The third parable follows, that of the day's wage promised by the householder to those laboring in the vineyard, which parable is found in St. Matthew (Matt. 20). And at first sight the reward of eternal life seems to be much diminished in this parable, since it is compared to a day's wage, though before it had been compared to a treasure and a precious pearl. For the comparison would seem unfitting if a pearl, or a scepter, or a royal crown were promised to those who labor for a single day in the vineyard. But this diminution was employed so that the reward might correspond to the labor. Now, that this denarius is not a denarius of a few copper coins, but a heavenly denarius, and one which will abundantly suffice for food and clothing for all eternity, can easily be shown. For the reward ought to correspond to the labor; but the labor of those who work in the vineyard of Christ must not be measured by the mere substance of the work: for then we should all have to say with the Apostle: The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18). Rather, that labor must be measured by the grace of God dwelling in the hearts of the just — which is a fountain of living water springing up unto life everlasting — and by the charity which is poured forth in us by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Rom. 5:5); and the crown of eternal life has been prepared by God for those who love him, as St. James writes (James 1:12). It must likewise be measured by our union with Christ, who, as the true vine, imparts the greatest worth and value to the fruits of the living branches and to the works of the living members of his mystical body, of which he himself is the head (John 15:5), and to whom he himself said: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven (Matt. 5:12). Finally, will not the Lord say to those laboring in the vineyard: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave me to eat (Matt. 25:34-35)? For the works of charity belong above all to the labor in which we sweat in the vineyard of the Lord. Behold, then, how precious is that denarius which by the Lord himself is called a kingdom. Nor without reason can this denarius be called a kingdom, since it represents Christ himself no less than the treasure or the pearl. For on a denarius is seen stamped the image of the prince, together with the inscribed words and the round shape. Now Christ is the image of the invisible God, according to the Apostle (Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:15), and the Word of the eternal Father, according to John the Evangelist (John 1:1); and he has neither beginning of days nor end of life, according to the Apostle writing to the Hebrews — which is signified by the round shape (Heb. 7:3). And lastly, All things obey money (Eccl. 10:19), as most wise Solomon says; and Christ is Lord of all, as St. Peter testifies in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 10:36). Therefore the denarius which is given to those laboring in the vineyard is Christ, the true God, and therefore eternal life, as St. John says in his first Epistle:
And we may know the true God, and may be in His true Son. This is the true God and life eternal. But let us see how precious that denarius is, which those who have once obtained will need nothing more. Call the laborers, says the Lord, and pay them their reward (Matt. 20). Therefore it will be given to those laboring in the vineyard without intermission, without ceasing, without negligence; but it will not be given to those standing idle in the marketplace, or busied with fowling, or hunting, or games and sports: for the reward is rendered to merits, it is not given gratis, and much less is it bestowed on the undeserving. For when the Apostle says, The wages of sin is death, but the grace of God, life everlasting (Rom. 6), he says it for this reason: because without the grace of God going before, no one can work well in such a way that the reward of eternal life would be owed to him; but once grace has been received, which is given gratis and not from works, eternal life will indeed be the wages of good works. For so speaks St. Augustine in his Letter to Sixtus, the Roman priest: "Just as death is paid as wages to the merit of sin, so eternal life is paid as wages to the merit of justice." (Ep. 105) Nor, because the same denarius is given to all the laborers, is it to be thought that in the kingdom of heaven the rewards are equal for all; for the denarius signifies eternal life, or God, or Christ; and eternal life, and God and Christ, will be common to all. But just as the same sun is seen more clearly by the eagle than by other birds, and the same fire warms those near more than those far off; so in the same eternal life, among those who see God and Christ, one will see more clearly and rejoice with more delight than another: and as merits will be diverse, so also will rewards be diverse. It might be more puzzling why the Lord changed the order in distributing the reward, saying: Pay them their reward, beginning from the last even to the first. So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen (Matt. 20). But this pertains to the grace of the New Testament, that we may understand that we are happier than the Fathers of the Old Testament: and therefore let us be grateful to God, and labor in His vineyard more diligently and more eagerly. The holy Fathers who cultivated the vineyard of the Lord before Christ's ascension — Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the rest of the Patriarchs and the Prophets, who were called at the first, third, sixth, and ninth hours — not only for a long time labored their whole life through, since they lived longer; but also after death waited for the reward, that is, the denarius, for many centuries of years, and even for some thousands of years. The Apostles, and the Martyrs, and the rest of the laborers, who at the eleventh, that is, the last hour — as St. John testifies (1 John 2) — labored for a few years, and immediately after death entered the kingdom of heaven and received the denarius. How great is this grace, how mighty, how solid, that a Christian, if he wills, can by enduring a very brief labor ascend at once to that place to which the most holy Patriarchs and the Prophets sighed for so very long a time! Not without cause did those ancient Fathers say, with a kind of murmur that seems to signify wonder rather than complaint: These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the heats. But the Lord answered for us: Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst thou not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is thine, and go: but I will give to this last even as to thee. Which answer does not mean that the men of the New Testament receive a reward equal to theirs from grace and not from justice: but that they had a more abundant grace, through which in a short time they labored no less, or even more, in the vineyard than those did in a long time, and so received an equal reward. Certainly did not the Apostles — in a short time indeed, but bearing by far the greatest fruit for the Lord — leaving aside all temporal cares and traversing almost the whole world, draw entire provinces of the Gentiles to the true worship of God? When in those ancient times did so vast an army of Martyrs endure all torments and the most bitter deaths for the faith of the true God? When in the Old Testament were so many choirs of holy Virgins found who, following the spotless Lamb, vowed and rendered to God the integrity of soul and body? And where in that ancient time were so many Pastors and Doctors who, watching over their flock, fought with most learned writings against the impious, that is, heretics and Gentiles? Where, finally, was so great a number of Hermits and Monks, and other religious, who, emulating the life of the Angels, spent days and nights in the praises of God and in prayer alone? These and other examples of the most eminent virtue of this kind pertain to the grace of the New Testament: on account of which grace the Lord rightly concludes the parable with these words: So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen; that is, many were called to cultivate the vineyard in all the ages of the world through the eleven hours, but few chosen — that is, not few in number, but the men of only one, and that the last, hour were chosen for the grace of the New Testament, through which they both produced the greatest fruit by their labor and received the greatest rewards in the shortest time. Nor indeed is it to be thought that all who were called at the eleventh hour will receive the denarius, but only those who in that briefest time labored with all their strength in the vineyard of the Lord: for very many there are who, knowing that this is the last hour and that we have but little time, do not say, as would be fitting, "Our life is short; therefore let us labor strenuously, so that in the small space of time we may bring forth the greatest fruit," but with the foolish say what is read in the book of Wisdom: They said, thinking within themselves not rightly: Brief and tedious is the time of our life; and there is no rest at the end of a man, nor has anyone been known to return from the netherworld (Wis. 2); and a little after: Come therefore, and let us enjoy the good things that are, and let us use the creatures speedily as in youth. Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments, and let not the flower of the time pass us by. Let us crown ourselves with roses before they wither; let there be no meadow that our luxury does not pass through. Let none of us be without his share in our luxury; let us everywhere leave signs of joy: for this is our portion. These are the words of those who either knew not God, or saying that they know God denied Him in deeds and works. And indeed they are so many that to them also can be applied that conclusion: Many are called, but few are chosen. For many are called at the last hour, but few are chosen, because few have so labored as to deserve to receive the denarius. Woe therefore to us, who, called at the last hour, consume a great part of that little hour in playing and sleeping, when we ought to be so solicitous about every single moment that not even one moment should slip idly away from us: for on these moments hangs the eternity of rewards or of punishments. And the more excellent the grace of the New Testament granted to Christians, so much the more grievously will they be punished who receive that grace in vain: and as they shall be the last made first in receiving the reward who have labored strenuously at the last hour, so they shall be the last made first in enduring punishments who have neglected to labor strenuously at the last hour.