(Source from The Word Among Us)

You too go into my vineyard. (Matthew 20:4)

Jesus told this parable to help us better understand how generous and merciful God is. But the seeming unfairness of the landowner’s decision can still leave us feeling a bit unsettled. We might react differently, however, when we consider the lives of two people who, like the workers in this parable, came to the vineyard later in life.

Felix Leseur was raised Catholic in nineteenth-century France but lost his faith in medical school and became an atheist. His wife, Elisabeth, on the other hand, grew closer to God and began praying fervently for her husband’s conversion. After her death at the age of forty-seven, Felix began reading her diary. The deep faith he saw there touched him, and he returned to the Lord at the age of fifty-six and eventually became a priest.

St. Angela of Foligno was born in 1248 to a wealthy family in Umbria, Italy. Married at a young age, she reveled in the worldly life and all its trappings. But a series of natural disasters and an ongoing war led her to reexamine her priorities. At the age of thirty-seven—considered midlife for that time—she sought the Lord’s mercy in Confession. Then after the premature deaths of her husband, mother, and two children, she gave up all her possessions and became a lay Franciscan.

When we hear about people like Felix and Angela, we don’t begrudge them the heavenly reward they are now enjoying. It doesn’t matter that they came later to the vineyard. God and his angels in heaven still rejoiced, and so should we anytime we hear of someone turning to God later in life.

God is always inviting people to “go into my vineyard” (Matthew 20:4). Today at Mass, pray for the people you know who have not yet accepted his invitation. May they one day receive the reward he so graciously has in store for them!

“Father, I praise you for your mercy and generosity, which have no bounds!”