Friday 7 October 2011

Guess who's in Heaven.

Johnny said to Father Ignatius, “Father, I had a funny dream the other day!”

“I could do with a good laugh,” replied the priest,” “tell me about it.”

“Father, I dreamt I was in Heaven and Graham, my worst enemy, was there too!”

“What’s so funny about that?” asked the priest.

“Father, you don’t understand,” continued Johnny, “Graham is an evil conniving cheat who’d sell his own mother if he could make a fast buck! He’s the last person I’d expect to see in Heaven.”

“Well, let’s assume this is not a dream,” continued Father Ignatius as the two men walked round the church grounds, “Let’s say it’s for real.

“You died and went to Heaven, and there, sitting on a cloud playing the harp is your old nemesis, Graham.

“What do you feel about it?”

“As I said,” protested Johnny, “the man is evil. I’d probably warn St Peter in case Graham cheats him out of his catch of fish!”

Father Ignatius smiled. “Would you think that God made a mistake in letting him in?” he asked.

Johnny hesitated and did not answer.

“Do you remember the parable about the rich man who had a vineyard?” asked the priest. “The rich man hired some people early in the day to work in the field. Then again he hired more people a bit later on. And again in the afternoon, and also one hour before the end of the working day.

“The rich man in this parable represents God and the vineyard is Heaven. God is the only one who decides who is to enter Heaven.

“We have no say in the matter. Although we often pretend to know more than we actually do. You’d be surprised how many people there are ready to serve God in an advisory capacity.

“The different times of the day represent when certain people get to know God and to follow His word.

“Some people do so early in their lives and get to love Him and obey Him throughout their lives. Others get to know God later in their lives; and some only get to know God at the end of their lives just before dying.

“Of course, the temptation is there to ask why should I be good all my life when I can suddenly say sorry and accept God at the end. But there is no guarantee that this will happen is there? And God knows whether a final acceptance and repentance is genuine or not. Or just an insurance policy cashed in at the last minute to avoid the other place.”

“Does it matter?” interrupted Johnny, “Does it matter if the final repentance is genuine and the individual is truly sorry for what he has done, or whether it is a final act of despair to avoid going to hell?”

“Good point,” replied the priest wisely, “but one best left for God to decide since He owns the vineyard and we have no say in the matter.

“The fact remains, that when you see Graham in Heaven you should rejoice that at some stage in his life he found God and was deemed worthy by the Almighty to enter Paradise.

“As for you, who has been called to work in the vineyard early in your life, your job here on earth is to be an example to others so that they may see in you something worth following, worth knowing and worth loving. As a good Christian, you should be the recruitment officer for God and lead others to Him”.

11 comments:

  1. I loved this story, Victor! I was a little late starting in the vineyard (or maybe I should say that I started off there but took an extra long lunch hour on God's time) so this story delighted me!

    Now, if I can get just this comment to go through...Hail Mary, full of grace...

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  2. It's the Feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary so I knew a Hail Mary would work ;)

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  3. Hi Mary,

    It's great you can comment here again.

    Our time in the vineyard is really an example to others.

    God bless.

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  4. I led a life of sin until my conversion in 2004, and the truth is that I wish I have led a virtuous life and I wish I have not done as damage as I did when I was in those sins as serious. It is not the same lead a virtuous life that to be sorry the last minute, it is infinitely better to lead a virtuous life. It is said that God loves more those who are sinners. I do not care that God loves me less, I do not want to sin.
    .
    On the other hand, hell is so extremely terrible that I do not wish on anyone.
    .
    And Heaven is so infinitely wonderfull... we have no words about this reality.
    .
    (I have used: http://translate.google.com/#).
    .
    Thank you. God bless you.
    .
    If you have time, you could have a look at this:
    http://www.gloria.polo.ortiz.in/
    This web site is in spanish, but It have a link into english, she was at the gates of heaven and of hell.

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  5. Thank you Javier for visiting this Blog again. We are glad to see you here.

    Thank you also for the link to the website.

    I hope and pray that you are well.

    God bless.

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  6. Recruitment officer ...

    Great now I have *another* job to do ...

    JK

    A good story, as usual.

    God Bless you.

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  7. Hello Michael,

    Yes, I suppose we're all recruitment officers.

    God bless you always.

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  8. Thank you, I pray for you too.
    .
    :)

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  9. Hi Victor! I have enjoyed this 'back and forth' discussion. Please don't apologize for your visits! You have reminded me of something a friend told me, and I will use it as a blog post soon. I'll reference you and a link to your blog, if that's ok.
    This is a huge question isn't it? Much like the Prodigal. In the end, I agree with Fr., that it's God's field, and he makes the call.
    I guess we do hope to understand God's ways, but we never will. His thoughts are not mine, nor his ways mine. I just hope to learn enough to get to heaven. I like your term 'recruitment officer.' I never thought of my life as being that, but I believe I should!
    Blessings always,
    Ceil

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your visit Ceil. Please feel free to mention me and link to my Blog on your forthcoming Blog post. It's very kind of you.

      As you say, God only decides who enters the vineyard. Our job is to be His recruitment officers.

      God bless you Ceil; and thanx.

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