Before saying the Angelus, the Pope mentioned the words he said on the day he was elected, when he presented himself "as a worker in the vineyard of the Lord”. Hence the connection with Matthew’s evangelical parable (which was yesterday’s Gospel of the day), in which "Jesus tells the parable of the master of the vineyard, who, at different times of day, calls some workers to work in his vineyard” and "gives everyone the same pay, one denarius, arousing the protests of those of the first hour”. “That denarius stands for eternal life, the gift God gives to everyone”, explained Benedict XVI: “Indeed, those who are considered the "last", if they accept it, become the "first”, while the "first" risk eventually becoming the “last”. According to the Pope, “one of the first messages of this parable lies in the fact the master wants everyone to be working hard in his vineyard”, because "being able to work in the Lord’s vineyard, serving Him, cooperating in His work, is in itself a priceless prize, which repays one of any hard work. But this can only be understood by those who love the Lord and His Kingdom”, not "by those who work merely for their pay”. After all, Matthew "personally experienced this”, as he turned from a publican into a “disciple” of Jesus, from one of the "last" into one of the "first", according to "God’s logic", which is "different from that of the world”. The same applies to Saint Paul, who "experienced the joy of being called by the Lord to work in His vineyard”, turning from a “persecutor of the Church" into the "apostle of the people”. ” “
