I love this parable. I call it the "What's it to ya?" parable. In other words, what business is it of ours how God blesses others? As the first reading says, God's ways are not our ways, and thankfully so. If we all got what we deserved, none of us would ever make it to heaven.
Thank you Bishop Barron. I suppose I have never understood why we wouldn’t want everyone to go to heaven. Life isn’t a competition and God is bigger than we can imagine as is the beauty of his Grace and forgiveness.
@guennieknight1576 Absolutely! What did Jesus promise you? Heaven. What did He promise me? Heaven. We all get the perfect Kingdom. What's the problem w that?
Thank God !!! I’m a convert, people don’t understand how hard it is to be so lost, so long , and not have the blessings being Catholic offers. The peace that mass reveals is so beyond the fear and pure terror of not having a rudder. Only yourself for help when the devil is beating down your door. It’s like being in the blackest place in the world. “ cradle Catholics “ have a hard time understanding how dark life is without Jesus. It’s not a picnic being lost and scared. It’s not fun to find the guilt will not ever go away. And satan can beat you night and day with it. Being saved is like the brightest sunshine in the darkest cave, a way to end the torment. So very grateful for Jesus !!!!
This is such an insightful witness. Thank you and God bless you! I am a “cradle Catholic” but did not fully realize the thing you said about guilt until I was in my 40’s. Only through Confession and regular eating of the flesh of Jesus (Holy Communion, John 6:56) can we wash away guilt, which as you say, will torment us forever if not released.
You're right, cradle Catholic here, and I really can't understand life without Jesus. I am really grateful that I was born into a Catholic family. I have dry times of prayer, it has to be harder when one doesn't have the Catholic Tradition to keep us going during those times.
Thanks for sharing your testimony. Absolutely fits in the description that Bishop Barron used to explain the parable when he mentioned what St Catherine of Sienna stated that the path to heaven is heaven itself which we cradle Catholics are privileged to tread upon in our earthly lives, if we follow the path shown by our Lord and Saviour Jesus but which the non Christians do not know about and hence are in the situation that our sister here experienced prior to coming into the Catholic faith.
The problem is looking at Heaven as a reward. It's not a reward, it's a gift, an inheritance, God's freely given grace and love. It belongs to us all, but many of us refuse to accept it.
As someone who came to the Catholic Church at 69, and to true Love of Other, I feel like the worker who started at the end of the day. I thank God always for His mercy to me for allowing me to find the Church and her Sacraments, which bring me peace and unity with the Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that you if possible go to daily Mass as Bishop Barron does and also he is a daily hourly adorer of the Blessed Sacrament. IT would build yourselve treasure of Heaven Ie.Grace. God makes us his children to receive the best of His gifts in His dearly Beloved SON at Mass daily!! Even though we Will all rejoice with the Angels over 1 repentant sinner, the reward in Heaven Will be different one from the other. And theMass Will increase extraordinarily Our capacity to see God Face to Face for all eternity, if we are fervent and humbly ask this of Him at Mass for ourselves and all Mankind and the Angelic Hosts before our personal judgement.. A quote about the different degrees of happiness in Heaven. Diary of ST Faustina Kowalska and St Teresa of Avila and Fr Boudreaux FJ Diary of St Faustina K 605 O Holy Trinity, Eternal God, I thank You for allowing me to know the greatness and the various degrees of glory to which souls attain. Oh, what a great difference of depth in the knowledge of God there is between one degree and another! Oh, if people could only know this! O my God, if I were thereby able to attain one more degree, I would gladly suffer all the torments of the martyrs put together. (68) Truly, all those torments seem as nothing to me compared with the glory that is awaiting us for all eternity. O Lord, immerse my soul in the ocean of Your divinity and grant me the grace of knowing You; for the better I know You, the more I desire You, and the more my love for You grows. I feel in my soul an unfathomable abyss which only god can fill. I lose myself in Him as a drop does in the ocean. The Lord has inclined himself to my misery like a ray of the sun upon a barren and rocky desert. And yet, under the influence of His rays, my soul has become covered with verdure, flowers, and fruit, and has become a beautiful garden for His repose. 606 My Jesus, despite Your graces, I see and feel all my misery. I begin my day with battle and end it with battle. As soon as I conquer one obstacle, ten more appear (69) to take its place. But I am not worried, because I know that this is the time of struggle, not peace. When the burden of the battle becomes too much for me, I throw myself like a child into the arms of the heavenly Father and trust I will not perish. O my Jesus, how prone I am to evil, and this forces me to be constantly vigilant. But I do not lose heart. I trust God‟s grace, which abounds in the worst misery. 607 In the midst of the worst difficulties and adversities, I do not lose inner peace or exterior balance, and this discourages my adversaries. Patience in adversity gives power to the soul. 608 February 2, [1936]. ST Teresa of Avila -Autobiography Chapter 37 I can say, then, that if I were asked whether I should prefer to endure all the trials in the world until the world itself ends, and afterwards to gain a little more glory, or to have no trials and attain to one degree less of glory, I should answer that I would most gladly accept all the trials in exchange for a little more fruition in the understanding of the wonders of God, for I see that he who understands Him best loves and praises Him best.
You know, Bishop, if you keep this up you might just shape my faith. Prior to tuning into you, I would say I had no faith. What you have done and continue to do for me, to me, truly is a miracle. God bless you for that, and thank you!
There is no bigger joy to me than to see people that weren't with the Lord all their life come back to Him. That only strenghtens my faith, it doesn't make it less.
This was exactly my Mom and her younger sister-in-law. At my Aunt's memorial, I had a chance to speak and I read this Gospel. I hope my Mom "heard" it. Rejoice whenever ANYONE at ANY TIME joins the Vineyard!!!
As a Catholic all my life, I have heard this parable many times. But never before have I heard it explained this way. Thank you Bishop for helping me see the message of ‘Love’ being at the heart of this parable and of Heaven itself.❤
I figure that if there are those who can get into heaven at the last moment, then there’s hope for me! Thankful for God’s great mercy! There is room for all of us! Thanks be to God! 🕊
God’s grace is a gift to all - deserving or not - it’s all up to us to accept God’s grace. Thank you Bishop - this sermon wipes away selfishness and enhances generosity. God is good.
just read all the comments.i am teachable today.because of health issues i am semihousebound.i am able to go to mass online because if the internet.i am blessed to have a sponcer and a12thstep programme.and a telephone to keep in touch with my friends in aa and in the church,as well as good neighbours.bishop barron is a execellent preacher and is full of the holy spirit,god bless him,he is in my prayers
As a faithful Catholic, I applied this parable to other people. Today, I am confronted by it. I honestly believed that heaven was a "Candyland" waiting for me as a reward. Need to do a lot of work to live "heaven on earth" the way Bishop Barron describes it. God Bless you Father Bishop!
This may be the best homily I have ever heard. So beautiful, so meaningful, and so very prescient to my life at the moment. You came time just time, Bishop Barron.
Whenever this gospel comes up, I always think that unlike the person who gains heaven very late in life, I have had a lifetime of joy knowing and relying on the love of God through all my trials that the person who got " paid" late in the day never had.
Exactly! They didn't "get" to live like a demon their whole lives. There is nothing to gain living like the devil. And no one should be jealous of someone who did. They call things "hellish" for a reason
Thank you “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another.” Galatians 5:13
Dante has a demon complain about a “lagrimetta”, a “tiny little tear”, in his Purgatorio, that Buonconte de Montefeltro shed just before dying, which granted him salvation. Great way to express the immensity of God’s mercy. God bless you all.
Thank you ever so much for your contemplation on what Heaven is really like it’s not about Reward It’s about Mercy on our fellow humans at least that what I came away with, fullness of Love is Mercy Toronto Ontario Canada 🇨🇦
Pray for me, pray for everyone. This is a beautiful homily Bishop, I understand the parable but the hard part is putting it to action. It highlights my brokeness that I’m unable to will the good of others that have done me wrong or that seem to have it much easier than me. With God by my side I will continue to work on this.
Although a cradle Catholic, my effort to live the mission to which Our Lord has called me surely is a meager attempt at best. I therefore take comfort as I place myself in this parable as the worker that showed up later in the day, that I will be given the full reward. Praise Our Lord and Saviour for His great mercy!
Thank you Bishop Barton . Your sermon made me suddenly open my mind . Like suddenly seeing sunshine after a long darkness. I always feel I have nothing and even lost my health. But after your sermon, I can smile. I sort of feeling I can detach the things on this earth. I am feeling I can be happy if all those who are having everything go to heaven. So they and me can be in heaven together. We only need to love others. This is Our Father want and be pleased.
Yet ppl have the audacity to still hate on him. I love this bishop, I literally can feel the Holy Spirit from him, that also applies to Fr. Mike. As well as Fr. Casey
@@generalyousif3640 Well, he did tell Ben Shapiro basically that he didn't need Jesus. He spewed some sort of modernist nonsense about Jesus being "the privileged way." No, Jesus is the only way.
Bishop Barron, as a new Catholic ( was confirmed last Epiphany) , I want to thank you for this ministry. I look forward each week for your latest homily. This one is particularly compelling, thought provoking, insightful and convicting, as a good homily should be. I want you to know how much this ministry, your TH-cam channel and Word on Fire have helped to form my early Catholic faith, and continues to do so. I am in the Minneapolis area and find it exciting that you are now in Southern Minnesota. I hope someday in the not to distant future you visit us at my church, the Basilica of St. Mary It would be a great honor to shake your hand Blessings
Thank you Bishop Barron for this great lesson on this parable. We all have engrained in ourselves a fear of missing out and not getting enough. But another person getting the same as you, doesn't mean you are now getting less. I struggle a lot with this sense of justice, I'm praying to have more love towards others, even if that means sometimes that it's not exactly even all the time.
I'm not Catholic but a Christian. Love would welcome that individual who came to Christ at the end of His/her life. We would be so happy for that person who got the message and spiritually understood the Gospel. Thats a huge praise God. Thank you, Bishop Barron!
Dear Bishop Barrow, thank you very much for your deep insights regarding Jesus, our Lord and the Holy Bible. This is my first comment I post after being your follower for some time. Listening to your comments about last Sunday reading of the Gospel it just came to my mind one thought, in the same way as you said from St Catalina “the way to Heaven is Heaven” , and it is: The only way to accept that love is first and beyond justice, is liberating ourselves from that selfish sight of reality where we tend to only watch our relationship with others (comparing ourselves with others) rather than paying attention to that unique love relationship of God with others including us. We need to forget about ourselves otherwise we remain blind related to God’s love.
I greatly appreciated you sermon, Bisop Baron. It brought to remembrance a hymn/prayer I composed for my wife's memorial service. I prayed that her Heavenly Father would embrace her, and she would experience "Eternal Love, more powerful and pure than she's ever known/ with Joy and Peace from Streams of Living Waters flowing from God's throne!". The final portion, I prayed the same thing for myself as for my wife, with this change, "Heavenly Father, send a band of angels, bear my soul to heaven on wings of love./Let me find there, my beloved laughing, rushing to embrace me with arms of love!" If Eternal Joy can be increased in the presence of Eternal Love, it is only in discovering that those you love themselves are experiencing Eternal Love, and learning to love our enemies will be a source of Eternal Joy. As one pastor noted, "How else was the Christ to die, but with His arms stretched wide, ready to embrace the whole world?"
I really don’t know what it is Bishop Barron, but your sermon or lectures had always opened me up with the beauty of your Divine teaching. You had inspired me ever since with your words of Wisdom and Grace. ❤
It is nice to know that everybody will be saved because I believe that each person, if not earlier, at the end of their lives, repents and asks God for forgiveness. God has his ways of making this happen. Thank you God for your infinite and incomprehensible mercy.
I love this parable! I do try my best to be the best Catholic I can be, but in case I mess up, I might still make it to heaven because of God's mercy! Why wouldn't I want others to have that chance too!? Heaven isn't limited in space nor is it limited in love and goodness!! Thanks be to God that His ways are not our ways!! I can't thank Him enough for keeping control out of our pathetic, puny, hands and minds!
I really appreciate the English subtitles in your videos; not all ministries do this extra work to make their content more friendly and accessible; Thank you Bishop Barron and your team. God bless!
God Bless you Bishop Barron. Something that (without knowing the parable) has bothered me, (concerned me), all my life. And today it becomes clear to me. I'm not Catholic, but still a Christian. What a wonderful insight into love and righteousness I did not grasp before. Thank yo so much Bishop Barron. This man is a treasure.
I really am drawn to Bishop Barton’s compassion for all of us. I find him very kind - not to the point of not believing or having a standard but showing it’s fruitfulness. thank you!
Thank you bishop Barron for your sermons in which I absorb every word. They are like the most comfortable and soothing words as if one parent would talk to his child, careful and with love. I feel safe, loved, and calm when I listen to you despite my everyday difficulties.
Can I not rejoice when someone is saved? What joy is mine to see someone experience the love of Jesus, which is the same joy when I share the journey with those who love Jesus. It's like a child taking her first step. We rejoice! Thank you, Bishop Barron. 1 Tm 2:4 God desires that ALL people be saved. Who couldn't be happy with that?
Unconditional love is the lesson learned - thank you Bishop for clarifying the lesson. God bless you, your priesthood and your ministry Bishop Barron 🙏🏼😇
The gospel last Sunday (September 24, 2023) is something that has bothered and bewildered me for the longest time. In a gist, the gospel is about a master who asked laborers to work for him in the field. Those who worked at the start of the day at 8 am were paid the same as those who started working at the last hour. As far as I could remember, I had always thought this was unfair. Still unfair even if the master chooses to be generous. Well, it's been this way with me it until God answered my prayer. For a couple of years, I've been telling Him, "God, I do not understand how the master in the gospel could give the same salary to those who worked the whole day and to those who worked at the last hour. I know that you are generous, but I really feel some unfairness here." I continued, "I understand that the salary paid is salvation. The person who, during his entire life, did good works will be saved (like Mother Teresa) and those who converted and believed in (or converted to) Jesus at the last minute (like St. Dismas during the crucifixion beside Jesus) will likewise be welcomed into paradise. I perfectly understand how the early laborers felt about getting paid the same wage." As I was pondering this parable, something in my heart and mind simultaneously spoke: "It is not that Mother Teresa lived her life for me to be saved. It was because she loved me that she offered her life to others for me. She was happy doing what she did because of her love. She was happy for anyone to be paid the same as she was paid, which was salvation. IT IS ALL ABOUT LOVE." "It is because you think as people think. If you compare your work to what others do for salvation, then you will feel the unfairness. It is when you live your life loving me, then there will be no comparing with how others are doing. And you will be happy when everyone is rewarded with eternal life, even those who have done badly in life and changed at the last minute." My heart overflowed with joy at the homily I received from God that day. Thanks and praise be to God!
It’s not complete heaven unless we are all there together. Unless all my family and friends and country men and Catholic Church are all there, it’s not complete. I’m already with God, anywhere we are, here on earth, I’m already with God. We must pray for those who are not there yet. Because we belong to God, we are His. I kneel to you My Lord in the name of All, my knees are our knees. I sing your praises in the name of all of us. I love you in our name. I am completely Yours my Love, My home is yours Father, my family is yours, every friend of mine is yours, their families are yours, my building is yours, my parish is yours, my city is yours, my country is yours, every business here is yours, my government is yours, police, military, firemen, all yours. The beaches are yours, the coast is yours, the Andes are yours, the jungle is yours, the oceans are yours, the rivers are yours, every country is yours, the church is completely yours, the whole world is yours. Bring us to you my Lord. Keep us close because we are yours forever. Take our hearts, your hearts and minds. We are your family, your people, your sons and daughters. Always as one and always as unity, in communion. With you and yours. We love you. Amen
Thank you for this great explanation. This reminds me of the prodigal son parable. When the father celebrated the return of his younger son, the elder son was unhappy and said to his father: Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. - Luke 15:29-30, The father replied: ... Be glad, for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. - Luke 15:32 A lover of God loves his neighbor as himself: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. - Mark 12:30-31 Therefore, one should seek his neighbor's salvation as he does for his own. He would not ask for himself more that he does for others. Peace with you!
When I'm physically exhausted from serving my fellow man. You reminded me that Jesus is the way. I don't do this on my own, our Lord is right beside me. Thanks for the constant reminder to Love.
I was lucky. Raised so different. Heaven is within me, I rejoice every second. Jesus is within me I honor him be being him every day. Heaven is now, here, today! Rejoice
Dear Bishop, you rarely fail to bring the spiritual salve. Another great homily that brings me back to the scriptures with an intentional heart and mind. For me no one does it better, and I am eternally grateful for the nourishment. I heard a little something else today i started my day with it, and finished it with you. It went something like this.... "You can't out love God". Well maybe not, and that is a beautiful, comforting thought to ponder, but you have expounded on this verse for me today, by giving me the impetus to try 😁. Because you are right, that truly is where heaven lies for all of us. God bless
If we are subject to Gods just judgment at death…none will make heaven. That’s the point. Jesus is our REDEEMER. From original sin. From evil. That we cannot defeat, hence Jesus Christ DID. We just need to take our cross and follow HIM.
The Total mysterious Glory of our Lords DIVINE MERCY amen amen - we are ALL sinners praise be to God !! Jesus to St Faustina : The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy. My mercy is confirmed in every work of My hands. He who trusts in My mercy will not perish, for all his affairs are Mine, and his enemies will be shattered at the base of My footstool.” -Diary 723
Bishop Barron's reflection reminds me of the resrntment of the older brother in the Prodigal Son story to the heartfelt welcome , abundant generosity and forgiveness shown by his Father to his wayward brother on his return home. Having always done what his father asked, the older brother is now aggrieved by the unfaireness of it all.
"The way to heaven is itself heaven". I relate this to the Beatitudes. Is it right to say this? Because, like you said, whatever opportunity of grace given to us in this life to help us to live a life of virtue is our way to heaven. Thank you Bishop Barron for the beautiful reflection of this gospel.
Thank you for this, Bishop Barron. It is always good to remember that authentic love is not an emotional response. Sometimes love calls for sacrificing oneself for the good of another. To understand that is a special grace. I love what you said that living ‘in the Way’ is already living in heaven.’ How wonderful to realize that. God bless you!
Thank you Bishop Barron for preaching..I an beginning to understand the meaning of the gospel..and finding myself wanting to understand more ..in wanting love God more ❤
I appreciate hearing Bishop Barron's take on this parable, that if we complain that someone gets to Heaven by not having to endure the drudgery of the way there, we need further repentance so that we see the path to Heaven not just as a slog through this life to something better, but to see Heaven as Heaven itself, which, by the way, reminds me of St. Catherine of Siena. We should be indeed glad to participate in the work of God's Kingdom now, which we'll do for Eternity, much longer than whatever amount of time any of us spends on it while on Earth. Indeed, God's grace can't be quantified, and we should be glad that God pours it out abundantly, so that on our way to Heaven, we can experience Heaven.
Certainly, let's enjoy the ride as well as we can but I don't think we need to "further repent" when we notice life can be difficult, and more difficult for some folks than for others. We all have our ups and downs.
I used to be in the 'that's not fair group', then somewhere along the way I saw this situation as 'there's hope for me!'. If even the last worker, or the thief can be rewarded, then there is hope for me. Thank you Bishop for showing I have some more steps to go through to see this as love and the best for the other.
When I started taking God seriously 6 years ago, ( I'm 63) and asked God for forgiveness, it was as He said; I want to forgive you, but you will have to forgive your parents and your ex-husband. It took me 3 years, because those 3 were really sick in their heads and I could not understand that I would meet them in Heaven.(When I say sexual abuse 🤕) Now I thank God every day for giving me those 3 years. When I was finally able to forgive them, Jesus came to live in my heart. Now I pray for my parents and my ex, that they have turn to Jesus and said: "forgive me Lord," (they al 3 have died) It same idea as Dismas on the cross. I also pray for my children, that they too can find the Love of Jesus again, May God open their eyes as He opened mine. Thank you Bishop Barron, I hope my children hear you and read this. May God continue to bless you for all your good works. Greetings and love from Angelique Harmsen from the Netherlands 🇳🇱 🥳🎉👍🙏🙏🙏
63 years with a Catholic upbringing and today I understand this parable. I found you, Bishop Barron during COVID and am forever grateful.
He is a true apostle.
i also have understood this parable for the first time! Im 65.
@@anneturner2759
@@Ghostwriter-o6c May God heal you and comfort you and bless you and your children 🙏
"Kindness is it's own reward." Proverbs 11:17-19
Praise the Lord ❤
I love this parable. I call it the "What's it to ya?" parable. In other words, what business is it of ours how God blesses others? As the first reading says, God's ways are not our ways, and thankfully so. If we all got what we deserved, none of us would ever make it to heaven.
Thank you Bishop Barron. I suppose I have never understood why we wouldn’t want everyone to go to heaven. Life isn’t a competition and God is bigger than we can imagine as is the beauty of his Grace and forgiveness.
Amen! Exactly
@guennieknight1576 Absolutely! What did Jesus promise you? Heaven. What did He promise me? Heaven. We all get the perfect Kingdom.
What's the problem w that?
Amen🕊️ Thank you Bishop Barron
I agree we should be rejoicing with those who make it to heaven!!
Thanks for gods love and your teaching together with many of you.Last jugdment ?!
Thank God !!! I’m a convert, people don’t understand how hard it is to be so lost, so long , and not have the blessings being Catholic offers. The peace that mass reveals is so beyond the fear and pure terror of not having a rudder. Only yourself for help when the devil is beating down your door. It’s like being in the blackest place in the world. “ cradle Catholics “ have a hard time understanding how dark life is without Jesus. It’s not a picnic being lost and scared. It’s not fun to find the guilt will not ever go away. And satan can beat you night and day with it. Being saved is like the brightest sunshine in the darkest cave, a way to end the torment. So very grateful for Jesus !!!!
This is such an insightful witness. Thank you and God bless you! I am a “cradle Catholic” but did not fully realize the thing you said about guilt until I was in my 40’s. Only through Confession and regular eating of the flesh of Jesus (Holy Communion, John 6:56) can we wash away guilt, which as you say, will torment us forever if not released.
You're right, cradle Catholic here, and I really can't understand life without Jesus. I am really grateful that I was born into a Catholic family. I have dry times of prayer, it has to be harder when one doesn't have the Catholic Tradition to keep us going during those times.
Thanks for sharing your testimony. Absolutely fits in the description that Bishop Barron used to explain the parable when he mentioned what St Catherine of Sienna stated that the path to heaven is heaven itself which we cradle Catholics are privileged to tread upon in our earthly lives, if we follow the path shown by our Lord and Saviour Jesus but which the non Christians do not know about and hence are in the situation that our sister here experienced prior to coming into the Catholic faith.
May God bless and keep you 🙏
Welcome ❤
The problem is looking at Heaven as a reward. It's not a reward, it's a gift, an inheritance, God's freely given grace and love. It belongs to us all, but many of us refuse to accept it.
Bishop has indeed clarified this as it should be.
With God, real Love always comes first, not other virtues, even being so important for us to look and pray for them all!
Thanks, Bishop Barron!
How do you know there is a god and heaven to begin with?
@@DudeNamedDuncanWhat car?
@@mar.albalbuquerque3996Was it love when your gods sanctioned slavery and genocide?
As someone who came to the Catholic Church at 69, and to true Love of Other, I feel like the worker who started at the end of the day. I thank God always for His mercy to me for allowing me to find the Church and her Sacraments, which bring me peace and unity with the Lord Jesus Christ.
God Bless you. Thank you for your testimony.
Welcome!
I pray that you if possible go to daily Mass as Bishop Barron does and also he is a daily hourly adorer of the Blessed Sacrament.
IT would build yourselve treasure of Heaven Ie.Grace. God makes us his children to receive the best of His gifts in His dearly Beloved SON at Mass daily!!
Even though we Will all rejoice with the Angels over 1 repentant sinner, the reward in Heaven Will be different one from the other. And theMass Will increase extraordinarily Our capacity to see God Face to Face for all eternity, if we are fervent and humbly ask this of Him at Mass for ourselves and all Mankind and the Angelic Hosts before our personal judgement..
A quote about the different degrees of happiness in Heaven.
Diary of ST Faustina Kowalska and St Teresa of Avila and Fr Boudreaux FJ
Diary of St Faustina K
605 O Holy Trinity, Eternal God, I thank You for allowing me to know the greatness and the various degrees of glory to which souls attain. Oh, what a great difference of depth in the knowledge of God there is between one degree and another! Oh, if
people could only know this! O my God, if I were thereby able to attain one more degree, I would gladly suffer all the torments of the martyrs put together. (68) Truly, all those torments seem as nothing to me compared with the glory that is awaiting us for all eternity. O Lord, immerse my soul in the ocean of Your divinity and grant me the grace of knowing You; for the better I know You, the more I desire You, and the more my love for You grows. I feel in my soul an unfathomable abyss which only god can fill. I lose myself in Him as a drop does in the ocean. The Lord has inclined himself to my misery like a ray of the sun upon a barren and rocky desert. And yet, under the influence of His rays, my soul has become covered with verdure, flowers, and fruit, and has become a beautiful garden for His repose.
606 My Jesus, despite Your graces, I see and feel all my misery. I begin my day with battle and end it with battle. As soon as I conquer one obstacle, ten more appear (69) to take its place. But I am not worried, because I know that this is the time of struggle, not peace. When the burden of the battle becomes too much for me, I throw myself like a child into the arms of the heavenly Father and trust I will not perish. O my Jesus, how prone I am to evil, and this forces me to be constantly vigilant. But I do not lose heart. I trust God‟s grace, which abounds in the worst misery.
607 In the midst of the worst difficulties and adversities, I do not lose inner peace or exterior balance, and this discourages my adversaries. Patience in adversity gives power to the soul.
608 February 2, [1936].
ST Teresa of Avila -Autobiography Chapter 37
I can say, then, that if I were asked whether I should prefer to endure all the trials in the world until the world itself ends, and afterwards to gain a little more glory, or to have no trials and attain to one degree less of glory, I should answer that I would most gladly accept all the trials in exchange for a little more fruition in the understanding of the wonders of God, for I see that he who understands Him best loves and praises Him best.
Welcome 🙏
May God bless and keep you
So well said - thank you! I too am very late . . . . and I am so blessed that I am still permitted to work/earn a wage (so to speak).
You know, Bishop, if you keep this up you might just shape my faith. Prior to tuning into you, I would say I had no faith. What you have done and continue to do for me, to me, truly is a miracle. God bless you for that, and thank you!
God bless you! And keep listening! ❤
This is how God works ! Go with it …. This is precisely how God works .. Yey!
If this man isn't a living Saint, he's a great teacher!
There is no bigger joy to me than to see people that weren't with the Lord all their life come back to Him. That only strenghtens my faith, it doesn't make it less.
This was exactly my Mom and her younger sister-in-law. At my Aunt's memorial, I had a chance to speak and I read this Gospel. I hope my Mom "heard" it. Rejoice whenever ANYONE at ANY TIME joins the Vineyard!!!
As a Catholic all my life, I have heard this parable many times. But never before have I heard it explained this way. Thank you Bishop for helping me see the message of ‘Love’ being at the heart of this parable and of Heaven itself.❤
The bishop has indeed brought a new light of understanding this parable
I figure that if there are those who can get into heaven at the last moment, then there’s hope for me!
Thankful for God’s great mercy! There is room for all of us! Thanks be to God! 🕊
Glory To The Triune GOD
Beautifully explained. I am always thrilled to hear that an unbeliever has come to the Light of Jesus before it was too late.
God’s grace is a gift to all - deserving or not - it’s all up to us to accept God’s grace. Thank you Bishop - this sermon wipes away selfishness and enhances generosity. God is good.
I love it! The way to Heaven is Heaven! Thank you for that Bishop Barron. All of it! So good! 💜💜💜
just read all the comments.i am teachable today.because of health issues i am semihousebound.i am able to go to mass online because if the internet.i am blessed to have a sponcer and a12thstep programme.and a telephone to keep in touch with my friends in aa and in the church,as well as good neighbours.bishop barron is a execellent preacher and is full of the holy spirit,god bless him,he is in my prayers
God bless you!
As a faithful Catholic, I applied this parable to other people. Today, I am confronted by it. I honestly believed that heaven was a "Candyland" waiting for me as a reward. Need to do a lot of work to live "heaven on earth" the way Bishop Barron describes it. God Bless you Father Bishop!
This may be the best homily I have ever heard. So beautiful, so meaningful, and so very prescient to my life at the moment. You came time just time, Bishop Barron.
Whenever this gospel comes up, I always think that unlike the person who gains heaven very late in life, I have had a lifetime of joy knowing and relying on the love of God through all my trials that the person who got " paid" late in the day never had.
Exactly! They didn't "get" to live like a demon their whole lives. There is nothing to gain living like the devil. And no one should be jealous of someone who did. They call things "hellish" for a reason
Thank you
“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another.”
Galatians 5:13
Reminds me of something a favorite pastor once said: If God was fair I’d be dead, but instead He’s merciful.
Dante has a demon complain about a “lagrimetta”, a “tiny little tear”, in his Purgatorio, that Buonconte de Montefeltro shed just before dying, which granted him salvation. Great way to express the immensity of God’s mercy. God bless you all.
🤯 that’s superb insight. Thanks.
Thank you ever so much for your contemplation on what Heaven is really like it’s not about
Reward
It’s about Mercy on our fellow humans
at least that what I came away with, fullness of Love is Mercy
Toronto Ontario Canada 🇨🇦
Thanks for explaining the parable.
Pray for me, pray for everyone. This is a beautiful homily Bishop, I understand the parable but the hard part is putting it to action. It highlights my brokeness that I’m unable to will the good of others that have done me wrong or that seem to have it much easier than me. With God by my side I will continue to work on this.
Wonderful teaching Bishop Barron, I thank you. God bless you
Jane Australia
Although a cradle Catholic, my effort to live the mission to which Our Lord has called me surely is a meager attempt at best. I therefore take comfort as I place myself in this parable as the worker that showed up later in the day, that I will be given the full reward. Praise Our Lord and Saviour for His great mercy!
The reward for following the ten commandments is in having followed the commandments. Heaven and hell are real in this life as well as the next
Thank you Bishop Barton . Your sermon made me suddenly open my mind . Like suddenly seeing sunshine after a long darkness. I always feel I have nothing and even lost my health. But after your sermon, I can smile. I sort of feeling I can detach the things on this earth. I am feeling I can be happy if all those who are having everything go to heaven. So they and me can be in heaven together. We only need to love others. This is Our Father want and be pleased.
Bishop Barron is one of the few voices today that represents authentic catholicism (while avoiding any extremes)
And bishop has understood how hungry people of God are for the spirit filled sermons.
Yet ppl have the audacity to still hate on him.
I love this bishop, I literally can feel the Holy Spirit from him, that also applies to Fr. Mike. As well as Fr. Casey
@@generalyousif3640 Well, he did tell Ben Shapiro basically that he didn't need Jesus. He spewed some sort of modernist nonsense about Jesus being "the privileged way." No, Jesus is the only way.
@@MillionthUsername ngl, not his finest moment there
Bishop Barron, as a new Catholic ( was confirmed last Epiphany) , I want to thank you for this ministry.
I look forward each week for your latest homily. This one is particularly compelling, thought provoking, insightful and convicting, as a good homily should be. I want you to know how much this ministry, your TH-cam channel and Word on Fire have helped to form my early Catholic faith, and continues to do so.
I am in the Minneapolis area and find it exciting that you are now in Southern Minnesota.
I hope someday in the not to distant future you visit us at my church, the Basilica of St. Mary
It would be a great honor to shake your hand
Blessings
Thank you Bishop Barron for this great lesson on this parable.
We all have engrained in ourselves a fear of missing out and not getting enough. But another person getting the same as you, doesn't mean you are now getting less. I struggle a lot with this sense of justice, I'm praying to have more love towards others, even if that means sometimes that it's not exactly even all the time.
You are a blessing Bischop Barron, we must be happy and thankfull to God when a sinner goes to heaven the place to be with humbleness
I'm not Catholic but a Christian. Love would welcome that individual who came to Christ at the end of His/her life. We would be so happy for that person who got the message and spiritually understood the Gospel. Thats a huge praise God. Thank you, Bishop Barron!
"I'm beyond this preoccupation of what's fair and unfair."
Listening to Bishop Barron's homilies is just what my soul needs and is worth my precious time. Thanks and God bless.
true
I agree!
By far one of the best sermons from Bishop Barron. This had me weeping. Thank you.
God is infinite love. Infinity can’t be divided; getting one trillionth of infinity is infinity.
We serve a just God, not a fair one. Fair would be we all go to hell. I always enjoy listening to Bishop Barron🙏🙂
Right you are!
Dear Bishop Barrow, thank you very much for your deep insights regarding Jesus, our Lord and the Holy Bible. This is my first comment I post after being your follower for some time. Listening to your comments about last Sunday reading of the Gospel it just came to my mind one thought, in the same way as you said from St Catalina “the way to Heaven is Heaven” , and it is: The only way to accept that love is first and beyond justice, is liberating ourselves from that selfish sight of reality where we tend to only watch our relationship with others (comparing ourselves with others) rather than paying attention to that unique love relationship of God with others including us. We need to forget about ourselves otherwise we remain blind related to God’s love.
I greatly appreciated you sermon, Bisop Baron. It brought to remembrance a hymn/prayer I composed for my wife's memorial service. I prayed that her Heavenly Father would embrace her, and she would experience "Eternal Love, more powerful and pure than she's ever known/ with Joy and Peace from Streams of Living Waters flowing from God's throne!". The final portion, I prayed the same thing for myself as for my wife, with this change, "Heavenly Father, send a band of angels, bear my soul to heaven on wings of love./Let me find there, my beloved laughing, rushing to embrace me with arms of love!"
If Eternal Joy can be increased in the presence of Eternal Love, it is only in discovering that those you love themselves are experiencing Eternal Love, and learning to love our enemies will be a source of Eternal Joy.
As one pastor noted, "How else was the Christ to die, but with His arms stretched wide, ready to embrace the whole world?"
Just beautiful, I hope for the same as I’m trying to be here without my darling husband. We knew bliss.
Beautiful sentiment. Thanks for sharing.
“the hell of your own self regard” - what a powerful image.
I really don’t know what it is Bishop Barron, but your sermon or lectures had always opened me up with the beauty of your Divine teaching. You had inspired me ever since with your words of Wisdom and Grace. ❤
Brilliant guy....thank you
Thank God. We have mercy God, so that everyone can be saved. It doesnt matter if it's fair or not. It's His prerogative. Amen
An enlightening treatment of this difficult parable. Most excellent Your Excellency!
When I realized the meaning of this story I was relieved that I had a shot at heaven. I love the generosity of God. Gives me peace.
It's a horrible situation for a soul to go to hell and a death-bed confession of a sinner is something to rejoice in. Another soul saved from hell.
Bishop, I cried a bit , I laughed a bit but I sure did feel very elated. Thank you for your interpretation. God bless you forever
Our judgements are often a mirror into our own souls. Lord have mercy on us 🙏 Thank you, dear Bishop!
It is nice to know that everybody will be saved because I believe that each person, if not earlier, at the end of their lives, repents and asks God for forgiveness. God has his ways of making this happen. Thank you God for your infinite and incomprehensible mercy.
This isnot what the Bishop is saying.
I love this parable! I do try my best to be the best Catholic I can be, but in case I mess up, I might still make it to heaven because of God's mercy! Why wouldn't I want others to have that chance too!? Heaven isn't limited in space nor is it limited in love and goodness!! Thanks be to God that His ways are not our ways!! I can't thank Him enough for keeping control out of our pathetic, puny, hands and minds!
God's Love (Heaven) is not something I earn, it is something that I surrender to.
I really appreciate the English subtitles in your videos; not all ministries do this extra work to make their content more friendly and accessible; Thank you Bishop Barron and your team. God bless!
God Bless you Bishop Barron. Something that (without knowing the parable) has bothered me, (concerned me), all my life. And today it becomes clear to me. I'm not Catholic, but still a Christian. What a wonderful insight into love and righteousness I did not grasp before. Thank yo so much Bishop Barron. This man is a treasure.
I really am drawn to Bishop Barton’s compassion for all of us. I find him very kind - not to the point of not believing or having a standard but showing it’s fruitfulness. thank you!
Thank you bishop Barron for your sermons in which I absorb every word. They are like the most comfortable and soothing words as if one parent would talk to his child, careful and with love. I feel safe, loved, and calm when I listen to you despite my everyday difficulties.
Godbess you Bishop Barron Thank you from a repentan sinner, Thank you father.
Dear Lord Jesus please forgive me and help me to live for Your Glory every single day in every situation 🙏 Ameeen!
Can I not rejoice when someone is saved? What joy is mine to see someone experience the love of Jesus, which is the same joy when I share the journey with those who love Jesus. It's like a child taking her first step. We rejoice! Thank you, Bishop Barron. 1 Tm 2:4 God desires that ALL people be saved. Who couldn't be happy with that?
Unconditional love is the lesson learned - thank you Bishop for clarifying the lesson.
God bless you, your priesthood and your ministry Bishop Barron 🙏🏼😇
The gospel last Sunday (September 24, 2023) is something that has bothered and bewildered me for the longest time.
In a gist, the gospel is about a master who asked laborers to work for him in the field. Those who worked at the start of the day at 8 am were paid the same as those who started working at the last hour. As far as I could remember, I had always thought this was unfair. Still unfair even if the master chooses to be generous.
Well, it's been this way with me it until God answered my prayer.
For a couple of years, I've been telling Him, "God, I do not understand how the master in the gospel could give the same salary to those who worked the whole day and to those who worked at the last hour. I know that you are generous, but I really feel some unfairness here."
I continued, "I understand that the salary paid is salvation. The person who, during his entire life, did good works will be saved (like Mother Teresa) and those who converted and believed in (or converted to) Jesus at the last minute (like St. Dismas during the crucifixion beside Jesus) will likewise be welcomed into paradise. I perfectly understand how the early laborers felt about getting paid the same wage."
As I was pondering this parable, something in my heart and mind simultaneously spoke:
"It is not that Mother Teresa lived her life for me to be saved. It was because she loved me that she offered her life to others for me. She was happy doing what she did because of her love. She was happy for anyone to be paid the same as she was paid, which was salvation. IT IS ALL ABOUT LOVE."
"It is because you think as people think. If you compare your work to what others do for salvation, then you will feel the unfairness. It is when you live your life loving me, then there will be no comparing with how others are doing. And you will be happy when everyone is rewarded with eternal life, even those who have done badly in life and changed at the last minute."
My heart overflowed with joy at the homily I received from God that day. Thanks and praise be to God!
It’s not complete heaven unless we are all there together. Unless all my family and friends and country men and Catholic Church are all there, it’s not complete. I’m already with God, anywhere we are, here on earth, I’m already with God. We must pray for those who are not there yet. Because we belong to God, we are His. I kneel to you My Lord in the name of All, my knees are our knees. I sing your praises in the name of all of us. I love you in our name. I am completely Yours my Love, My home is yours Father, my family is yours, every friend of mine is yours, their families are yours, my building is yours, my parish is yours, my city is yours, my country is yours, every business here is yours, my government is yours, police, military, firemen, all yours. The beaches are yours, the coast is yours, the Andes are yours, the jungle is yours, the oceans are yours, the rivers are yours, every country is yours, the church is completely yours, the whole world is yours. Bring us to you my Lord. Keep us close because we are yours forever. Take our hearts, your hearts and minds. We are your family, your people, your sons and daughters. Always as one and always as unity, in communion. With you and yours. We love you. Amen
Thank you
Thank you for this great explanation.
This reminds me of the prodigal son parable. When the father celebrated the return of his younger son, the elder son was unhappy and said to his father: Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
- Luke 15:29-30,
The father replied: ... Be glad, for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
- Luke 15:32
A lover of God loves his neighbor as himself:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.
- Mark 12:30-31
Therefore, one should seek his neighbor's salvation as he does for his own. He would not ask for himself more that he does for others.
Peace with you!
I love this so so so much! Coming onto my one year since my conversion. I pray all day for conversion of sinners
What a blessing for all of us to hear and have regular, free access to such clear and dedicated wisdom as that which Bishop Barron possesses.
Thankyou for this.
I wish every Catholic in America could hear you.
Born and raised Catholic and today I understood this parable. I'm forever grateful I found you, Bishop Barron. Dieu vous bénisse 🙏🏿
When I'm physically exhausted from serving my fellow man. You reminded me that Jesus is the way. I don't do this on my own, our Lord is right beside me. Thanks for the constant reminder to Love.
I was lucky. Raised so different. Heaven is within me, I rejoice every second. Jesus is within me I honor him be being him every day.
Heaven is now, here, today! Rejoice
Dear Bishop, you rarely fail to bring the spiritual salve. Another great homily that brings me back to the scriptures with an intentional heart and mind. For me no one does it better, and I am eternally grateful for the nourishment.
I heard a little something else today i started my day with it, and finished it with you. It went something like this....
"You can't out love God".
Well maybe not, and that is a beautiful, comforting thought to ponder, but you have expounded on this verse for me today, by giving me the impetus to try 😁. Because you are right, that truly is where heaven lies for all of us.
God bless
This parable is the antithesis of living in the judgmental attitude our culture has fallen into today. Thank you Bishop for your weekly reflections.❤
Thank you Bishop. I needed to hear this today ❤
You, are a good spiritual director for me, through sharing Gods word, and your interpretation of it.
This passage always makes me reconsider the true meaning of justice. We all need to think on it deeply.
If we are subject to Gods just judgment at death…none will make heaven. That’s the point. Jesus is our REDEEMER. From original sin. From evil. That we cannot defeat, hence Jesus Christ DID. We just need to take our cross and follow HIM.
Always enlightening. Thank you Bishop. 🙏 for you
A reminder that the gift of Heaven is pure Grace; as such, it is not payment for services rendered.
Bishop Barron, thank you for your time and effort and amazing insight. You are a great spiritual teacher. God bless you.
Keep it up bishop 💪
Following from Nigeria.
Thank you and God Bless
*"If we're caught in a pure-justice frame of mind, we haven't moved to the level of true love, willing the good of the other."* - BISHOP ROBERT BARRON
even aristole in the great philosophical tradition said that equity is a higher form of justice than equality.
@@ajsammut✨👍
Thank you bishop barron for explaining this parable. I understand it now more than ever. It's all about LOVE ❤
The Total mysterious Glory of our Lords DIVINE MERCY amen amen - we are ALL sinners praise be to God !! Jesus to St Faustina : The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy. My mercy is confirmed in every work of My hands. He who trusts in My mercy will not perish, for all his affairs are Mine, and his enemies will be shattered at the base of My footstool.” -Diary 723
He was a lost lamb, but he was found, we should all rejoice for that saved soul and be glad in it✝️
Bishop Barron's reflection reminds me of the resrntment of the older brother in the Prodigal Son story to the heartfelt welcome , abundant generosity and forgiveness shown by his Father to his wayward brother on his return home. Having always done what his father asked, the older brother is now aggrieved by the unfaireness of it all.
"The way to heaven is itself heaven". I relate this to the Beatitudes. Is it right to say this? Because, like you said, whatever opportunity of grace given to us in this life to help us to live a life of virtue is our way to heaven.
Thank you Bishop Barron for the beautiful reflection of this gospel.
Thank you for this, Bishop Barron. It is always good to remember that authentic love is not an emotional response. Sometimes love calls for sacrificing oneself for the good of another. To understand that is a special grace. I love what you said that living ‘in the Way’ is already living in heaven.’ How wonderful to realize that. God bless you!
Yes, "living in The Way" is beautiful!❤
Well said.Sometimes unbelievably beautiful even after a long life.@@bernadettelopes1512
Thank you Eminence! It always comes back to love!
Beautiful!
The best explanation I have ever heard!
You are the best teacher and treasure of our Church dear Bishop!!
Thank you Bishop Barron for preaching..I an beginning to understand the meaning of the gospel..and finding myself wanting to understand more ..in wanting love God more ❤
What a GREAT AHA I got from this sermon!
I appreciate hearing Bishop Barron's take on this parable, that if we complain that someone gets to Heaven by not having to endure the drudgery of the way there, we need further repentance so that we see the path to Heaven not just as a slog through this life to something better, but to see Heaven as Heaven itself, which, by the way, reminds me of St. Catherine of Siena. We should be indeed glad to participate in the work of God's Kingdom now, which we'll do for Eternity, much longer than whatever amount of time any of us spends on it while on Earth. Indeed, God's grace can't be quantified, and we should be glad that God pours it out abundantly, so that on our way to Heaven, we can experience Heaven.
Certainly, let's enjoy the ride as well as we can but I don't think we need to "further repent" when we notice life can be difficult, and more difficult for some folks than for others. We all have our ups and downs.
GOD Bless you too Bishop Barron, thank you for peeling back more of the sweet onion 🙏🏼
Thank God for His Love and Mercy. We may very well need it ourselves one day because sometimes our sins are not so clear to us
I used to be in the 'that's not fair group', then somewhere along the way I saw this situation as 'there's hope for me!'. If even the last worker, or the thief can be rewarded, then there is hope for me.
Thank you Bishop for showing I have some more steps to go through to see this as love and the best for the other.
Thanks for this wisdom.
Thank you for shining the light into the darkness 🕊️
When I started taking God seriously 6 years ago, ( I'm 63) and asked God for forgiveness, it was as He said; I want to forgive you, but you will have to forgive your parents and your ex-husband. It took me 3 years, because those 3 were really sick in their heads and I could not understand that I would meet them in Heaven.(When I say sexual abuse 🤕) Now I thank God every day for giving me those 3 years. When I was finally able to forgive them, Jesus came to live in my heart. Now I pray for my parents and my ex, that they have turn to Jesus and said: "forgive me Lord," (they al 3 have died) It same idea as Dismas on the cross. I also pray for my children, that they too can find the Love of Jesus again, May God open their eyes as He opened mine.
Thank you Bishop Barron, I hope my children hear you and read this.
May God continue to bless you for all your good works.
Greetings and love from Angelique Harmsen from the Netherlands 🇳🇱
🥳🎉👍🙏🙏🙏