2011

Imagine there are four houses on your street. You own the house on the corner and it is valued at $400,000. The house next door is valued at $300,000; the house across the street is valued at $200,000, and the one at the end of the block is valued at $100,000. Yours has been on the market for months.

One day, the phone rings and you answer it. You can hardly believe what you are hearing. The caller is offering $500,000 for your house. You jump for joy and accept the offer on the spot.

The next day you learn that the other owners on your street sold their houses to the same buyer. Then comes the thunderbolt. They each received $500,000. You are so angry that you call the buyer to vent your dismay. “Did I cheat you?” he asked, “Or are you envious because I am generous?”

This is an incredible parable, perhaps the most disliked parable in scripture since it prompts many to react in much the same way the laborers who had worked in the fields all day did. “Not fair!” might sum up your thoughts as well. We sympathize with those who labored all day in the hot sun. Tired and weary, they watch those who were hired last receive a denarius, the usual full day’s pay, for a mere hour of work. Since the master was so generous to the latecomers, they expected even more, but their smiles fade when the foreman gives them the same pay. When they complained, the vineyard owner pointed out, they received the amount they had agreed upon when hired.

Had the early workers not learned what their employer paid the latecomers, they would have gone home thankful that they could feed their family. Instead, they went home angry and jealous. Why did those who worked all day resent the good fortune of those hired last?

Why would you resent the good fortune of your neighbors who also got a half million dollars for their homes? Why do so many people become happy or sad, depending on whether they think they are better off or worse off than their neighbors?

Jesus hints at the answer when he has the vineyard owner says to those whom he hired first, “My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Are you envious because I am generous?” He hits the nail on the head, doesn’t he? Instead of being grateful for what God has given us, we compare ourselves and our situation to those around us. If we think of others as being better off than we are; that they have more money than we have; that they are better looking than we are; or that they are more talented or popular than we are, jealousy arises, causing us to feel less loved. Jealousy can cause us to miss the point of this gospel, that God wants every one to have the chance to be saved.

Life, as the saying goes, is unfair. Some people are born healthy, others crippled, blind, or like me, hearing impaired. Some have a genius IQ, while others are severely mentally challenged and the majority find themselves somewhere in the middle. We judge ourselves by worldly standards instead of by God’s standards. Envy stops us from appreciating what God has given us in the first place: life and unconditional love.

That God is so generous may be hard for some people to comprehend, but as Isaiah observes, God does not think or act in the same way we do. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”

Because we judge ourselves and others by human standards, we don’t know what to make of God’s unconditional love. Regardless of who we are and our status and situation in life, we are loved no less than anyone else in the world. Like the vineyard owner, God intends to offers the same gift, namely, eternal life to anyone who accepts it.

Some might consider this unfair. They might feel like the workers who started early. We bore “the day’s burden and the heat.” We have lived our faith for years, don’t we deserve something more? But what more can God give you than what he is already offering? Heaven is his gift to all who accept his invitation to work for the kingdom, regardless of when in life the invitation is accepted. The benefit for those who have lived the faith is a life well lived, very much aware of God’s love.

Put it this way, the devil wants us to stew, but God wants Stewardship. The devil wants us to compare ourselves to others and to stew about how unfair things are. God thinks differently: God wants us to recognize whatever we have as a free gift that we must invest for his glory and the good of others. By doing that, we can come to appreciate just how much God truly loves us. What matters is that when the Lord returns, you and I are working in the vineyard.

In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah tells us, “Seek the Lord while he may be found.” The key word is “while.” It implies that a time will come when it will be too late for us to do that. By falling into a serious sin such as envy, a person could be digging an unbridgeable chasm between himself and God.

Winston Churchill, the great prime minister of England, was right when he noted, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
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Imagine there are four houses on your street. You own the house on the corner and it is valued at $400,000. The house next door is valued at $300,000; the house across the street is valued at $200,000, and the one at the end of the block is valued at $100,000. Yours has been on the market for months.

One day, the phone rings and you answer it. You can hardly believe what you are hearing. The caller is offering $500,000 for your house. You jump for joy and accept the offer on the spot.

The next day you learn that the other owners on your street sold their houses to the same buyer. Then comes the thunderbolt. They each received $500,000. You are so angry that you call the buyer to vent your dismay. “Did I cheat you?” he asked, “Or are you envious because I am generous?”

This is an incredible parable, perhaps the most disliked parable in scripture since it prompts many to react in much the same way the laborers who had worked in the fields all day did. “Not fair!” might sum up your thoughts as well. We sympathize with those who labored all day in the hot sun. Tired and weary, they watch those who were hired last receive a denarius, the usual full day’s pay, for a mere hour of work. Since the master was so generous to the latecomers, they expected even more, but their smiles fade when the foreman gives them the same pay. When they complained, the vineyard owner pointed out, they received the amount they had agreed upon when hired.

Had the early workers not learned what their employer paid the latecomers, they would have gone home thankful that they could feed their family. Instead, they went home angry and jealous.  Why did those who worked all day resent the good fortune of those hired last?

Why would you resent the good fortune of your neighbors who also got a half million dollars for their homes? Why do so many people become happy or sad, depending on whether they think they are better off or worse off than their neighbors?

Jesus hints at the answer when he has the vineyard owner says to those whom he hired first, “My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Are you envious because I am generous?” He hits the nail on the head, doesn’t he? Instead of being grateful for what God has given us, we compare ourselves and our situation to those around us. If we think of others as being better off than we are; that they have more money than we have; that they are better looking than we are; or that they are more talented or popular than we are, jealousy arises, causing us to feel less loved. Jealousy can cause us to miss the point of this gospel, that God wants every one to have the chance to be saved.

Life, as the saying goes, is unfair. Some people are born healthy, others crippled, blind, or like me, hearing impaired. Some have a genius IQ, while others are severely mentally challenged and the majority find themselves somewhere in the middle.  We judge ourselves by worldly standards instead of by God’s standards. Envy stops us from appreciating what God has given us in the first place: life and unconditional love.

That God is so generous may be hard for some people to comprehend, but as Isaiah observes, God does not think or act in the same way we do. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”

Because we judge ourselves and others by human standards, we don’t know what to make of God’s unconditional love. Regardless of who we are and our status and situation in life, we are loved no less than anyone else in the world. Like the vineyard owner, God intends to offers the same gift, namely, eternal life to anyone who accepts it.

Some might consider this unfair. They might feel like the workers who started early. We bore “the day’s burden and the heat.” We have lived our faith for years, don’t we deserve something more? But what more can God give you than what he is already offering? Heaven is his gift to all who accept his invitation to work for the kingdom, regardless of when in life the invitation is accepted. The benefit for those who have lived the faith is a life well lived, very much aware of God’s love.

Put it this way, the devil wants us to stew, but God wants Stewardship. The devil wants us to compare ourselves to others and to stew about how unfair things are. God thinks differently: God wants us to recognize whatever we have as a free gift that we must invest for his glory and the good of others. By doing that, we can come to appreciate just how much God truly loves us. What matters is that when the Lord returns, you and I are working in the vineyard.

In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah tells us, “Seek the Lord while he may be found.” The key word is “while.” It implies that a time will come when it will be too late for us to do that. By falling into a serious sin such as envy, a person could be digging an unbridgeable chasm between himself and God.

Winston Churchill, the great prime minister of England, was right when he noted, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

In last week’s gospel, Jesus posed the question to his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Judging by his reaction to Peter, a fitting question to ask now is, “Who do you think you are?” His words appear to be spoken in anger and perhaps they were.

I imagine Peter was stunned when Jesus scolded him for his well intended advice by saying, “Get behind me, Satan!” What was so wrong about what Peter had said? Nothing really except that he was perhaps unwittingly trying to prevent Jesus from following God’s will.

While he meant well in his prayer that God would spare Jesus from the pains of crucifixion, Peter was refusing to accept God’s will. As Jesus pointed out, “You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Peter still expected the Messiah to be an earthly king who would rid his homeland of the Romans. Judging the situation at hand by human standards instead of God’s standards, he was an adversary bent on stopping Jesus from following God’s will.

So, who do you think you are? When we offer advice, do we ever ask ourselves if we are thinking as God does or are we thinking as human beings do? How often do we follow Peter’s example and set our sights on human concerns rather than the divine? More often than I suspect we care to admit or realize. In spite of their good intentions, many people give advice that cause others to trip and fall because they are ignoring God’s standards.

For example, pregnant women who for whatever reason cannot or will not accept the unborn child in their wombs are often advised to get an abortion. The advice may be a quick solution to the problem at hand but one thing Project Rachel revealed to me years ago is that few women are left emotionally or physically unchanged by a surgical procedure that takes less time to perform than a commute from here to Seattle. Down the road, some eventually discover the link between their abortion and their present health issues and when they do, they find themselves regretting that they had ignored God’s wisdom.

From the start of our faith journey at baptism until that point when God will judge us, there will be countless moments when people in our lives will advise us on what to do. Some counsel will be worth heeding while other advice will be well worth ditching. Be it advice we give or receive, we should ask ourselves, “Would Jesus give that same bit of advice?”

In his rebuke, Jesus raises a haunting question we cannot afford to ignore. “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” He is warning us that we will be repaid according to our conduct in this lifetime and if we focus on worldly things rather than him, we risk losing everything in the end. The damage caused by making choices that would not be deemed acceptable by God may seem insignificant but danger lurks anytime we ignore God’s wisdom.

Many of our neighbors consider themselves Catholic yet we rarely see them here at Mass. Convinced by others that missing Sunday Mass is not wrong, despite what the Church tells us, they are absent from the Eucharistic gathering for any number of reasons. That bit of worldly advice has lured them into a weekend routine that allows them to become even more distant from understanding God’s way of thinking.

Few Christians set out in life intent on ignoring God and identifying instead only with the world and its secular ways. Keep in mind that the path to conformity and worldliness, which Jesus cautions us to avoid, often begins with seemingly harmless steps yet eventually those who continue to venture down that path find themselves thinking less and less as God does, thus less able to see the value of his wisdom over worldly wisdom.

Paul advises us, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, and pleasing and perfect.” This can only be done through prayer. For Paul, a life lived according to God’s will is the most basic form of worship there is.

Jesus cautions that we cannot follow him unless we take up our cross. “Be ready to offer your life for my cause,” he is telling us. To be a committed Christian, one must be willing to suffer. Martyrdom isn’t the fate of most Christians but those who are committed to him accept the sufferings that come into their lives because of the choices they make for the sake of the Kingdom. They find themselves taking up crosses of inconvenience, of bearing witness, or for some, of martyrdom. That may not seem so attractive against the backdrop of worldly lures but Jesus also tells us that those who lose their lives for his sake will find it.

We are urged to think as God does regardless of the cost. God doesn’t want us to suffer but sometimes suffering and sacrifice might be required of us as we respond to our call as disciples.

Jeremiah, Paul, Peter, and Jesus all found themselves standing at crossroads where they had to decide which way to go: the way of their times or the timeless way of God. They all knew that ultimately the way of God would be the most satisfying yet also the more costly choice to make. They would agree with the poet, Robert Frost, who wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

The message of these readings is simple yet challenging. We should keep the advice we heard in mind when giving advice or before accepting advice, for the choice we make could make all the difference when the day comes that we find ourselves standing before the Son of Man.

1st reading – Ezekiel 33:7-9
2nd reading – Romans 13:8-10
Gospel – Matthew 18:15-20

As I was reflecting on today’s readings, I kept going back to when I was a young boy, about 10 years old. Back in the old days, some say, back at the old homestead.

I remember how it was my sisters jobs (all six of them) to help my mother prepare the meals and to set the table. I also remember, “oh too vividly”, that it was my brothers and me who had to clean up and do the dishes. Can you imagine how many dishes there were with 10 kids, a set of parents, and no dishwasher? I cringe every time I think of it!!!!

I remember how one of my older brothers used to check the sharpness of the knives by chopping away at the top of the knife drawer before placing them in the drawer after drying.. I also remember how I told him not to do that because mom would be very upset. Of course, my brother would not listen to his younger brother so he never stopped.

According to our gospel today, the best thing I could have done would have been to go to my mother, but being boys and not to be outdone by the other, my other brother and I joined in also to check the sharpness of the knives before placing them in the knife drawer.

When the time came to pay the piper, my mother, we would all blame each other; No, I didn’t-he did! Not me, him! Mom, I’m your favorite!(as if that would work).

The point is – that if we are our brothers and sisters keepers, a lot of the wrongs around us would be eliminated, no matter how small or large the wrong is. I was wrong not only for what I did but for what I did not do, go talk to my mother about the problem.

I believe that the real sin here was doing something that got my mother very mad and the knowing that my brothers and me were the cause. We were all affected, even my other little brother and my sisters and even my father because they faced the brunt of my mothers wrath.

This scenario of my two other brothers and me is somewhat how our society is today. We see the same non-caring for those who are making wrong choices or doing wrong things. Nowadays it is easier for some people to turn their heads instead of confrontation with the one committing the wrong or easier for them to join in like my brother and I.

You can see this in the inner city where gangs are so prevalent. You can see this by how many abortions are done each day throughout the world. You can see and hear about the violence around us every time you pick up a newspaper or listen to the news on t.v. Yes, we are all affected by all the sins of the world.

Pope John Paul II, now Blessed, during his pontificate wrote, “There is no sin, not even the most intimate and secret one, the most strictly individual one, that exclusively concerns the person committing it. With greater or lesser violence, with greater or lesser harm, every sin has repercussions on the Whole Human Family”.

Our readings today are about responsibility. Responsibility to look after one another to include doing that which keeps one another in good standing with God. Of course we can only do this if we are in good standing ourselves.

Imagine how it would be if your family was in a similar situation as I was when I was young or it could have been a situation you remember from your past. Could you see yourself being confronted in the manner of what we heard in Matthew’s gospel? How embarrassing would that be? It probably would definitely stop one from doing what got them in the situation in the first place.

In some way, I feel that it goes a lot further and means much more than just getting scolded for your action. It is about being in union, in harmony with the ones around you and with God. It is also about living our Christian faith on our sleeves, not hidden away for no one to see.

People around us are our responsibility. Our responsibility to look after and to love. If we truly love one another, then we become the watchman, as we heard in the first reading. As followers of Jesus, we who belong to the Church have the responsibility to treat sinners with respect and lead them to repentance.

Followers of Jesus had the responsibility to respond to penitent sinners by reintegrating them into the community, and to avoid unrepentant sinners as was the customary response to Gentiles or tax collectors who were often separated from the community.

We have a responsibility to ones around us as well. And I believe it goes further than just those in the Church. It touches every aspect of our society. I would like to ask these questions for all of us: How often do we join in the assembly of those who are standing up and protesting against the atrocities of abortion? How many of us get on that bus to go to the capital every January to stand up for the rights of the unborn?

How many of us write to our legislators to have our voices heard on topics and laws that go against the respect and dignity of every human being? How many of us have written to the newspaper in response to an article that went against the principles of which we stand for as Catholics? How many of us have turned our heads or just joined in the flow of things? I did when I was 10 years old and there were other times much later on that I am not too proud of.

Let us watch after each other. Let us not be like Linus in the Comics Strip “Peanuts”, who was confronted by Lucy who demanded that the t.v. channel be changed. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus. “These five fingers” says Lucy-holding up her hand. “Individually they’re nothing” she says but as she makes a fist, she says “When I curl them up like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold”.

Linus considers the situation a second-then says, “Which channel do you want ?” Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, “why can’t you guys get organized like that?”

Let us not be like Linus who wants the same power as Lucy. Our power lies in our hearts not our fists. Powered by God’s love given to us in the body and blood of Christ, we can go forward from here to live our faith fully in word and action. We can go from here as ones who care for each other. And as we heard in the letter of St. Paul to the Romans, Love does no evil to the neighbor, so we can go from here to “Love our neighbor as ourselves”.

In last week’s gospel, Jesus posed the question to his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Judging by his reaction to Peter, a fitting question to ask now is, “Who do you think you are?” His words appear to be spoken in anger and perhaps they were.

I imagine Peter was stunned when Jesus scolded him for his well intended advice by saying, “Get behind me, Satan!” What was so wrong about what Peter had said? Nothing really except that he was perhaps unwittingly trying to prevent Jesus from following God’s will.

While he meant well in his prayer that God would spare Jesus from the pains of crucifixion, Peter was refusing to accept God’s will. As Jesus pointed out, “You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Peter still expected the Messiah to be an earthly king who would rid his homeland of the Romans. Judging the situation at hand by human standards instead of God’s standards, he was an adversary bent on stopping Jesus from following God’s will.

So, who do you think you are? When we offer advice, do we ever ask ourselves if we are thinking as God does or are we thinking as human beings do? How often do we follow Peter’s example and set our sights on human concerns rather than the divine? More often than I suspect we care to admit or realize. In spite of their good intentions, many people give advice that cause others to trip and fall because they are ignoring God’s standards.

For example, pregnant women who for whatever reason cannot or will not accept the unborn child in their wombs are often advised to get an abortion. The advice may be a quick solution to the problem at hand but one thing Project Rachel revealed to me years ago is that few women are left emotionally or physically unchanged by a surgical procedure that takes less time to perform than a commute from here to Seattle. Down the road, some eventually discover the link between their abortion and their present health issues and when they do, they find themselves regretting that they had ignored God’s wisdom.

From the start of our faith journey at baptism until that point when God will judge us, there will be countless moments when people in our lives will advise us on what to do. Some counsel will be worth heeding while other advice will be well worth ditching. Be it advice we give or receive, we should ask ourselves, “Would Jesus give that same bit of advice?”

In his rebuke, Jesus raises a haunting question we cannot afford to ignore. “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” He is warning us that we will be repaid according to our conduct in this lifetime and if we focus on worldly things rather than him, we risk losing everything in the end. The damage caused by making choices that would not be deemed acceptable by God may seem insignificant but danger lurks anytime we ignore God’s wisdom.

Many of our neighbors consider themselves Catholic yet we rarely see them here at Mass. Convinced by others that missing Sunday Mass is not wrong, despite what the Church tells us, they are absent from the Eucharistic gathering for any number of reasons. That bit of worldly advice has lured them into a weekend routine that allows them to become even more distant from understanding God’s way of thinking.

Few Christians set out in life intent on ignoring God and identifying instead only with the world and its secular ways. Keep in mind that the path to conformity and worldliness, which Jesus cautions us to avoid, often begins with seemingly harmless steps yet eventually those who continue to venture down that path find themselves thinking less and less as God does, thus less able to see the value of his wisdom over worldly wisdom.

Paul advises us, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, and pleasing and perfect.” This can only be done through prayer. For Paul, a life lived according to God’s will is the most basic form of worship there is.

Jesus cautions that we cannot follow him unless we take up our cross. “Be ready to offer your life for my cause,” he is telling us. To be a committed Christian, one must be willing to suffer. Martyrdom isn’t the fate of most Christians but those who are committed to him accept the sufferings that come into their lives because of the choices they make for the sake of the Kingdom. They find themselves taking up crosses of inconvenience, of bearing witness, or for some, of martyrdom. That may not seem so attractive against the backdrop of worldly lures but Jesus also tells us that those who lose their lives for his sake will find it.

We are urged to think as God does regardless of the cost. God doesn’t want us to suffer but sometimes suffering and sacrifice might be required of us as we respond to our call as disciples.

Jeremiah, Paul, Peter, and Jesus all found themselves standing at crossroads where they had to decide which way to go: the way of their times or the timeless way of God. They all knew that ultimately the way of God would be the most satisfying yet also the more costly choice to make. They would agree with the poet, Robert Frost, who wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

The message of these readings is simple yet challenging. We should keep the advice we heard in mind when giving advice or before accepting advice, for the choice we make could make all the difference when the day comes that we find ourselves standing before the Son of Man.

1ST Reading: Isaiah 66: 18-21
2nd Reading: Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
Gospel: Luke 13:22-30

Today’s scripture reminds us that we are on a journey, one that ends with eternal life with God. In today’s gospel Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, coming close to the end of his journey to the Father by the way of the cross.

We hear Jesus teaching and spreading the good news of salvation as he travels on his way. In Today’s first reading from Isaiah we find a similar scenario where missionaries are sent out to spread God’s word to those scattered throughout the nations, that is, those nations that are far off, thought of back then as distant lands. This is symbolizing that salvation is offered to all no matter where they are or who they might be.

God is offering salvation that is meant for all and today his kingdom

is offered to us through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Yes, we are on a journey and like Jesus, we are to proclaim the gospel message to all we meet on our way. We are to let them know that they too are invited to Jerusalem, yes, the banquet of the Lord. But before we can do this, we must know Jesus.

In today’s gospel, Jesus is talking with Jews who are very familiar with Holy Scripture. They are considered righteous, doing all that the “law” requires. They are, like us, regularly attending worship services, serving in the leadership of the Church, working for just causes.

They know a lot about God, however, one does not enter through the narrow gate by knowing about God.

The gate to the Kingdom of God is narrow and difficult, not because God made it that way, we do. We find it difficult and narrow because we believe that our knowledge about God, even our works for him, are the way. Jesus says “NO”. Being part of the Kingdom of God is not about what we do or what we know, it is about who we are. It is about a true relationship with him.

Jesus spent his life of ministry developing relationships. Many were interested in what Jesus had to say, a lot were interested in being healed by him, few were interested in being with him.

Jesus wants us to know him. There are many ways throughout scripture, that God reveals himself to human beings, but for God to come down, taking our humanity and walking this earth in the person of Jesus , shows how very much he wants us to know him.

It is good to know about Him. There are a lot of people who don’t know Jesus who know a lot about him. You don’t even need a book now days to hear about Jesus. We have the internet, radio, television. We hear people talk about Jesus, we gather to discuss the latest theology about Jesus. All this is good but is it the important thing for us?

It is good to do things for God. We do things to help others, easing their pain and suffering. We march for just causes and we stand up for the oppressed and abused. Good people do good things, however, what moves us, what energizes us to do these things? Do we do these things to support our egos, to look good in the eyes of others? Or, are we learning what Jesus is teaching us?

Jesus is showing his disciples, to include us, how to love as he loves; Unconditionally, no matter who you are, what you are, or where you come from. But it does take relationship. That’s how God made us.

You see, relationships take time. Knowing people takes time. Jesus spent time with his disciples. He walked with them. He went fishing with them. He ate with them. And Jesus spent the night with them.

Jesus didn’t need to spend time getting to know his disciples, he already knew them. Jesus spent time with them so that they could know him, so that he could model for them what they were to do when he was gone and Jesus shows us how even today, but we must be willing to be changed.

Yes, this is hard for us. We do get very comfortable with our imperfections, our human flaws. The thought of ourselves changing is hard for us. But through our relationship with Jesus Christ, change is inevitable.

Look at all of us here today. Do you think that what we hear in scripture, the people we interact with, changes us? Do you feel that the sacrament we receive, the Eucharist, the body and blood of our savior Jesus Christ, changes us and brings us so close to Jesus? You bet it does, and every time we meet on Sundays, we are changed that much more. It is all about relationship with Jesus Christ.

As we change by becoming ever closer to Jesus Christ, we learn to love as he loves and the by-product of that love, that relationship, is good works; we feed the hungry, we clothe the naked, we visit the sick, the homebound, the imprisoned. We stand up for what is right and good by protecting life from the womb to the tomb, and we protect the human dignity of all people through our Church’s Catholic social justice teachings. We take on the persona of Jesus in our own lives. That is true relationship.

If we believe that we are good enough to enter into the presence of God on our own merit, without a relationship with Jesus Christ, we will be among those knocking who will not be known. Not known because we have not recognized Jesus. There is no relationship.

The second reading talks about being strong and not losing faith. We hear from the letter to the Hebrews that “all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” This peaceful fruit is that relationship with Jesus Christ and the change in our hearts that comes from it leading us to the end of our journey to the Father.

And so, relationship costs. They cost time, energy, but God thought we were worth it. We are worth his time, his energy and even his life. Yes, we are on a journey and the gate is narrow, but it is open for us today.

We can open the narrow gate through a relationship with Jesus Christ, and in finding out who we really are, his disciples, walking this earth as he walked. We can step through that gate now and we will wonder why we waited so very long.