Heavens par

When I first started my web site my mother, for lack of a better term, called my postings homily’s. I myself didn’t even know what to call them. But a couple months ago it occurred to me they are kinda like parables. Why parables? In the bible Jesus taught using parables so that people would understand His message. He taught using fields and planting, fishing, lamps, servants etc. These are the kinds of things people of that generation understood. Today, I’m sure He would use more modern things such as computers, television and sports. These are the things we understand and can more easily associate with. When I post I use these things because it’s what I understand and feel others can identify with.
That being said, lets play golf. Well not really, but it’s what I identify with for this topic. Many people ask “What does it take to get into heaven?” It would be nice if there were one straight forward answer, but I think the answer is different for each of us. For those of you that golf you understand what par is. For those of you that don’t know – par is the number of strokes you are allowed to get the ball in the hole. There is a par for professionals, men, women, seniors and juniors. It is different for each of them based on their ability. There is also what is called a handicap. This is used for beginners and less talented people to give them an even chance with more experienced golfers. You get to use more strokes depending on your handicap.
When it comes time to get into heaven I think we each have a par and a handicap that only God and ourselves know. For those raised in the faith, taught it and lived it they are going to have a low par. Many people that have not had the opportunity to be taught about God or his son Jesus would have a higher handicap. As you grow in your faith and your understanding of God’s will, your handicap is going to go down. God is going to expect more from you. Yes, God expects things from us and he knows exactly what each and every one of us is capable of. My favorite saying is this – “I know God wouldn’t give me more than I could handle, I just wish He didn’t trust me so much!” For me, I’m afraid my handicap is fairly low, in fact I think I should be playing par in God’s eye’s. I have a strong faith and understanding of what He wants from me, I just lack the courage to live it. That’s not a qualification to give me a handicap.
Many people spend lots of money on fancy clubs, they wear the perfect golf attire, play with the expensive balls but can’t golf worth a hoot. They are known as hackers. Golf takes practice, LOTS of practice (trust me, I know!) and with out getting out there and playing everyday, perfecting your grip and swing, you can’t expect to become a good par golfer. The same with our faith. With out practicing it, learning about it, going to mass, exercising the sacraments, spending time in prayer, spending time with friends of your faith, your not going to grow in it. You’ll become a Catholic hacker.
Mat 25:14 tells the parable of the talents. This was money a landowner gave to his servants each according to his ability, wanting to see how they handled it. God only gives us what he knows each of us can handle according to our ability and judges us accordingly. May you each recognize your talents and shoot for par!