Often today we hear complaints about how people have a sense of  “entitlement“.  Life is meant to be easy, carefree and devoid of much effort.  Perhaps the unmarried thirty-something living at home rent-free with his or her parents comes to mind.  Jesus recognized a similar sentiment among the people of his day and  had to remind them that entry into the kingdom of God is not a matter of “entitlement”.  As the gospel points out, one must do more than just show up at the door on the last day.

     And yet, there is a sense in which we are “entitled”.  God has made a new covenant with his people.  As God’s sons and daughters in baptism we have an eternal inheritance promised to us.  But this “filial” relationship with God involves more than just our waiting around for a stick of candy or the keys to the car.  In his love for us God our Father also wants us to be all that he made us to be.  God our Father wants us to grow into the men and women of love that distinguish us as his children.

     The letter to the Hebrews offers some powerful encouragement along these lines.  “Do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him.”  In other words, God loves us just as we are, yet he loves us enough not to leave us just as we are.  When we respond in faith to the challenges of life, to the times when we don’t “get our way”, we are really growing into our role as God’s sons and daughters.  And as we allow ourselves to be “trained” in the ways of “righteousness”, we likewise have hope that when we enter His kingdom as beloved children, there will be a place at the table for each of us!