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Human beings struggle to keep their promises, but God always comes through with his.

Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and it means that we really believe that God makes all things turn out for the good for those who trust in him.

The sound of God’s word that people in distress long to hear is the sound of hope in the brutal winds of a dry desert.

So, if Advent calls us to prepare for the Lord’s second coming at some unknown time in the future -- the great unknown “when” of our lives -- why all the fuss?

My friends, the Scriptures today deliver a powerful message that Christ is our King, and that his kingship is so much different than that of earthly kings. He is the King of the whole universe, a King who serves us as our Redeemer and as the Head of the Body which is our Church. 

Use it or lose it! This is a great caption for today’s gospel and an important less in Christian life.

We should all be diligent in preparing for the end of our earthly lives, our particular judgment at the time of our death, and our eternal destiny, especially by heeding the counsel of the divine Sophia.

In today’s gospel, Jesus bemoans the fact that these religious leaders did not practice what they preached. The kingdom of God is the real world of authentic, humble service of the Lord and our neighbor. 

There is nothing more basic to the Christian life than keeping the twin commandments of love. “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul and mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But as we all know, the twin commandments are much easier to recite than to put into practice.

In his famous one-liner: "render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and render to God what is God’s," Jesus is simply clarifying for his disciples that everything ultimately belongs to the one true God.

During the course of his public ministry, Jesus extended many invitations.  In all these invitations, he applied no pressure; he imposed no agenda; he forced no one to accept. He did, however, point out the consequences of ignoring or rejecting the invitation.

Today’s vineyard parable highlights the rejection the servants of God will inevitably suffer when they try to gather in the harvest of grapes in the Lord’s vineyard.  

With God’s help, there is always hope, even for the seemingly hopeless! The readings today urge us to keep our hope alive, and to place our hope in the power of Christ to transform us, to make all things new, to change our ways, our attitudes, our strategies, our predicaments.

There are some situations in life in which you want to scream: “it’s not fair!” Maybe Jesus is trying to tell us that the kingdom of heaven does not operate on the merit system. My friends, God is not fair by human standards… but God is exceedingly generous. So, let's simply rejoice in God’s generosity!

The simple moral of this story is that if we want the Lord to forgive our sins and shortcomings, we must follow suit and extend that forgiveness to others. 

Resolving conflicts in a genuine Christian manner is very hard to do… but it is our call, our duty, our responsibility, because we Christians love our neighbor as ourselves.  

The readings today offer us a spiritual crosswalk. Jesus teaches us that in order to be his disciples, we must lose our lives in sacrificial love, take up our cross, and follow him.

Keys are a powerful symbol of authority and responsibility.  The readings for today are all about the Lord bestowing a ring of keys on those he has chosen to lead his beloved People.  My friends, in a sense we are all given a set of keys at our baptism.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” The wisdom behind this saying applies to many facets of life, including our prayer and spiritual life.

My friends, where can we find God every day? Surely in the beauty and leisure of a summer day, in the selfless love of a fellow Christian. But God can also be found in less obvious places, whispering his kindness and mercy… we just have to listen with the ears of faith.