My Seven-Minute-Homily, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time year C, August 25th 2013
Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
The Book of the prophet Isaiah 66. 18-21; The Letter of St. Paul to the Hebrews 12.5-7.11-13
and the Gospel of St. Luke 13.32-30
In today’s gospel, someone asked Jesus, “Lord, are they few in number who are to be saved?” Notice how Jesus simply shifts the emphasis away from “how many,” to focus on two things: Jesus talks about entering through the “narrow gate.” It seems obvious that just having the marks of Jewish circumcision is not enough. Being born into your Catholic faith is not enough either. We still need to enter the narrow gate. Also there is a sense of urgency present here. Salvation is offered to all, but not forced upon all. If we do not seize the moment for what it is, a moment of grace in which to act, then before we know it, the time has come to “close the door.” Every moment we live is an opportunity for grace, an occasion to take action as a disciple of Jesus.
Will we be surprised when the time comes for each of us to stand at the gates? Jesus Christ is the narrow gate by which we enter our Father’s house; he is the sole and necessary gate way to his sheepfold, the Church. Everyone needs daily conversion, including you and me; those who find the way to life are few. “Try to come in,” He replied; “try to come in through the narrow door.” Narrow is the door into the Kingdom of God. So narrow that only the person himself or herself can manage to squeeze through. Only the person, only who we really are and not all the baggage that we would like to bring with us, all the things we possess and identify ourselves with, all the pretenses, the refusals to own up to our failings and sins, all that baggage. How embarrassing, even if we managed to drag it all along with us, how embarrassing it would all be anyway in the brilliant light of the open square of God’s kingdom.
How narrow is the door so that it left many people outside? Again, the door is narrow, as our Lord described it. Too narrow for a person with a load of falsehoods, with that big bundle of rationalizations for sins committed, that overstuffed bag of refusals to fess up and be honest with oneself, with others, and with God; too narrow for all that, but just about right, just wide enough for a poor sinner whose heart longs for holiness and purity and goodness and justice, whose heart then asks, seeks and knocks. And lo, the door is opened to the sunlit square, to the vaulted roof of heaven, to a whole new life both in the here and now and in the life to come.
This is exactly what is happening in today's gospel. Jesus is going through the towns and villages teaching and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone interrupts him and asks, "Lord, will only a few be saved?"(Luke 13:33). What does Jesus answer? "My friend, strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able". We see that Jesus is not really answering the man's question: "Will only a few be saved?" In fact he is answering a more important question, "How can he be saved?"
God wants everyone to be saved, to be happy with him forever: “I come to gather the nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory.” We heard it in the first reading today. Jesus came to open the gates of heaven. But whether we want to enter that depends on us. He gives us the freedom to accept or reject salvation. So our salvation is not only God’s work but also our work. And we have to hasten to do our work while there is time. If we are faithful to our duties God has given, the joy of heaven will be ours.
Once to trick a wise man, a boy held in his palms a tinny bird and asked him, “Tell me sir, if the bird in my hand is alive or dead”. The wise man thought for a while; if I say the bird is dead, the boy will let the bird fly, and if I say the bird is alive, he will crush the bird and show that the bird is dead. Therefore the wise man said, ‘for the bird to be alive or dead it is within your hands’. In the same way dear friends for us to be saved or not to be saved is within our hands. “God who created us without us cannot save us without us” says St. Augustine. Instead of trying to find answers to the questions of curiosity, let us ask more important questions about our salvation: "What do I need to do to be saved? How can I serve God better in my present situation in life? How can I make use of the opportunities God gives me here and now for my eternal salvation?" Let us take a moment and ask ourselves some of these relevant questions today.
Jesus describes the condition for entering the kingdom when he says: My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Lk. 8:21). Fellowship in the kingdom is open to all peoples who hear the word of God and keep it. The door policy is determined by fidelity to the word of God.
Oremus: O Lord Jesus, thank you for teaching us the way to enter the narrow door. Door itself is always narrow and limited the space and the number people to enter it. You are yourself is the narrow door. You are yourself the doorkeeper. Having salvation means to make ourselves fit with you and your requirements. Make us to remember these things in our busy life. Amen.
Father Great Rice
Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
The Book of the prophet Isaiah 66. 18-21; The Letter of St. Paul to the Hebrews 12.5-7.11-13
and the Gospel of St. Luke 13.32-30
In today’s gospel, someone asked Jesus, “Lord, are they few in number who are to be saved?” Notice how Jesus simply shifts the emphasis away from “how many,” to focus on two things: Jesus talks about entering through the “narrow gate.” It seems obvious that just having the marks of Jewish circumcision is not enough. Being born into your Catholic faith is not enough either. We still need to enter the narrow gate. Also there is a sense of urgency present here. Salvation is offered to all, but not forced upon all. If we do not seize the moment for what it is, a moment of grace in which to act, then before we know it, the time has come to “close the door.” Every moment we live is an opportunity for grace, an occasion to take action as a disciple of Jesus.
Will we be surprised when the time comes for each of us to stand at the gates? Jesus Christ is the narrow gate by which we enter our Father’s house; he is the sole and necessary gate way to his sheepfold, the Church. Everyone needs daily conversion, including you and me; those who find the way to life are few. “Try to come in,” He replied; “try to come in through the narrow door.” Narrow is the door into the Kingdom of God. So narrow that only the person himself or herself can manage to squeeze through. Only the person, only who we really are and not all the baggage that we would like to bring with us, all the things we possess and identify ourselves with, all the pretenses, the refusals to own up to our failings and sins, all that baggage. How embarrassing, even if we managed to drag it all along with us, how embarrassing it would all be anyway in the brilliant light of the open square of God’s kingdom.
How narrow is the door so that it left many people outside? Again, the door is narrow, as our Lord described it. Too narrow for a person with a load of falsehoods, with that big bundle of rationalizations for sins committed, that overstuffed bag of refusals to fess up and be honest with oneself, with others, and with God; too narrow for all that, but just about right, just wide enough for a poor sinner whose heart longs for holiness and purity and goodness and justice, whose heart then asks, seeks and knocks. And lo, the door is opened to the sunlit square, to the vaulted roof of heaven, to a whole new life both in the here and now and in the life to come.
This is exactly what is happening in today's gospel. Jesus is going through the towns and villages teaching and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone interrupts him and asks, "Lord, will only a few be saved?"(Luke 13:33). What does Jesus answer? "My friend, strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able". We see that Jesus is not really answering the man's question: "Will only a few be saved?" In fact he is answering a more important question, "How can he be saved?"
God wants everyone to be saved, to be happy with him forever: “I come to gather the nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory.” We heard it in the first reading today. Jesus came to open the gates of heaven. But whether we want to enter that depends on us. He gives us the freedom to accept or reject salvation. So our salvation is not only God’s work but also our work. And we have to hasten to do our work while there is time. If we are faithful to our duties God has given, the joy of heaven will be ours.
Once to trick a wise man, a boy held in his palms a tinny bird and asked him, “Tell me sir, if the bird in my hand is alive or dead”. The wise man thought for a while; if I say the bird is dead, the boy will let the bird fly, and if I say the bird is alive, he will crush the bird and show that the bird is dead. Therefore the wise man said, ‘for the bird to be alive or dead it is within your hands’. In the same way dear friends for us to be saved or not to be saved is within our hands. “God who created us without us cannot save us without us” says St. Augustine. Instead of trying to find answers to the questions of curiosity, let us ask more important questions about our salvation: "What do I need to do to be saved? How can I serve God better in my present situation in life? How can I make use of the opportunities God gives me here and now for my eternal salvation?" Let us take a moment and ask ourselves some of these relevant questions today.
Jesus describes the condition for entering the kingdom when he says: My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Lk. 8:21). Fellowship in the kingdom is open to all peoples who hear the word of God and keep it. The door policy is determined by fidelity to the word of God.
Oremus: O Lord Jesus, thank you for teaching us the way to enter the narrow door. Door itself is always narrow and limited the space and the number people to enter it. You are yourself is the narrow door. You are yourself the doorkeeper. Having salvation means to make ourselves fit with you and your requirements. Make us to remember these things in our busy life. Amen.
Father Great Rice