Sunday, 9/24/17 – It’s Never Too Late

My son and I went to a minor league baseball game a few weeks ago here in Indianapolis, as a special father/son outing before the summer ended. We love baseball. We love to play it in the back yard, and we love to watch it together. Since it was a Friday night, the team provides a special fireworks show after the game, and it is always a really good display.

So we get there, early, in time for batting practice. My son gets a baseball thrown to him by one of the players, and then we move to our seats, food in hand, and settle in for the game. It’s a good game, we have great seats close to the action, the weather is perfect. Professional baseball has 9 innings in a standard game, and as we get into the 8th inning, the game is almost over, and we’ve moved down to the first row to some empty seats, to get even closer. Others have as well.

Then this group of people walk down the aisle, tickets in hand, and want their seats that some other people have been sitting in because, well, it’s the 8th inning, and no one has shown up yet. The people who had been sitting there politely move over, and the new group of people take their seats, the ones they had tickets for. I was thinking to myself, who shows up to their seats in the 8th inning of a baseball game?  Clearly, they had spent some time in one of the stadium bars, and they were coming down to their seats for one thing – those post game fireworks.

We all had tickets to the game, and if you buy tickets for a Friday night game, you know you are going to get fireworks at the end. That’s a special perk. And as long as you have a ticket, it doesn’t matter if you show up for batting practice and the whole 9 innings, or you show up in the 8th inning – you are going to get to see the players, and the fireworks!

We are all equal in this aspect. We all get the reward at the end of the game, regardless of when we show up.  It’s was what I thought of when I reflected on the Gospel reading for today… The workers who had been laboring all day in the vineyard, get a little upset when those who had been laboring only an hour get paid the same amount. But Jesus explains through the landowner, what does it matter? You agreed to a wage, and the landowner wants to give everyone the same reward, regardless when they showed up to work.

I was a little annoyed at first because my son and I and all the people around us had been there the entire game, and then these people show up late to just see the fireworks. Even though we were not in the seats we had tickets for, we were there early, no one had showed up in the first row, and so we moved down. When the late-comers came, there was a bit of grumbling, just like with the laborers in the vineyard. But then those late-comers had tickets too, we were in their seats, and so we politely slid over. We all had tickets, we all had a right to see the game and the fireworks show, no matter if we were there for first pitch, or just the last inning.

Our faith, and our reward in heaven is the same way, even more so. God wants to give us all He has. He’s constantly calling us all the same, offering us tickets, really good tickets, to His game in life and the reward of an eternal life in Heaven. So often though, we turn those tickets down because we say, “Oh, I’m too busy”, or “I don’t like the game”, or “I just don’t want to go. But I do want to see those fireworks!”

God wants us to see His game in life, how He plays into the little moments of everyday life, the beauty of it, and even though there may be boring moments in the game from time to time, there is so much to see and enjoy!  He wants us to see all nine innings. He wants us to labor all day, all of our life and do His Will.

But He also just simply wants us to show up, no matter when that is, and get into the stadium before the game is over, get to our seats, and be there for the fireworks.

God’s calling us to follow Him in life, so we can see the joy that is in all of us, and see Him in all those around us. In the little things. And when we finally choose to do so, and embrace Him and embrace His Grace, whether it’s for an entire life, or on our deathbed, He will give us our amazing reward of an eternal life, the fireworks of a Heaven beyond all imagination.

It doesn’t matter how old you are, when you became Catholic, when you choose to start truly embracing the faith, Holy Scripture, and the Sacraments. Of course, God wants us to show up early and do it our entire lives so that perhaps we can learn to do His will and be His light, be His example to as many people as we can.

But as long as we are there, waiting, yearning for Him, He’ll keep calling us, asking us to enter, until we finally do so and take our seats. And those who were there first will simply slide over, inviting us in.  And we’ll be there, to enter into the glory of Heaven with so many other faithful, together.

About the Author

My name is Joe LaCombe, and I am a Software Developer in Fishers, Indiana in the USA. My wife Kristy and I have been married for 19 years and we have an awesome boy, Joseph, who is in 5th Grade! We are members of St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Carmel, Indiana where we volunteer with various adult faith ministries. I love writing, and spending time with my family out in the nature that God created, and contemplating His wonders. I find a special connection with God in the silence and little things of everyday life, and I love sharing those experiences with all of you.

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13 Comments

  1. What an inspiring reflection Joe. Yes we truly have an awesome God who loves us immensely and continues to call us to respond to His love. He waits patiently for us to open our hearts to Him. God bless you and your family.

  2. Thank You for this reflection. Indeed everyday, every single moment of our life God is calling us. God is speaking to us. Just like with the Gospel today and with your reflection. GOD reminds me again that he is a GOD of LOVE, of MERCY and of COMPASSION. That it doesn’t matter whether we heed his call last min, as long as we answer him, he will give ALL what he has prepared for us. AMEN

  3. I think if Jesus was talking to many is us today (especially sports fans) he may use baseball instead of the laborers story, just like you did. Great way to explain it, thank you!

  4. I really enjoy how you use your own personal experiences as interesting analogies to help explain the Scriptures. I will try more to see the events in my life in a spiritual way instead of reacting out of emotion, especially when things aren’t going the way I intended. My hubby and I were out on a date night to the movies and teenage girls were sitting in our seats. They were not as polite as the people in your story and were kind of trying to reason with us that there were 4 of them and they couldn’t find seats next to each other. I was starting to get annoyed inside and I could tell my hubby was too. But he politely explained to them that their behavior wasn’t right. They reluctantly moved and whispered to one another. I’m pretty sure they weren’t saying very nice things. We saw them move from seat to seat as people told them they were in the wrong seats. There can be alot said as well for people who want to get into the banquet or party in Heaven, but don’t have the mindset to do things the proper way. We can’t cheat our way into Heaven. Thank you, Joe, for an enlightening reflection once again!

  5. Hello, Joe.

    A wonderful reflection (as usual).

    @ El.
    I agree with you about the need to have the patience to let things play out, even when we think they are going haywire despite our best efforts.

    It calls to mind how (at a time I was less spiritually mature) i woke up very late, had a flat tire out of the blue and got my attention diverted by time-bound errands, the morning i had designated, to register for a T’ai Chi Juan class.

    I didn’t know better then. It’s later I found out that those traditional martial arts have a strong foundation in paganism. I have since been speaking out against them and I use this platform to discourage anyone who intends to participate in such.

    …back to today’s reflection: Thank you Joe and God bless

  6. Thanks for the wonderful reflection reminding us that God does not tire in calling us back to Him. He does so many times in a day until we hear the calling and come back to Him. God bless you

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