went out at evening and found others still standing in the marketplace and said to them: ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’ They answered him: ‘Because no one has hired us’. He said to them: ‘You also go to my vineyard’.

At evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman: ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones until you reach the first’. So those who had arrived at evening came forward and each received a denarius.

When it was the turn of the first ones, they thought they would receive more; but they also received a denarius each. Upon receiving it, they began to complain to the landowner, saying: ‘Those who came last worked only one hour, and yet you pay them the same as us, who have borne the burden of the day and the heat’.

But he answered one of them: ‘Friend, I am not doing you any injustice. Did we not agree that I would pay you a denarius? Take what is yours and go. I want to give the one who came last the same as you. Am I not free to do what I want with what is mine? Or are you going to be envious because I am generous?’

In the same way, the last will be first, and the first, last».