Twenty-fifth Ordinary

Matthew 20: 16

“Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?” Jesus said: “Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”

Jesus challenges something deeply human: our tendency to keep score. Who got more? Who was recognised? Who worked harder? Who deserves better? Jesus turns that thinking upside down, reminding us that God’s generosity is not limited by our calculations.

School life can easily become a place of comparison. Results, recognition, workload, influence, opportunities and expectations can quietly become measures of worth. Even among staff, we can find ourselves asking whether our contribution is valued as much as someone else’s.

Jesus invites us to step out of the competition. Our vocation is not a race against the person beside us. It is a call to bring our gifts, energy and compassion to the students and community entrusted to us. We do not need someone else to receive less for our contribution to matter.

The challenge is to stop keeping score. Celebrate another person’s success without measuring your own against it. Give generously without needing recognition. Trust that your contribution matters.

Go into today less concerned with who is ahead and more committed to who needs you. Stop keeping score. Start giving generously. Let your work be an expression of mission, not competition.