Homily 25th Sunday Ordinary Time
“Why did God make me? God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.”
I memorized those words as a five-year-old boy in the first grade. And for a lifetime, those simple lines from the Baltimore Catechism have been my anchor. They have guided my steps, kept me on course, and formed the bedrock of my faith.
But as we journey deeper into the spiritual life, we quickly realize that while the formula is simple, the reality of God is vast, mysterious, and beautifully overwhelming. We are reminded of this in our first reading from the prophet Isaiah, where the Lord speaks directly to our limitations:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
We see the truth of those words vividly in today’s Gospel. The parable of the landowner hiring laborers for his vineyard turns our human logic completely upside down.
In our world, you get what you earn. You are rewarded based on your hours, your merit, and your productivity. But God does not operate on a ledger system. The landowner pays the latecomers—those who arrived at the eleventh hour—the exact same wage as those who labored all day in the scorching heat.
This parable isn’t about economics; it’s about the radical nature of divine grace. It reveals a God who is always offering gifts, grace, and love to everyone, without restriction. In God’s eyes, there is no favorite, no hierarchy, and no “us versus them.” All of us are equal. All of us are loved infinitely and endlessly. God will never stop loving us, and He will never cease treating us with mercy and kindness.
What a comfort it is to know that we serve a God of endless beginnings. God offers us countless opportunities to start over. He never gives up on us. He always offers another chance, and He will never, ever abandon us.
When we struggle, when we stumble, or when we fall into sin, God doesn’t cross His arms in disappointment. He doesn’t turn away. Instead, He waits eagerly for us to turn back.
Think of the parable of the Prodigal Son. The moment the father sees his broken child on the horizon, he doesn’t wait for an apology. He runs. God runs toward us to embrace us, to throw His arms around our necks, and to restore everything to us. God gives us everything we need—and then, in His extravagance, He gives us even more.
My brothers and sisters, God notices you. And God delights in you.
God does not ignore us, nor is He embarrassed by our weaknesses. Instead, He longs for us to be truly joyful. Whatever you are going through in your life right now—whether you are celebrating on the mountaintop or walking through the darkest valley—God is intimately present. He is right there beside you, sustaining you through it all.
It is almost unbelievable, isn’t it? It feels almost too good to be true.
So, what do we do with a love this grand? The best thing we can do is simply to go back to the answer to why God made me, but with a deeper hunger. We can ask God to help us know Him more and more, to love Him more and more, and to serve Him more and more.
If we ask Him for that grace, He will faithfully give it to us—and He will exceed our wildest expectations.
