BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

Today’s gospel parable reflects the fact that people respond to God’s grace at different times in their lives. Rather than be jealous of those who accept God’s grace late in their pilgrim journey, the faithful should rejoice that they have joined us. Jealousy has no place in the Kingdom of God.

Like the landowner in today’s Gospel, God is always seeking us out. We, also, ought to be looking for God in our lives: “Seek the Lord while he may be found.” (First Reading) Human beings are innately religious and seek to know God. Saint Augustine said in his autobiographical Confessions, “Our heart is restless until it rests in you.” (Book 1, Chapter 1) The Psalms, too, express this longing. Psalm 42:2-3 states: “As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My being thirsts for God, the living God. When can I go and see the face of God?” In Psalm 63:2 we read: “O God, you are my God– for you I long! For you my body yearns; for you my soul thirsts, like a land parched, lifeless, and without water.”

We don’t always know where or how to look, however. Saint Augustine reflected on his own search for God and eventual conversion (Confessions, Book 10, Chapter 27):
Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

What Saint Augustine discovered through his conversion experience is expressed in today’s Responsorial Psalm: “The Lord is near to all who call upon him.”

This Wednesday, September 27, the fourth Wednesday of September, is Rural Life Day in our diocese. It is a day to celebrate the importance of agriculture in the lives of all of us, and to thank God for all that goes into a fruitful harvest. We all depend on the land as the source of our food, clothing and shelter; and we depend on all who cultivate, harvest and make use of the yield of the land. Even though the diocesan celebration with Bishop Callahan was held on September 13 near Marshfield, it will be observed liturgically in the rest of the diocese on Wednesday.
Pray the Rosary for the needs of our diocese, especially for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Pray for people serving in the armed services from our area. Pray for families, especially those with members who are homeless, unemployed, disabled, ill or estranged. Pray for farmers and all who work in food production; and, as always, pray for peace.

May God bless his people with peace.
Monsignor Gorman