Heaven Can't Wait

Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Readings for Thursday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time

Reflection:

A few days ago we reflected upon the fact that the Evil One does exist and that there are consequences to not being alert to the fact that he is ready to take us down wrong paths. Today we are reminded again that not all people will achieve the reward promised to the faithful. It is something we would rather not hear. We would rather hear the parable of the Landowner who hired field hands at morning, noon, and late in the day (Mt 20 1-16). It is much more comforting for us to hear that if we turn back at the last minute we can still receive the gift of Eternal Life.

It is something of a paradox in our heritage. On one had we know that if we fail to achieve the standards set for us by our Heavenly Father, we will end up in hell; the whole: “throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth” from today’s Gospel. On the other hand we have “Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Mt 20; 16) So we can wait until the last minute to repent and still get in right?

Not! I hate doing this but I have to take these two ends of the spectrum; the parable of the net from today’s Gospel and the parable of the Landowner, and place in the middle yet another parable; the parable of the Ten Virgins (Mt 25 1-12) and that can be supported further by the parable of the Talents a little later in the same chapter.

In these two additional parables, the Lord tells us two important things; first, while we don’t know the hour or day of the coming of the Kingdom for us (that is when our life on this earth will come to an end) we must be prepared at any moment to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. What should we tell him about the great gift of life the Father gave us; “Well, I sort of ran out of time. I was going to turn from sin and be faithful to the Gospel just as soon as Lent rolled around again but I didn’t get the chance.” I don’t think we need to wonder about which ticket gets punched if that is our answer.

The parable of the Talents tells us that to we who are given much, such as the gift of the word and the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord from a very young age, much is expected. If we were born deep in what is left of the Amazon rain forest to a tribe of natives who had never heard of God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit, God would not demand the obedience he asks of us. We have known the Lord from the very earliest parts of our life and we are expected, as a consequence, to act on those beliefs. In fact, the solace we might take from the parable of the Landowner (the last shall be first part) does not even apply to us. It applies to those natives in the Amazon who had never heard of God. If they hear and follow, even at the 11th hour, the reward is theirs.

So, we say all this for one reason only. To come to the conclusion that procrastination of our own conversion is not an option. We need to focus on what the Lord asks each day and in every possible way. Does that mean we need to be perfect? No, God does not expect us to be something only His only Son has achieved. He expects us to use what he has given us to the best of our ability. In that way we will achieve that Kingdom of heaven promised for God’s faithful.

Pax