by Rev. Herbert Nichols

Following the great Marian feasts of August, I have chosen for this morning’s celebration the Mass honoring Mary as Gate of Heaven, a title which echoes Jesus invitation last week to seek the narrow gate; which is the gate of humility and love.

In the first reading today Paul writes: God Himself has taught you to love one another. Make it a point of honor to remain at peace and to attend to your own affairs.

If that is the narrow gate; then the gate is indeed very narrow; for that is the biggest challenge in this world for many people. We can truly say that we are good people and don’t usually do things to deliberately harm others. But we must also admit that our love is not absolute.

God knows our human imperfections. He knows even when He has delivered us we tend to look back instead of focusing on getting through the gate. As He delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, they grumbled: "We were better off slaves in Egypt." Though He was able to take His people out of Egypt and slavery, he was not able to take Egypt out of his people. This is also true of us.

It is easy for God to take us out of the world and into His kingdom with a little water, oil, and prayer. But to take the world out of us with our deep rooted worldly attitudes we must be willing to allow God to touch us and to change our focus toward Him.

Imagine a colorful sunset, a snow capped mountain, the quiet waters of a calm lake, moments which can often leave us speechless moments of contact with God; moments which sometimes can leave us aching in pain for a nameless something which seems to overwhelm us; moments of prayer when we are caught up in creation’s cosmic yearning for reconciliation with its Maker.

All of nature of which human kind is the pinnacle yearns for the joy of that union with God that was lost with original innocence. Remember that nature is not just something to be used or abused as we please. All of nature and certainly all of humanity are fellow pilgrims, to whom we owe a helping hand in our efforts to reach our mutual destinies.

This labor of love is indeed a perfect theme for reflection this Labor Day weekend. We pray that it will lead us all to hear the words of Jesus in today’s gospel: Well done, good and faithful servant. You were industrious and reliable, Come and share your master’s joy.