Homily Anecdote:
Three surprises in Heaven: Bishop Sheen tells us that we will have three surprises in Heaven. The first surprise: We will be surprised to see that many people we expected to be in Heaven are not there. St. John of the Cross gives the reason why they are not there: “At the evening of our life, we shall be judged on how we have loved.” The second surprise: We will be surprised to see that the people we never expected to be in Heaven are there. That is because God judges man’s intentions, and rewards them accordingly. The third surprise: We will be surprised to see that we are in Heaven. Since our getting to Heaven is principally God’s work, we should be surprised that God somehow “went out of His way” to save us, simply because we showed the good will and generosity to cooperate with His grace. In today’s Gospel, Jesus answers the question, who will be saved, when and how (P. Tony Kadavil).
FIRST READING: Isaiah 66: 18-21
This last chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah is an eschatological account on salvation. This book was written at a time when the Jews were caught up in a dilemma regarding the question, “who can be saved?” In the year 540 B.C, some of the Jews who returned from Babylonian exile were married to pagan women who were converted to Judaism. So it was a question of whether Yahweh would accept these former pagans into the fold of His chosen people. Thus the prophesy of Isaiah is a response to the generosity of God, whom it has pleased to universalize his salvation. It was a message meant to defeat Israel’s mentality of the monopolism of salvation. Isaiah announces that in those days, the Lord will gather for Himself all nations. It is no longer a question of a nation, but all nations of the earth from among whom the Lord will choose missionaries to make his glory known far and wide. He will equally extend the sacred priesthood which was strictly reserved to particular tribes and families to the tribes and families of the nations. The Jewish priests were born into the priesthood. No Jewish man born outside of a priestly family could ever dream of standing at the altar and offering sacrifice to Yahweh. But this prophesy of Isaiah includes the non-Jews even in this highly restricted ministry, thanks to the generosity of God to save all men and to bring them into one family of God.
SECOND READING: Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
In line with Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel concerning salvation, which He expressed with the concept of the “narrow gate,” the writer to the Hebrews gives it a different approach. For him, the most difficult path less chosen by people is the path of God’s discipline. And many a time, it is difficult to understand that the pains and sufferings that greet the way of Christian life form parts of God’s way of disciplining his children. But this he does in love. It is that bitter path that prepares one to enter ‘the gate.’ The experience is similar to that of a child, who feels the pain of parental discipline, without knowing that their desire for him is to grow, mature, and become responsible. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to understand God’s discipline and plan for us. Some people approach God’s discipline with a resigned acceptance that sees no other possible course. Other persons may be resentful, and this makes them turn away from God. Nevertheless, there are still some people who are able to lift their spirits above their present trials and to accept them as path of their journey of faith. This is because they have been schooled in the life Christ Himself, who did not assume His glory without first accepting God’s discipline of the Cross.
GOSPEL: Luke 13: 22-30
The evangelist Luke situates the message of this passage in the first and last lines:
- “Jesus went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying towards Jerusalem.”
- “Many will come from the east and west, from the north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God.”
By mentioning towns and villages, Luke expresses that the mission of Jesus and the salvation he brought, goes beyond the walls of Jerusalem. In other words, beyond the confines of a particular people.
The unidentified questioner who posed the question of salvation to Jesus, prompted Him to remind him, as well as his Jewish compatriots, that salvation is not an ‘already made’ package, neither is the kingdom of God predestined for some particular persons. When he asked Jesus the question, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” we understand that Luke whose Gospel looks towards the salvation of the gentiles admits the concept of “the few” to represent the old mentality which the prophet Isaiah tried earlier to tackle in the first reading. And to counter the notion of salvation as limited to a particular nation, Jesus introduces the concept of “narrow gate.” The existence of the narrow Gate, or the eye of the needle Gate, which is believed to be part of the Gates of the City of Jerusalem is yet to be ascertained. Even though it is said that there is such a Gate which permits late entry into the city of Jerusalem when other Gates are shut in the night for security purposes.
The book of Nehemiah made mention of the reconstruction of the wall of Jerusalem. And around the wall, it identified the existence of Ten Gates (Neh. 3: 1-32) without any specification about the narrow Gate: Sheep Gate (v. 1) Fish Gate (v. 3) New Quarter Gate (v. 6) Valley Gate (v. 12) Dung Gate (v. 14) Fountain Gate (v. 15) Water Gate (v. 26) Horse Gate (v. 28) East Gate (v. 29) Muster Gate (v. 31). No doubt, these Gates were popular and wide enough to accommodate a lot of pilgrims and permit the movement of people. But the new Gate which Jesus speaks of, is unpopular and narrow. While the other Gates lead to the city of Jerusalem of earthly existence, the narrow Gate of Jesus leads to the Eternal City, the heavenly Jerusalem. St John the evangelist helps us to understand better the theology of the narrow Gate by identifying it with Christ himself who said, “I am the Gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture” (John 10:7-10). Luke concludes his message by saying that only those who will strive to enter through the narrow Gate (which is Jesus himself in the theology of John) will be qualified to sit at table with Him in the kingdom of God. The Luke’s concept of east, west, north and south is a fulfillment of the prophesy of “people from every nation” as Isaiah prophesied earlier.
LIFE MESSAGE:
1. Salvation is not a question of heredity (like being Jewish or Gentile). It is not “already made” either. It can only be earned through personal commitment. Hence the concept of “struggle.” Let us not confuse our today’s faith with the movement of the world: the world of fast food, Wi-Fi and online shopping whereby things are made easy. It is still a struggle. Suffering is part of our journey to salvation. When we accept and unite our sufferings to that of Christ then we are on the right path of struggle to enter through the narrow Gate.
2. Familiarity with the Word of God and participation in the Eucharist is not a guarantee of salvation. Many of us may remind Jesus of how he taught in our streets and how we ate and drank with him, and he will say he does not know us. This will happen when we fail to establish a personal relationship with Jesus which will enable him to identify us even “behind the closed doors.”
3. Even though we are a faith community, let us not lose sight of the fact that salvation is personal. We cannot enter the narrow Gate as a group. It is too narrow to contain many people at the same time. The crowd will certainly prefer a wider Gate. Let us not be deceived. The Gate is still narrow. The message is still hard. The kingdom is still a struggle.
4. Everyday is a God-given fresh opportunity to decide which gate to pass through; the narrow Gate of life or the wide Gate of death. The gap between both gates is big. They are incompatible. Let us not wait until we stand outside to knock. The Gate cannot remain open forever. The Master will certainly lock it one day, and then it will be late to enter.
PRAYER
Help us Oh Lord not to be attracted to the wide gate of the majority, but strive to walk on the narrow Gate of suffering, patience and perseverance until we reach our home with you. Amen.
PAX VOBIS!
