SEPTEMBER 20, 2026 FATHER PETER JAE CHOI
There is a beautiful song composed by Carey Landry called, “I will never forget you, my people.” I am sure most of you are familiar with this song. The song takes inspiration from Isaiah chapter 49. And the lyrics go like this: “I will never forget you, my people. I have carved you on the palm of my hand. I will never forget you, I will not leave you orphaned, I will never forget my own. Does a mother forget her baby? Or a woman, the child within her womb? Yet, even if these forget, yes even if these forget, I will never forget my own.”
When a child is born everyone wants to see the baby. As a matter of fact, everybody wants to hold and kiss the baby. Sometimes we might even be tempted to squeeze those cute baby cheeks. Even baby animals are very cute, and they are loved and cared for by their mothers. When it comes to sheep, a healthy sheep can give birth to up to 6 lambs. But, every now and then the shepherd will find one of the newly born lambs being rejected by its own mother. There are many reasons for this. But the most common reason is if a lamb is very weak or ill, the mother will reject that baby. Every time the lamb desperately tries to seek its mothers’ attention, she will butt its head or kick it away. Once she has made up her mind, she will not change her mind. When the mother rejects the lamb, then the entire flock will reject it too. There is a name for this kind of lamb that is rejected by its own mother. They are called bummer lambs. Saddened by the rejection, the bummer lamb will keep its head down and eventually die of broken spirit. When this happens, the shepherd intervenes and brings the bummer lamb home and cares for it. He would wrap the lamb with a blanket and hand feed with the bottle. He will care for it until the bummer lamb is strong enough to rejoin the flock. By the time the lamb is rehabilitated, there is a special bond that was created between the shepherd and the bummer lamb.
So when the Shepherd goes out to the field and calls for his sheep, the first ones to run towards the shepherd are the former bummer lambs. They are so happy to see the Shepherd that they express their excitement and joy, by wagging their tails like puppies and nudging the shepherd. The bummer lambs know some things that other sheep don’t. They know the love of the shepherd. Because they experienced rejection, they became the chosen ones who got to experience the love of the shepherd first hand, by being picked up, and having been held close to the heart of the shepherd.
That being said, even though we might have experienced all the support we need, growing up can still feel scary. Especially for the young people today, after graduating from university means they have to start looking for a job. And today’s job market is tough and it’s getting more competitive by the day. We all know that the hiring practices are not based on compassionate grounds, like whoever has the best sob story. Instead, most qualified and competent ones get hired. So, when we read from today’s gospel, the owner of the vineyard hiring laborers at different hours of the day, and paying the same wage regardless of how many hours they worked, seems unfair and unjust. I am sure this parable offends our sensibility and sense of justice. But that’s exactly the point that Jesus was trying to make! The Kingdom of God is not based on Justice and our merit, but based entirely on God’s mercy. During the time of Jesus, people relied entirely on the wage collected for that day for their livelihood. An average person would not have had much savings. So not earning an income just one day can translate to a family suffering from hunger. The compassionate owner of the vineyard understood this. That’s why he paid everyone not according to what they deserved but what they needed. So the difference is, while the ones who were hired at the beginning of the day understood justice, a fair wage paid in exchange for his labour, the ones who worked just one hour, like the bummer lambs, understood God’s mercy.
Imagine living a life not knowing love or being supported during life’s challenging moments. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, we encounter that iconic line, “To be or not to be.” When he said it, Hamlet found himself being crushed by the immense weight of earthly trials and persistent injustices. So Hamlet questioned whether it was worth continuing with life. Ultimately, his only reason for continuing was a fear that the unknown beyond this life might be even worse than his current troubles. Compare this deep misery with the spiritual longing of St. Paul, who viewed his life through the lens of divine affection. He boldly declared, “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Much like a bummer lamb who has known the sting of rejection, Paul recognized how broken his path had been before his conversion. He identified himself as the greatest of sinners and the least among the apostles. Even when his own people rejected his message, he did not succumb to a broken spirit. God’s love had transformed him. His life was no longer about himself. He lived for Christ and his deepest longing was to be with God in heaven.
We may feel unworthy at times, but our Heavenly Father never ceases to pour His infinite love upon us. While we might find ourselves caught up in the pursuit of worldly comforts or a rigid sense of fairness, yet God is relentlessly pursuing us! God doesn’t calculate with a cold mind but showers us with His endless love. We are always at the centre of God’s heart, can’t we make God the centre of our hearts?
