Father Randy Koenigsknecht
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God calls every one of us to follow Him, wherever we are today. This homily short invites us to move beyond simply checking boxes and ask where we can welcome Him more fully into our lives.
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Today’s another one of those classic parables, father, two sons sending them out to work in the vineyard. The one son initially says, yes, I will go, and like many an angsty teenager backs out at the last second. The other son, no, I’m not interested, I won’t work, and then later repents, comes back and goes out into the vineyard and does his father’s will.
And this is important because probably none of us is the ideal son or daughter either. All of us have many ways in which I’m sure we’ve said, you know what, Lord, I’m going to do it. I’m going to change.
I’m going to start following you. I’m going to give you my life. Then the next day comes.
It’s like, well, that was yesterday’s father, Randy. And then the Lord, time passed, the Lord works on us and eventually come to the point of, all right, I’m ready now. I will go.
I will do it. I will follow you. And so the reality is that the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven is available to each one of us, no matter where we are at in that spectrum.
Whether we fully follow him, whether we don’t really know him, all are still called. Our father does not discriminate between the saints and the sinners. He calls all.
He wishes to speak to all. His voice and the invitation to follow him is not just for the qualified, it’s not just for some special people. It is for everyone.
The father wishes to speak to you and every father wants to be close to his children. He wants his sons and daughters to be with him. All right, Lord, I just want to get rid of the major sins.
That’s it. But the rest of my life, I don’t know if I really want to change that. I don’t know if I really want to give everything over to you.
I don’t really want to invite you in there. I’ll just be devoted to just checking boxes. All right.
I went to mass. I said a couple of prayers. It lacks the reality of why do I do this? And that’s why he says tax collectors and prostitutes are entering heaven before you.
Very few people, when they convert to the Lord, immediately leave behind all their sins. But they are already entering into heaven because there’s a higher calling in our lives than to just avoid evil. So they enter heaven because they are living every day with the person who makes heaven heaven.
Even though, yes, they’re struggling, they’re growing because they’re living with him. They’re working in the vineyards of their own hearts and they’re letting him be with them there. And we can ask like, okay, Lord, what would it look like if I were to give you more of that? What would it look like if I were to give you my free time? What if I were to give you more of my Sundays? You know, what would that look like, Lord? Each of us is called to the vineyard to follow him, to make the choice each day, Lord, I’m going to live with you.
I’m going to live for you. And I want to give you all of my life. God loves to talk to us.
Ask him questions. God, do you want to speak to me? Spoiler alert, the answer is always going to be yes to that one. God, do you love me? Answer is also yes, but very important to hear that from him, especially in places where we don’t feel particularly lovable.
And then we can ask him the hard hitting questions. God, what part of my life do you want to work in? What part of my life do I need to invite you into? Have I maybe been holding back? Now we can respond with gratitude. Father, I thank you that you’ve called me.
Thank you for the life that you’re holding out to me, that you want to live with me and dwell with me. I want to respond, Lord. I want to live heaven now that I can enter heaven here and now because heaven comes down in you.
So be generous to the Lord as he invites you as you hear his call. Respond freely. Yes, Lord, I will go and make the choice today.
Today, Lord, I will.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)