Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Comment Point: What would your heaven look like? Post your comments at the end of the homily)
There are controversies simmering in our country on multiple fronts. Immigration, legal and illegal, is one of them; An Islamic centre at the new World Trade Centre in New York is another one; should babies born in the US be automatically given citizenship status is yet another one; and the age old controversy regarding race has come to the forefront in a brazen way the last couple of years. I am not going to try to answer these questions in this homily but I am sure that each one of has an opinion on each of these issues. But I guess, each person's opinion is a reflection on who they want included or excluded from membership in this country. Let us me say this at the very outsiet - 0ur opinion in these matters is not merely a political, social, or economic stand we take; our opinion in this matter is also a moral stand.
Let me put this question in another way? “What will heaven look like?” By this I mean, what kind of people will make it to heaven? Is this not the same question that the disciples asked Jesus in today’s gospel reading? “Will only a few people be saved?” (Luke 13:23) Jesus gives no direct answer. The Bible itself has no one single answer. In Matthew 25: 31-46, acceptance or rejection from the Kingdom depends on the “feeding, clothing, or caring for the least.” Those who cared about the least will be welcomed into the kingdom. The rest will go off to eternal punishment. In the beatitudes, the poor in spirit, the meek, the peacemakers, the ones who mourn, the persecuted are the ones to whom the Kingdom is promised (Mt 5: 1-12). In both these places there is no indication those who are saved have to be believers. On the other hand, there are other scripture passages, which seem to suggest that the only way to be saved is to have explicit faith in Jesus. For example, in the gospel of John, Jesus says, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). In the letter to Romans, St Paul says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9). In the Act of the apostles it is even easier. Acts 2:21 says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But Jesus also says in Mt 7:21, “Not everyone who calls out to me, 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
While scriptures seem to give varied answers to the question about who will be saved, it is very clear that not everyone who believes in Jesus will be saved. Even some people who ate and drank with the Lord, (Lk 13:26-27) people who prophesied, cast out demons and did powerful deeds in Christ’s name will not be saved. (Matt 7:21-23).
So, there are two important questions I would like to place before you. First, will all of us who are at this mass make it to God’s Kingdom? Second, all the people in the entire universe - who among them will make it to heaven My first two practical implications deals with the first question and the third practical implications deals with the second question.
1. Jesus’ immediate reply to the question, “Who will be saved?” is “Strive to enter by the narrow gate.” (Lk 13:24). I would first like to focus on the word ‘strive.’ Let me begin, though, with the metaphor of the “two ways,” or the “two gates” – the narrow gate and the wide gate. The “two ways” metaphor was common in pagan religions as well as in the Old Testament. The choice in the Old Testament was clear: God said to the people of Israel, “Here, then, I set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God… loving him and walking in his ways… you will live…. If however, you turn away… I tell you now that you will certainly perish” (Deut 30:15-18). That is why Jesus says, “Strive….” In other words, no one is just going to laze into the kingdom or even walk in to the kingdom. People will only “strive” into the kingdom. There are choices to be made. There are decisions to be taken. Today’s second reading says, “So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet…”. (Heb 12:11).
So, are you finding forgiveness difficult? Are you finding being clean of heart difficult? Are you finding keeping the peace difficult? Are you finding keeping the faith difficult? These are important questions. But there is a more important question: Are you “striving” to do these things? As long as we are striving, we are on the narrow road. And that is the key!
2. Second, Jesus’ answer to the question, “Will only a few be saved?” was “Strive to enter through the narrow gate…” What is the “narrow gate?” Who are the people who enter through the “narrow gate?” Luke imagines the door of a house. This door is narrow. The narrow door is entered by those who hear the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and do them; the wide door is entered by those who hear those words and do not do them.
To enter the narrow gate involves making the choice to be poor/poor in spirit, to be peacemakers, persecuted, etc; it means being salt of the earth and light to the world consistently; it means following Jesus’ radical teaching about murder/anger, adultery/lust, divorce, truth-telling, mercy over revenge, loving enemies. And it involves doing good deeds for the right reasons; it involves pursuing the kingdom and God’s justice instead of fortunes and fame; and it involves not damning others and trusting that God is good. That is the “narrow gate.” As I said earlier, there are choices to be made. There are decisions to be taken.
3. I would like to answer the question, “Who will be saved?’ by posing another question to you. If you had the opportunity to decide what heaven would be like, what would you do? What will make it into your heaven? There is only one condition – your choice must be based yourself on Jesus’ words. So would a just and upright Muslim make it? Will an alcoholic Catholic who believes in Christ make it? Will a Catholic murderer who has since repented and is on death row make it? Will a Catholic illegal immigrant working hard to pay for his mother’s cancer treatment back at home make it? Will a Caucasian Baptist make it? Will an African-American Baptist make it? Will your pet make it? Will your pet make it over non-believer who tries to live an honest life?
Let us come to the altar of God with trust in God's compassion. Meanwhile, let us also trust God's love for people of all races, language and nation. Amen.
Fr. Satish Joseph