As Judgment nears, people begin to wonder, “Where is my soul going to spend eternity?” Catholics understand: Faith is not enough for salvation.”
True believers find that getting into Heaven is reserved for workers. To the fortunate, Jesus’ allegory about the workers in the Vineyard comes to mind. Workers, not loafers, are mentioned in Matthew 20: 1-16. The passage explains how necessary obedient work is at Judgment:
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
“So the last will be first and the first shall be last.”
“Work” and “workers” are mentioned seven times. Our ability to work in His vineyard begins when we reach The Age of Reason, which The Only Church Jesus Founded teaches is 7. So, those who are good Catholics from the age of seven to seventy will do the Lord’s assigned “work” for 63 years. Then, Payday.
Some started working at 7 in the morning. Others started working at 5, one hour before Payday at six. How old were they? The workday was eleven hours, from seven AM to six PM. So, those called at five worked 1/11th of the day. They were called to duty 5.727272 hours before they were 70, at the age of 64.27272. Those called to work at three worked 3/11th of the day, 17.18181 years before 70, or at age 52.8181
The workers who began at noon worked 6/11 of the day, at age 34.36363 The ones who began at nine worked 9/11 of the day, or began at age 18.4545. Workers who began at 7 worked the full 11 hours and had payday when they reached 6.999, or, for practical purposes, when they got to 70.
Jesus is clear: Faith is not enough for Salvation.
