AMAZING GRACE, AMAZING LOVE: 25th Sunday OT A

Dear Friends The readings this Sunday focus on the amazing love of God, the amazing grace. They encourage us to take stock of how we are responding to this amazing love. The Responsorial Psalm reminds us that God is near, but we must call to him and mean it. God is love, so he will not force himself upon us, but wait to be invited. In the First Reading, Isaiah picks up this theme, encouraging us to seek our gracious God while he may be found, to call on God while he is near. We need God’s mercy and we are in great need of God’s forgiveness. God is near. Let us not take this closeness for granted but cry out to him, now. While this life continues, God will continue to come to us and to invite us into the vineyard, whether it be early morning, noon, or just an hour away from nightfall. But, as Jesus reminds us in the Gospel, the time will come when it is too late. Furthermore, why would we want to spend much of the day living a half-life or a double-life? Why not live to the full in communion with this loving and life-giving God? Why not follow Paul’s advice in the Second Reading and ‘live your life in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ’?