Commentary of the Gospell

All is Grace

The celebrated novel Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos tells the story of an idealistic young priest who suffers in his ministry due to the hostile and dismissive attitude of his parishioners and their shallow faith. Diagnosed with stomach cancer, he visits a former colleague only to collapse in his house. His friend sends for the parish priest, but expresses fear that the priest might not arrive in time before the man passes. Then the dying priest, who had suffered through many inner doubts and external rejections, utters these words haltingly but distinctly: “Does it matter? …. Grace is everywhere.” With these words, he dies. In today’s first reading, Paul consistently underlines the extraordinary riches of Grace given to us as gift. Had the rich man seen his abundant harvest as grace and gift, he would have had the largeness of heart to share it with others. What he needed was not larger barns, but a larger heart. He would have still died that night; but it would have been a graceful death.