Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C – August 21, 2013. Readings: Is 66: 18-21, Heb 12: 5-7. 11-13, Lk 13: 22-30. Theme: The gate of the kingdom of heaven is narrow. The master key to enter it is to do God’s will. Sermon: A young man visited St. Philip Neri one day and bragged about what he intended to achieve in life: “I am a happy man, am going into Law school.” Father Neri congratulated him on it. The young man went on and on to say a litany of things he aimed at achieving in life as a Lawyer. Father Neri again congratulated him on them, even though he had not achieved them. But Fr. Neri asked “what next?” The young man continued: “Then I shall marry and live in comfort to a ripe old age.” Father Neri still congratulated him; but goaded him to say more and more of his elephant plans. Now he knew no further plans to add. And after some thought he was greatly disturbed and added, “Then I shall die and a-wait to learn what judgment God will bring upon me.” At this point the young man came to his senses and recollected the teaching of Ecclesiastes: “Vanity of vanities; and all is vanity”: Meaning that all his boasts are meaningless! – Thus the teacher in Ecclesiastes, near the end of his life, looking back on everything he did; saw clearly that all his toils - “achievements”, boasts, etc., were meaningless. What really matters is to earn the kingdom of God. Jesus re-iterates this teaching but warns that to get into the kingdom is an “up-hill task”. But the kingdom is open to all people - Jew or Gentile, slave or freeman; white or black. God has no favorites: The first reading from Prophet Isaiah is his vision of all the peoples of the world coming to Jerusalem to share in the messianic kingdom. Jews will have no advantage over Gentiles for God’s kingdom is not a “select club” to which only members are admitted. With the coming of Christ, this kingdom has become present and its door open. But Christ warns that the door of the kingdom is not so wide open that people can saunter so casually at their own convenience. Rather than being so wide open, the kingdom’s gate is like a narrow opening through which people must thrust themselves with determination. This is Christ’s way of saying that people must make efforts to enter it. The gate will be open indefinitely without favorites. But we dare not put off making efforts to enter the kingdom because the gate will not stay open forever. To get into the Kingdom of God, we cannot simply tell the gatekeeper that we know the Boss of the kingdom or we are relatives of the Boss. The only ID to show is ‘humility and goodness of life on earth.’ Without this ID, (a key) one may not enter the kingdom. Jesus makes it clear that however much one may plead, “Lord, open to us! Did we not listen to you preach on our streets? We were even at your Sermon on the Mount;” - One may be surprised to hear, “I do not know where you come from; depart from me all you workers of iniquity.” Thus salvation depends on the favor of God and one’s honest struggle to follow God’s ways by keeping the commandments of God. This teaching is revealed to the world when a man came to Jesus to ask, “Sir, will only a few be save?” Jesus picked up this question and used it to deliver a warning to the world: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate … Many I tell you will try to enter and will not be able.” (Lk 12: 23) Here Christ uses the image of the narrow gate which was found in a castle to drive home his teaching. Characteristically, the main gate of a castle is generally wide and easy to enter if you have the right connections. Again, a castle also had a narrow gate. And to enter the narrow gate, one must make oneself small to rid oneself of everything that encumbers one. What are the things to get rid of? Jesus teaches that to enter into the kingdom we must “become like little children, repent from our sins” – and depend on God as our Father. John the Baptist also gave the same message, ‘Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the kingdom of God is near.” (Mt. 3:2) And for those who think they are God’s favorites he added, “Do not just say, we are saved – we descendants of Abraham … Prove by the way you live that you have repented …..” (Mt. 3:7-9) The man who asked Jesus, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” was a Jew. He probably thought of the exclusion of the Gentiles from the kingdom. But Jesus turned the table over him when he said, “The first will be last and the last will be first.” Jesus taught that conversion is a necessary disposition for entry into the kingdom. People of every age, time and place have asked, “How can I be saved and reach heaven?” Here Jesus gives the answer for ages to come to learn: Finding salvation requires a more concentrated effort than most people are willing to put forth. Salvation is the invaluable goal of everyone, and we must put all our energy to achieve it. “Seek first the kingdom of God and all the rest will follow.” This invitation of Christ is a difficult challenge. But the more we stand up to this challenge the wider the way to salvation becomes. This is why our theme is: “The door to the kingdom of God is indeed narrow. The master key to open it is to remain steadfast with faith in God and never weaver even in the stormy weathers of life. Those people who follow Jesus through the narrow door of life are the ones who carry the cross with Jesus: “If you want to be a disciple of mine, you must take up your cross daily and follow me.” On our own accord, there is no way we can work ourselves into God’s favor. We must work very hard to enter from east and west; from north and south” (LK 13:29), including black and white; rich and poor.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 14:46:07 +0000