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Ordinary Time: September 24thTwenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092423.cfm

God's Gift of Faith: Doing the will of God and earning heaven.

Parable of The Workers in the Vineyard. Mt 20:1-16a

Life is God's gift to us, and what we do with our lives is our gift to God.

Most of our day will be devoted to mundane tasks, but these tasks are of greater value if we do them in a state of grace and with the intention of honoring God. We are grateful to God for His generosity, which has allowed us to devote so much of our time to tasks that have a greater spiritual value.

He allows us to live our everyday life, to enjoy the love and friendship of our family and friends, to satisfy the natural desires of our bodies, within the commandments, and yet to merit a supernatural reward while so doing. As He tells us through St. Paul: "whether you eat or drink or whatever else you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10 : 31)." We can receive this reward by simply living according to His commandments and doing what is good and right.

Looking back on our past life, how many years have we really given to God since we came to the use of reason? Those school years, the time spent learning a trade or profession, the weeks, months, years working in an office or factory or farm, the hours among the pots and pans in the kitchen — has our cumulative experience in this life led us to a place where we can consciously choose to devote our lives to God, or are we still slaves to our earthly desires?

Are you wondering what happened to the years you spent idle? We can rest assured that they were not wasted. In fact, the parable of the vineyard can provide us with new hope and courage. Maybe it's the sixth or the ninth or even the eleventh hour of our life, but we can still earn heaven if we listen to God's call and set to work diligently in His vineyard. If we put our conscience right with Him today and resolve to be loyal to Him from now on, He will be as generous to us as the parable promises.

life is a gift from God. we each have the opportunity to make the most of our lives, and through our actions, we give back to God. we should use our lives to glorify Him, and help others in need. life is too short to waste it on things that don't matter. It's up to us to make the right choices and live our lives to the fullest.

All of this is done through Faith, which too is a gift from God, and it is the key to achieving eternal life in heaven. Faith is what allows us to do His will. It is through faith that we receive salvation, and by doing God's will we can earn our place in His eternal kingdom.