Sunday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
I remember a story my father told me when I was a teenager. He told me about this dishonest man who worked for a construction company. He was a good worker, but he often cut corners, traded the good materials for cheaper supplies and kept the money for himself. No one knew anything about this but himself. As he was nearing his retirement, his boss called him and said to him that the owner of the company had one last project for him. He wanted him to design and construct the best house he ever could. The boss told him that this was for a very important person. Money, he said, was not an issue. The man began the project in great earnest. But as time went by, he also saw this as a great opportunity to make some money himself. He cut corners, used cheap materials, and used cheap labor to construct the house. Finally, the house was complete. The owner was very impressed because this was indeed the best house the man had ever designed and constructed. The owner, then handed the keys over the man and said, “You have worked for me for so many years. In gratitude, this home is my gift to you.” The man’s heart sank to the bottom. What could have been the best house he could have retired into turned out to be a cheap imitation.
What practical implications can we draw from today’s gospel? 1. Jesus’ words should really make us sit back and take notice. Does that mean that some of us sitting here may not make it to the Kingdom? Does that mean, that, I, who preach Christ each week, administer the sacraments, conduct retreats and healing masses may not make it into the Kingdom? According to the Jesus, that is a possibility. If I build my life as a cheap imitation, then I will fail in the light of the True God. Rather, those who enter the Kingdom are those who build their lives on the principles of discipleship laid out in the Sermon on the Mount. The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted will certainly enter the Kingdom. So for example, how do I respond if someone says something nasty behind my back or hurts me? Does my heart ache at all the violence and war? What efforts am I making to keep my heart and mind clean? If I am a meek and merciful person, how does it show? Most of all, if God had to ask me the principles by which I lead my life, could I lay them out? Let us reflection upon these things this week? 2. I think that the central point of today’s reading is found in today’s first reading. God through Moses said to the people, “Take these words of mine into your heart and soul,” The best way that I explain these words to myself is that at some point in the life of each individual religion has to become faith. At some point faith needs to begin to happen not from the outside in but rather from the inside out. In other words, that there is a stirring in the deepest part of my being about God and all that matters to God. I call this stirring, passion. Let me explain this. Have you been to a funeral where the honor guards sound the bugle? As soon as the bugle sounds, the mood changes. Something is stirred up in the depths of each person. Tears begin to flow; love for the person, love for the country, memories good and bad all mix together to create inexplicable sentiments. That is a strirring of the hreat. Something like that is what God means when what God says “Take these words of mine into your heart and your soul.”
Finally, we have come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. We began this journey four weeks back with the Beatitudes. The Sermon began with an invitation and a promise – “The Kingdom of God is yours.” To the poor in spirit, to those who mourn, to the meek, the merciful, to the clean of heart, to the peacemakers, and to the persecuted Jesus promised the Kingdom. Today, at the end of the Sermon we hear something that is a little more difficult to digest – there will be those who will make it and those who will not make it into the Kingdom. Ironically, the criterion for acceptance or rejection does not depend exclusively on faith in Christ. In fact, Jesus proposes the exact opposite. “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of God.” Some of those who would not make it into the Kingdom are those who prophesied, drove our demons and even preformed mighty deeds in Jesus’ name.
May our love and passion for God and all that matters to God be the firm foundation of our lives. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph