In my later years of college, I lived in an apartment with a roommate. One day, we got in a really expensive electric bill . . . one that makes you whistle and think, “Wow; how am I going to afford groceries this month?” My roommate worked afternoons and early evenings, so it was late at night when he got home. Having had a handful of hours to worry and stew, I gave him the bill. He looked at it, and his eyes went wide. He handed it back to me and said, “Wow . . . what’re we going to do?!” Then he immediately sprinted to the air conditioning thermostat (he liked it very cold in the apartment) and turned it off. Then he went to some lights that had been left on in his bedroom and switched them off. It was a frantic blur of turning off electrical things. As he scurried around, I looked down at the bill and sarcastically said, “It’s amazing! You did it! The bill is going down!”
Now, he explained that he was trying to keep next month’s bill from being too outrageous, and I certainly understood that. But the franticness with which he was reacting to our current predicament was still amusing to me, especially since it was too late for those efforts.
Making effort too late factors heavily into today’s Gospel selection, from Luke. There, someone ask Jesus, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” Jesus then gives a parable, about a master of the house locking the door, describing those who have been locked out knocking at the door and pleading to be let in. The master denies knowing them, exclaiming, “Depart from me, all you evildoers!” Jesus continues, “And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out.”
Now, this parable doesn’t seem to answer the question of whether only a few people will be saved. But — on reflecting on it — I realize that it’s turning the question around. The people trapped outside the locked door were really concerned about being able to get inside once there wasn’t anything they could do about it.
Similarly, those who die and find themselves falling short before God’s judgment almost certainly have a deep interest in trying to do what’s necessary to get into Heaven. But then, well, it’s too late.
So, the answer to the question, “Will only a few people be saved?” is — ultimately — up to us. Sure, God provides the judgment, but he doesn’t force us down paths of piety or peril. It’s like how the electric company makes their rates publicly known and didn’t force my roommate and me to keep the air conditioning turned too low; we just had to pay the (literal) price for our lack of attentiveness. So, too, are we ultimately held responsible for our actions and inactions . . . and the time to address those concerns is now, before the master locks the door.
As a real simple “homework assignment,” think about the penitential act we say at Mass. That’s the prayer that begins, “I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do . . .” How much thought are you giving that prayer? If your mind is wandering (as mine often does), can you think of any other instance where you would begin a sentence “I confess . . .” and just go along with whatever they tell you to say, without thinking about it? “I confess I took $50,000 from that widow . . . wait, what?”
That penitential act is supposed to bring us closer to God, by giving us a moment to reflect on our lives for the past week (and beyond, as needed). If you’re tuning out, try to focus on some aspect that you’re truly penitential about . . . something that might keep you on the wrong side of the master’s locked door, something that you can act on now, before it’s too late.
If you do reflect on that already, then consider talking about the penitential rite with a loved one or close friend, to help them more properly take advantage of the opportunity. Or, if your “most grievous fault” is one that can benefit from accountability, perhaps mention it to that same friend or beloved.
The time to worry about your property insurance isn’t when you see your house on fire. The time to think about navigation equipment isn’t when you’re lost at sea, with no land in sight. And the time to worry about who will be saved isn’t after you or your loved one has breathed their last. The chance to get closer to God is open to all of us, right now. Don’t be caught unaware!
