REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

Homily for 21st Sunday C 

(Aug 22, 2010) 

Fr James McTavish, FMVD 

Enter the narrow gate while it is open!

Just minutes before the celebration of my priestly ordination was about to begin in London an old lady came up to me looking concerned. “Father, I have a question for you”. I replied that I was not yet ordained but would be happy to try to answer. “Will I get to heaven?” she asked. I said “Don’t worry about that. Instead think of how many others can you bring there.” 

A similar question is posed by a person in the gospel today “Lord, is it true that few people will be saved?” It makes us reflect on what is salvation. At times, salvation is presented as merely a certain level of well-being, having a comfortable life, money to spend, being able to travel. Perhaps even being so comfortable that salvation is considered as ‘another-world’ topic of little or no relevance for today. When we recently had a group of student visiting us in Philippines from the United Kingdom, at first they were shocked on seeing the poverty of a large depressed area near our house. But upon visiting the families there they told us that they were surprised. Why? Because they found the families so happy, the children so joyful even though they had so little. One visiting student commented that when he first saw the squatter’s area and the abject poverty he felt that help could save these people from a miserable life. But then he questioned this vision – if the children for example had money for iPods and playstations then maybe they would just end up as unhappy as many spoilt children in the developed world. 

When Jesus is asked if few will be saved he responds “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough” (See Luke 13,22-30). Our salvation will not be achieved without some effort. As St Augustine said "God made us without our help but will not save us without our help.” Our salvation requires our collaboration. Jesus continues “After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from. And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’ From this we can see that there is a window of opportunity, a time while the door is still open but after which the door will be closed. What is the door or window of opportunity if it is not this earthly life? For some, the window is very short. For a young girl named Therese only 24 years but it was enough for her to become the ‘greatest of modern Saints’, the Patroness of the missions and a Doctor of the Church. Yes, it is St Therese of Lisieux. It is not quantity of years but quality. Do we live each day with a sense of urgency, a sense that heaven is fast approaching and we should be prepared?

If we want to get in shape and spiritually fit we need to exercise otherwise ‘we will not be strong enough’ to resist temptations and distractions. Is it enough just attending mass on Sunday, at least being bodily present even if the mind is wondering and doing the shopping in Sainsbury’s or preparing the dinner later? The ones excluded from the Kingdom complained that they ate and drank in the company of the Lord and listened to his teaching. Yet they were excluded from the Kingdom and were called evil doers! In every Eucharist we eat and drink his Body and Blood and listen to his teaching but does it lead to a transformation in our lives? The Word of God needs at times to “affect and upset, through the power of the Gospel, mankind's criteria of judgment, determining values, points of interest, lines of thought, sources of inspiration and models of life, which are in contrast with the Word of God and the plan of salvation” (See Evangelii nuntiandi, 19).

Many will not be strong enough perhaps to swim against the prevailing current. Training is important to strengthen ourselves and reinforce our spiritual lives. In the reading to the Hebrews “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.” Endure your trials as discipline”(See Hebrews 12, 5-7. 11-13). Our loving Father tries to orient and correct us and lead us on the right path. What can we do to train ourselves then? For sure the first is prayer for without prayer we become too weak to resist temptations. Also we can be greatly helped too by others who share our faith and Christian values. A typical story of a person who has become lost is that they say they stopped going to Church, stopped praying and are hanging out again with the wrong crowd. 

As Christians we need to heed the words of the psalm today “Go out to all the world and tell the Good News”. Pope Paul VI asked why should modern man only be presented with falsehood and lies like the push to show sex and pornography in the media? How can a Christian be ashamed to announce Christ when so many others are not ashamed to propose sex and drugs to the world of today, even to the young and vulnerable. This happens unopposed because of the timidity of the good. Pope Paul VI poses this challenge to us “It would be useful if every Christian and every evangelizer were to pray about the following thought: men can gain salvation also in other ways, by God's mercy, even though we do not preach the Gospel to them; but as for us, can we gain salvation if through negligence or fear or shame- what St. Paul called "blushing for the Gospel" - or as a result of false ideas we fail to preach it?”

Let us stop making excuses! Let us not be afraid to be Christians in the world of today. Our salvation and that of many is at stake as Pope Pius XII reminds us “We will never meditate enough on how the salvation of many depends on the prayer and sacrifice of the few”. Let us try our best to enter the narrow gate while there is still time and bring as many as we can along with us. Amen.