or 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 day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place; and to them he said, `You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. 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.' And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, `Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder, saying, `These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' But he replied to one of them, `Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' So the last will be first, and the first last." Matthew 20:1-16
"But Kennedy’s ultimate judgment and salvation? That’s between him and God."
A lot has been made in the days that followed the news of Senator Ted Kennedy’s death, about whether he deserved a Catholic funeral Mass, and which clergy should or should not preside at his funeral, and indeed the state of his soul. Did he make an adequate confession before this death? After all, he led a scandalous life. Many of us have heard of the infamous Chappaquiddick incident, in which a woman died, likely as a result of Kennedy’s actions. Throughout his life he was known as a boozer and womanizer; he had a second marriage to a divorcee; and of course for devout Catholics his pro-abortion politics were the most vexing of all. Many of us fretted about why Kennedy was allowed to receive Communion, and how the apparent inaction of the local clergy sent a mixed message to the faithful. In my opinion, we were right to criticize Kennedy and the bishops in those matters.
But Kennedy’s ultimate judgment and salvation? That’s between him and God. I hope and pray that he indeed made a right confession before this death. Hell is not to be wished on anyone. In the parable from Matthew 20, Kennedy could indeed be the worker who came around at the eleventh hour, yet still receives the same wage, Heaven, as the faithful worker who began early and toiled without fail all day.
Many of the rest of us don’t have a whole day’s worth of dirt under our nails, either. I’ve only been in the Church for four years, and before that I had virtually no faith life at all. So I might be the guy who started working somewhere between the third hour and the sixth hours—and to take the parable a bit further, I do take way too many breaks!
Where is each of us in the parable? Who among us has the right to begrudge or even question the householder, God, from giving the same wage, Salvation, to whom He pleases? Even if that brother was only in the vineyard for an hour.
Rest in peace, Edward M. Kennedy.