Introduction to the Celebration
Gospel Notes
Michel de Verteuil
General Textual comments
We can divide the
passage into several sections and we can take each of them as something to be
meditated on separately. We can also take them all as the answer to one basic
question – to conquer any issue in life, we must move to a deeper level of our
being.
Verse 22 makes an
important point: as Jesus went teaching through towns and villages he was
making his way to Jerusalem. This reminds us of an important aspect of Jesus’
work. At every moment of his teaching, Jesus had a goal. There was something
very precious that he wanted to achieve for himself and for everyone else.
Many today have
the sentiment that failure was a necessary part of Jesus’ purpose for a real
life for his followers. This was not the fact however. His individual teachings
were quite different. He wanted us to succeed and to have a full life. He
wanted us all to have a life of goodness; he planned for a healthy life for
everyone, no matter our personal gifts.
He wanted the entire kingdom of Israel to
follow his teachings. He did not want to have his plan rejected. For him, this
was a sad ending that he must accept but he did not really want it for himself.
It was something he had to take, as we all have to.
In order to for us
all to be close to him however, he himself must go through the deep sufferings
of those who die in sad situations. He must face up to people’s feelings of
being abandoned by God. They must be accustomed to know that he hasn’t let them
down. They must, as Jesus learnt to say on the cross, know that he hasn’t
forgotten them.
Only then will he
be able to have men and women on his side. We can all be alongside him in all
he wants for us. We must not take him away from this final goal which we know
is part of his kingdom. Once this is clear, everything else will fit in. We
must interpret the rest of his teachings in the light of this fact. It is part
of his desire that all should follow him.
As preachers of a
gospel message we must know the place where we want to end up ourselves. This
has a great value for us and it will certainly affect how we relate with
others. It will affect how we look on them.
Verses 23 and 24
Jesus is asked a question. It is one we are always inclined to ask – how many
will be saved?
Jesus responds by
insisting on one important point. The people who succeed must make a real
effort to do so. The door we try to enter is always “narrow” and therefore is
always difficult to enter. We must try hard and put our best step forward. We
try and we are truly sad when we know that we are not really sure that we will
eventually be victorious over the forces of evil that are within us all.
Verses 25 to 27
lays down another important law. Many of those who we now consider to be holy
people will eventually be rejected from God’s kingdom. They will come to the
house they are looking for but find that the master has it well locked and will
let the doors remain closed from us.
As can be
expected, former followers like ourselves will then find themselves knocking
frantically on the door. We will say things like, “Lord open to us” or “we here
are your special friends” or again, “ we are sure that when you see us, you
will respond”. We find ourselves saying, “we once ate and drank in your
company” and we tell the master, “you taught in our streets”. The Lord will
merely say, “I do not know where you come from”. He will then speak to us in
the language spoken of in psalm 6, verse 8, “away from me all you wicked men
and women”. He doesn’t really know us. This is the sad but very important news.
This therefore
requires another deep commitment to salvation from those who feel meritorious
of the kingdom.
Verses 28 to 29, speak of a double vision. It is one that is full of meaning for us in the world today. The present people, those who belong to what are called in our modern language, “God’s true Church”, will find themselves doing something very clear. We will see ourselves with “weeping and grinding of teeth” as we see Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God” and others we used to look down on not with them. We ourselves will meanwhile be “turned outside”. We will be left far away from God’s own kingdom.
On the other hand,
we will see “men and women” who come from far”. They will come from “east and
west” and then “from north and south”
and yet they will be within the kingdom. As former outsiders they will now come
to take their place at the feast. Meanwhile those who were considered “first”
now find themselves “last” – far away from God’s own kingdom.
Verse 30 draws an
obvious conclusion from the entire passage. Those who are now considered “last”
in the kingdom of God will then be seen to be first. This will be truly
important for us.
Unfortunately
there is another truth we must be well aware of. Those who are now considered
“first” will then be seen to be the “last”. They will end up furthest from the
kingdom of God whereas others will be seen to be “first”. We must be aware of
this crucial distinction as we go through our lives.
This entire
passage now certainly appears as warning us against a complacent acceptance of
ourselves as close to the kingdom of God. This can be a real help against any
form of self-righteousness.
**********************
Homily Notes
1. There is no
automatic entry to the kingdom! Being part of the right ‘party’ or having
filled in all the right forms or having ticked all the boxes is not what will
lead us to be called to a place in the kingdom. God’s love and mercy look to
the heart, not to the outward appearance. This mystery that belonging to the
church is not some sort of ‘guarantee’ has been expressed traditionally in a
more extreme form: ‘There are many with a place in the church who will not have
a place in the kingdom, and there will be many in the kingdom who have not been
part of the church.’ We could express this far more positively: there are
people in every age and culture and religion who will hear the voice of the
Spirit and inherit everlasting life.
2. We could also
note that this view of salvation, which has been the constant faith of the
church, shows how wide of the mark is any exclusivist interpretation of
salvation whether it be that as found in elect sects or in some narrow
interpretation of ‘outside the church is no salvation.’ However, we should
also note that most non-Christians either imagine that Christians have such a
narrow interpretation of who will have a place in the kingdom, or else project
such a narrow interpretation onto Christians so as to denigrate them. How
often do we hear in an interview, ‘But you Christians, or you Catholics,
believe only those who believe in Jesus can be saved and the rest are damned!’
The aim here is to show that any god who would be so mean to the vast majority
of humanity over the history of world is so mean-spirited as to be unworthy of
belief that proceeds out of loving freedom rather than servile fear. Then when
the interviewee replies that ‘Christians [or Catholics] do not hold such
exclusivist views,’ they are accused of presenting a modern’ soft’ option! An
extremist misrepresentation is often preferred by questioners as it makes it
easier to dismiss Christianity as foolish. Alas, there are many Christians who
then accept this position and either adopt the extremist position thinking it
the truth, or else reject it but then think they are not really at one with the
tradition. Today is an ideal opportunity to layout the standard Catholic
position.
3. It can be done
in three steps.
The gospel
expounds the position that membership of the club – Luke was thinking of the
church – is not what grants salvation but seeking to do the will of God.
Anyone who seeks
out the voice of truth and justice in their hearts, this being a law knowable
from within our human nature, and lives by it will be called to take her or his
place at the feast in the kingdom.
For those of us
who have heard the word of God revealed in Christ Jesus there is the blessing
of knowing the joy to which we are called by God, for example we seek to
anticipate that feast each time we gather, but also the greater responsibility
to build the kingdom of truth, life, holiness, grace, justice, love, and peace.
deny yourself4. We
have to always bear in mind that we must bear witness to the God who is love,
rather than just willful force. Any action that if it were done by a human to
another would be mean, is not an action with which we can imagine the activity
of God. So for example, we cannot imagine giving two people life but then
arbitrarily taking one life while rewarding another without imagining the actor
as capricious. But capriciousness is not consistent with constant caring love
and justice; therefore we cannot imagine God as capricious.
5. To state
clearly that Christians are not exclusivist in their view of God’s love towards
them – which is a very different thing to stating some relativist notion that
all religions are the same – can often lift a burden from members of a
congregation who are troubled about the fate of their loved
ones. It can also put clear water between the
great church and the many sectarian forms of Christianity that capture the
headlines and the TV channels.
***************************************************
Sean GoanGospel notes
Again this week we
encounter some of the so-called ‘hard sayings’ of Jesus. However, rather than
moving quickly on to find ‘nicer’ parts of scripture to nourish us, it is good
to take time to ponder what such texts are all about. The question put to Jesus
is one that many still ask. In his answer Jesus is not interested in talking
about salvation as a matter of numbers or statistics. He seeks rather to make
his hearers realise that being saved is not something to be taken for granted.
If we imagine that being Irish and Catholic is enough then maybe we had better
think again. It is not about having a casual familiarity with the Lord. It is
rather about the urgent and serious business of trying to live the way he has
asked us.
**********************
Scriptural Prayer Reflection
The ancient way of thinking concentrated
itself on knowing oneself, interiorly from within.” Jawaharl Nehru
Lord, we thank you that just as you made your way to Jerusalem,
you continued to go through towns and villages,
reminding people that they too must aim for the kingdom of God.
We too must hand on our teaching from this position,
in full acceptance of our weakness.
you continued to go through towns and villages,
reminding people that they too must aim for the kingdom of God.
We too must hand on our teaching from this position,
in full acceptance of our weakness.
Lord, keep us from becoming complacent about our entering the
kingdom of God.
Teach us to wait as we go on through life.
Tell us how to stand by with humility, so that we can truly enter by a door that is very narrow.
For we know that many will try to enter and will not succeed.
Teach us to wait as we go on through life.
Tell us how to stand by with humility, so that we can truly enter by a door that is very narrow.
For we know that many will try to enter and will not succeed.
We therefore must adopt the right attitude of combined self-assurance
and humble awareness of where we stand.
“Lord, you are our Goodness, through
overflowing goodness and all in yourself. Whereas I am the Wretchedness,
through overflowing wretchedness all in myself.” Blessed Marguerite Porete of the Beguines
Lord, remind us that a time comes when the master of the house will get
up and lock the door. We must know that we will then find ourselves knocking on
the door and saying in a loud voice, “Lord, open to us.”
Remind us that at this point, you will find that you have to answer us,
“I don’t know where you come from.”
Then we will find ourselves saying, “We once ate and drank in your company and you once taught in our streets.”
You will reply, “I don’t know where you come from”
and you will say to us in the fateful words of the psalm,
“Away from me, all you wicked men and women.”
Remind us that at this point, you will find that you have to answer us,
“I don’t know where you come from.”
Then we will find ourselves saying, “We once ate and drank in your company and you once taught in our streets.”
You will reply, “I don’t know where you come from”
and you will say to us in the fateful words of the psalm,
“Away from me, all you wicked men and women.”
“The Word was made flesh in the Incarnation,
but ever since we have tried to make that flesh into word again.” Cardinal Martini
Lord, we look forward to days when we will know
that there will be weeping and grinding of teeth
as we see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God,
whereas we ourselves will be turned outside.
On the other hand, we will see men and women from east and west and from north to south, come to take their places at the feast of the kingdom of God whereas we are no longer there.
that there will be weeping and grinding of teeth
as we see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God,
whereas we ourselves will be turned outside.
On the other hand, we will see men and women from east and west and from north to south, come to take their places at the feast of the kingdom of God whereas we are no longer there.
Lord, remind us always that those we consider last
will soon be first in your kingdom
whereas those who are now first will soon be last.
will soon be first in your kingdom
whereas those who are now first will soon be last.
*****************
Homilies -1: ACP
Very Near To Us
Responding to the beauty of a spring morning, Robert
Browning wrote, “The lark’s on the wing, the snail’s on the thorn; God’s in his
heaven, all’s right with the world.” While the thought is beautiful, the
poem suggests a misleading concept of God, which maybe most of us
entertain from time to time . “God’s in his heaven, all’s right with the
world.” How often we imagine God as “away up there, somewhere”, while the
world goes its separate way, with the events of every day independent of God.
If the Gospel shows God in the person of Jesus Christ intervening in
human affairs, combatting the evil forces at work in mankind, at the back
of our minds we suspect that the battle against evil is not going God’s
way.
This kind of Deism seldom bothered his chosen people,
Israel, in the Old Testament. For them God was not remote, away up there. They
felt a divine presence in the events, good or evil, of everyday existence.
Everything in history was somehow God’s doing. Even when the cream of the
nation were exiled to Babylon and their monarchy was utterly destroyed, they
continued to search for the hand of God in this tragedy. Out their shattered
hopes there emerged a purer, more spiritual vision of what God meant them to
be. Eventually they saw their exile as the means God used to bring salvation to
the pagans. They saw their destiny as still being glorious, but now from a more
spiritual perspective. As stated in Isaiah, all nations would come to worship
the true God in Jerusalem. God would bring good out of the catastrophe they had
endured, and this would have an effect as well on nations apart from their own.
Constantly at the back of our minds we carry on, as it were,
a conversation with ourselves – talking to ourselves, processing our hopes and
fears, making plans. Relating to God means not leaving him on the fringe of all
this consciousness, but making him part of it, discussing it with him, asking
his guidance, his assistance, expressing to him our gratitude. All day long he
is with you, and you can walk with God, you can talk with God, you can discern
his loving purpose for you in every passing moment, you can rest in his
presence, even while you go about your business. Gd, however, will not posses
your soul unless you sincerely want him to.
So many of us remain “unconverted Christians,” without a
vision of the meaning of our lives. We remain on a material plane, like the
people in the gospel who ate and drank with Jesus and heard him preaching in
their streets, but with never a change in their lives. The Gospel warns that
people will come from the east and west, from the north and south, and take the
places at the feast in God’s kingdom meant for those who were called
originally. So we go on asking God to help us to enter by that narrow door, to
win the inheritance set aside for us from the beginning, and not to be found
wanting but rather persevere to the end.
Truth and Healing
In reaction to a bad policy pursued by the king, Isaiah
urged the people of Jerusalem “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you”. Then Jesus
invites us to realise the hard truth that our personal actions will determine
our eternal destiny. These readings could prompt a homily on dedication to the
truth, beginning with the power of language, which affects our whole human
experience of life.
The ability to speak is the most important skill we ever
acquire, putting us into intimate communication with other persons. Among
grown-ups, words can build confidence, inspire idealism, stimulate creativity;
but they can also break a reputation, undermine a project, or alienate a
community. In every newspaper we find concrete evidence of the power of
language to build up or tear down. In our own lives we have experienced for
good or ill the dynamism of the living word.
Telling the truth is not merely saying what is one one’s
mind, which could be subjective; it goes further and communicates things as
they really are, or as they actually look place. Truthfulness places an
obligation on all to learn to experience life as it really is, not dressed up
in flights of imagination. When we communicate we talk about real people and
real events; we share, as objectively as we can, our insights about life and
about the things of the spirit.
The Hebrews had a deep respect for truth, not so much in the
theoretic but in the practical sense. The Hebrew word emeth expressed
the basic idea of truth as firm, steady, trustworthy and faithful. The person
of truth was one who was reliable, and spoke with dignity and assurance. In the
New Testament the Greek word aletheia also has an important place. It is the
truth of Christ, the truth that saves.
We need to promote respect for truth as a deep value,
needing much revival today. Telling the truth is not merely saying what one
feels, since this can be subjective, but it goes deeper and first tries to see
things as they really are or as they actually happened. Only such truth is
worthy of communicating. Truthfulness urges us to see and experience life as it
really is, and to distinguish this from those flights of imagination that also
have a place in entertaining each other. People need to know whether we are
communicating about real events; we need to share, as truly as we can, our
insights about life and about the things of the spirit.
Lying is the opposite of truth; when it become habitual, it
distorts reality, goes directly against the virtue of thinking honestly, breaks
down trust and destroys integrity. Children may tell lies, often more out of
fear or an inability to cope with a difficult situation than out of a
deliberate intention to deceive. Truthfulness requires many qualities but
especially courage and maturity, it is an adult virtue. The adult who tells
lies loses in stature. It is sad to meet with grown-up people who live in a
dream world and paint a false picture of themselves. This is a sickness from
which a person can be healed only by re-discovering the value and the beauty of
truth.
The Stick and the Carrot
A four-year-old was sulking under the table. He had been
refused a second helping of ice-cream. His mother ordered him out, but the boy
wouldn’t budge. She fried coaxing, but nothing doing. When finally she promised
him the ice-cream, he trotted out triumphantly and they both went out to
get his reward from the fridge. The visitor was left alone with the other
witness of this little domestic scene, the little boy’s grandmother. While
mother and son were being reunited over a dish of ice-cream in the kitchen, the
old lady said to her visitor, “She isn’t fair to that boy; he doesn’t know any
better. She should have punished him.” The visitor had never heard
it put that way before: Punishment as a service due to a child. It underlined
an important change in attitude between the two generations.
This change was confirmed by a survey once carried out on
the religious attitudes among Irish university students. That boy might have
been one of those questioned then. While 56% said they believed in heaven, only
half that number, 28%, believed in hell. The ice-cream approach to wrongdoing
won hands down. Reward as an incentive rather than punishment as a deterrent,
was easily the more acceptable answer to wrongdoers. Incidentally, 58% of those
interviewed believed in wrongdoing, i.e. sin. Why should not reward
and punishment both be acceptable responses to behaviour. This was the
received wisdom, where both the stick and the carrot had a role in the
formation of the people of God. While our first parents were expelled from the
Garden of Eden as punishment for eating the forbidden fruit, the complaining
followers of Moses were rewarded with manna to encourage them on their
difficult way through the desert.
Political scandals involving corruption and bribery among
highly-paid public figures should give us reason to reflect. It is
tempting to speculate that as children they picked their mother’s purse or
otherwise misbehaved, secure in the belief that they would not be caught or, at
that if caught, they would go unpunished. Our present culture of impunity
among the elite gets no support from today’s 2nd Reading. The author has no
doubt that proportionate punishment is part of a wise ProvidenceÖ
For the Lord trains the ones he loves and punishes all those
that he acknowledges as his sons. Suffering is part of your training; God is
treating you as his sons. Has there ever been any son whose father did not
train him? Of course, any punishment is most painful at the time, and far from
pleasant; but later, in those on whom it has been used, it bears fruit in peace
and goodness.
********************
Homily-2:
Strive to Enter the Narrow Gate to Eternal Life
Very many opportunities are available to us during our lives. From this large assortment, we must decide which ones we want, which ones suit our personalities, and then strive to get them. The ones that we choose are not just going to fall into our laps—we have to go get them. If we pursue them half-heartedly, we are apt to miss them. One could say that the gate that we have to go through to attain what we want is a narrow one since there are much larger and easier gates that we could just fall through without even trying. These larger gates can distract us from the narrow gate we would like to go through.
Let me give you some examples of common choices we must make.
·
While in school and college, we
must decide what kind of vocation we would like to enter after we graduate. To
prepare ourselves, we must strive to get good grades if we want to
succeed in that vocation. The gate we are preparing to go through is a
narrow one.
·
When we find a job we like, it
is important to strive to do it well so as to maintain our employment.
To do the job half-heatedly means that we may soon be looking for another one.
The gate to keeping a good job is also a narrow one.
·
During our recreational time,
many of us participate in competitive sports. We soon find out that if we want
to win, we must strive diligently to pass through a narrow gate
of being a winner. The alternative gate is much wider if our goal is to
participate just for the fun of it.
I’ve played tournament tennis most of my life. Striving to
make it through the narrow gate to the finals is most difficult for me
here in Oklahoma where summer temperatures are in the 90s to 100s. Often when
struggling in the semifinals, I will think that if I lose this round, I won’t
have to come back tomorrow. However, I always strive to win and the gate
to getting to the finals is never a wide one.
The difficulty of striving to get what we want goes beyond
the secular part of our lives and also applies to the spiritual part. In
today’s gospel, Jesus tells his questioners that to be saved requires that they
“strive to enter through the narrow gate.”
Jesus has freely offered salvation to everyone. But, will we choose
salvation from the many opportunities available? Or will we slide through one
of the larger gates in life that is much easier and perhaps more fun to
do in the short term? We must strive to accept Jesus’ offer of
salvation.
Salvation is a pure gift offered to us by Jesus. There is nothing we
do can earn this gift, it is free from God. But a gift is not a gift until it
is accepted. As human beings, we have free will and can choose either to accept
his gift or to reject it. We can wait too long to accept the gift, or we can
become so calloused with the other pleasures of earth that we no longer know
that the gift is being offered.
A friend of mine may be slipping through a wide gate while losing sight of the narrow gate. A few years ago, he enthusiastically joined the Church. But slowly he began to drift away as his quantity of money allowed him to participate in whatever he wants. Presently, he thinks that he has complete control of his life and that he no longer needs God or his Christian community. He seems to be losing his desire to strive for the narrow gate of salvation. Jesus tells us that timing is very important when striving for the narrow gate. He says that when people knock on the door after it is closed, he will say, “I do not know where you are from.”
Since God is in charge of final judgment, why do we try to decide
who will be saved? We, as disciples of Jesus, must not be judgmental about who
we think will go through the narrow gate; our vision of God must be not
myopic or parochial. We must see with a wide-angle lens that God’s salvation is
open to all. God’s salvation is unbounded and it reaches out to those whom we
may not only distrust but also sometimes even despise.
We must be careful not to think that only those with our point of
view are faithful and deserving of salvation. We must not think that only those
will be saved who belong to the right religious groups, who believe correct
religious doctrines, and who follow an approved way of life.
There is something dangerous about being smugly convinced of our own
salvation because we have followed the rules. When we are so sure of ourselves,
we can easily fall into the error of being as sure of the moral failures of
others as well.
Jesus’ invitation to salvation is open to all of us. It is his will
to save us. The good news is that it is never too late. What is our response?
Is each of us striving to go through the narrow gate?
---------
In today’s Gospel Luke tells us about the door policy of the kingdom
of God and how there is no such thing as automatic membership. While Jesus is
making his way to Jerusalem, someone asks him about the number of those who
will be saved. Rather than speculate about the arithmetic of salvation, Jesus
gives practical advice about the present time: "Try your best to enter by
the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not
succeed." The door is not so wide that anyone can casually saunter through
at any time; the door is narrow and individuals must strive now to enter it.
Nor will the door remain open indefinitely. When locking-up time
comes and the master of the house has secured the door, those who missed their
opportunity will not be admitted. The narrow door has now become the locked
door. The image changes from tight space to time up. Those who wait until the
door is shut try knocking, but the householder regards them as strangers. The
latecomers try to remind the householder of common ties: they ate and drank
with him, they listened to him teaching in their streets. But the Lord is not
too impressed with superficial acquaintance: people who eat and drink in the
same restaurants and bars, read the same papers, watch the same programmes,
don’t necessarily share the same commitments. Camp followers are not disciples.
The pain of being excluded from the kingdom is worsened when the
latecomers see the kind of people who have been allowed in as members. There is
not even the dubious consolation of knowing that at least so-and-so is also on
the wrong side of the door. Members come from all over — "from east and
west, from north and south" — and take their place at the feast in the
kingdom of God. The prophecy of Isaiah that we heard in the first reading is
seen to be fulfilled as people "from all the nations" enjoy the
favour of the Lord. All sorts. The door policy of the kingdom keeps surprising
people: there’s no sure way of knowing who’s in and who’s out. In the kingdom
of God there’s no telling who is coming to dinner!
The teaching of Jesus is clearly opposed to the kind of national or
religious elitism that presumes it has an assured place in God’s kingdom. As
one who is treated as an outsider by his own people, Jesus has a natural
allegiance to those who don’t belong to the right crowd. Good roots are not
enough; having the right address is not enough; having an impressive pedigree
that goes back to Abraham is not enough. Borrowed fidelity does not impress
Jesus. There is no substitute for a person’s own decision for the kingdom of
God.
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." (8:21) Fellowship in the kingdom is open to all peoples who hear the
word of God and keep it. Whether we dress with the sobriety of Mr Straight or
the extravagance of Mr Swan is unimportant for membership of the kingdom. The
door policy is determined by fidelity to the word of God.
- Denis McBrid, C.Ss.R.
***************
Homily – 3
THE WORD:
Faith is a journey
to the dwelling place of God. Like
Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, our faith journey is difficult and painful; doubt,
despair and ridicule are among the obstacles we must encounter.
Jesus uses three
images in today's Gospel that speak of the disciple's faith journey:
•the narrow
gate: The major cities of Palestine were
built with walls surrounding the perimeter.
Throngs of people could enter the city only through the great gates at
the city’s entrance. Jesus, however,
calls us to enter the city of God through the “narrow gate” -- through the
lonely, humble entry way of the human heart.
•the locked
door: Conversion is not an instantaneous
transformation in which we go from Godlessness to holiness. Our lives are a constant process of
conversion, of working to become the people God has called to become.
•the feast: God’s invitation to the banquet of heaven is
extended to all men and women of good will, not just to those who presume
themselves to be God's special elite.
HOMILY POINTS:
The “narrow gate”
of the Gospel is difficult to enter -- limitless love, unconditional
forgiveness, sacrificial selflessness -- but it is the only entry into the
reign of God.
The “narrow gate”
of today’s Gospel is the honest confrontation of who we are, what we believe,
what we have done with our lives, what accomplishments -- and horrors -- we
bear responsibility for. The “narrow
gates” we encounter in life require of us an honesty and integrity that we
cannot ignore or fake our way through or re-invent ourselves to ease our way
through.
Faith is not a
pre-ordained condition nor an all-purpose “pass key” nor a guaranteed
reservation to the here-after. God
demands of us a personal, committed response to his gift of faith as the key to
the promise of the resurrection.
**************
ILLUSTRATIONS:
1.
Once
upon a time there was a daddy
who prided himself on his abilities as a driver. He wouldn't
let the mommy of the family drive when he was in the car. Ever. Nor would he
let the one legal teenager drive. They were simply not competent enough,
careful enough, responsible enough. Which is to say they were not as competent,
careful, and responsible as he was, or thought he was. Moreover, as he drove he
favored his family with a running commentary on the mistakes of other drivers.
The mommy and the kids, naturally, had long ago learned how to tune out these
commentaries. He was generally a nice man and you have to put up with certain
things in daddies, don't you?
WELL, this one day
when they were on vacation, they all went over to the local Baskin Robbins for
some ice cream. I won't delay you with a list of the decisions that had to be
made (that's another story which I may have told you already!) Anyway, when
they were backing out of their parking place - and it was a very crowded parking
lot - the Daddy didn't see a car that was coming behind him and plowed into it!
The car was a brand new Jeep Wrangler. It had the right of way. The daddy was
furious, especially because he knew it was his fault. He jumped out of the car
and cursed the teenage boy who was the driver of the Wrangler. All the kid
could say was you wrecked by graduation present. He had the right of way, the
mommy said. Then the kid sighed and made sure that the Mommy and the kids and the dog were all
right. I guess we can get it fixed he said. Don't worry about it. The Daddy
wouldn't apologize, though everyone knew he was wrong. But, like God, the kid
forgave him anyway. (Andew Greeley)
********************
2.
Shame
on You!
I was waiting my turn to see the emergency room doctor when
a young mother came through the doors with her child, maybe three or four years
old. The little girl was crying and the woman who, I took to be the child's
mother, was holding a bloody handkerchief over the little girl's mouth. She
looked around frantically for someone to help and rushed to the desk and said,
"My daughter's been hurt and I need to see..." She was cut off in
mid-sentence, "You need to take a seat and wait for one of the clerks to
sign you in."
"But my little girl was hit in the mouth by a..."
She was interrupted again. "Please take a seat ma'am, someone will be with
you shortly."
Just then, the ER doctor walked in and said to the woman at
the desk, "Shame on you... this little girl needs help right now!" He
motioned to the woman and the little girl and led them to an examining room.
Briefly, (and guiltily) I wondered when my turn to see the
doctor might come, but -- if I live to be a hundred years old, I wonder if I
will ever see another time when a person's pain so clearly wins out over the
system's protocol. "Shame on you!" I love it! The physician was
looking at a child's pain. The clerk was looking at the hospital's procedure.
John Jewell, Shame on You!
3. Fable of the Eagle and the Chicken
A fable is told about an eagle who thought he was a chicken.
When the eagle was very small, he fell from the safety of his nest. A chicken farmer found the eagle, brought him
to the farm, and raised him in a chicken coop among his many chickens. The
eagle grew up doing what chickens do, living like a chicken, and believing he
was a chicken.
A naturalist came to the chicken farm to see if what he had
heard about an eagle acting like a chicken was really true. He knew that an eagle is king of the
sky. He was surprised to see the eagle
strutting around the chicken coop, pecking at the ground, and acting very much
like a chicken. The farmer explained to
the naturalist that this bird was no longer an eagle. He was now a chicken because he had been
trained to be a chicken and he believed that he was a chicken.
The naturalist knew there was more to this great bird than
his actions showed as he "pretended" to be a chicken. He was born an eagle and had the heart of an
eagle, and nothing could change that.
The man lifted the eagle onto the fence surrounding the chicken coop and
said, "Eagle, thou art an
eagle. Stretch forth thy wings and
fly." The eagle moved slightly,
only to look at the man; then he glanced down at his home among the chickens in
the chicken coop where he was comfortable.
He jumped off the fence and continued doing what chickens do. The farmer was satisfied. "I told you it
was a chicken," he said.
The naturalist returned the next day and tried again to
convince the farmer and the eagle that the eagle was born for something
greater. He took the eagle to the top of
the farmhouse and spoke to him: "Eagle, thou art an eagle. Thou dost belong to the sky and not to the
earth. Stretch forth thy wings and
fly." The large bird looked at the man, then again down into the chicken
coop. He jumped from the man's arm onto
the roof of the farmhouse.
Knowing what eagles are really about, the naturalist asked
the farmer to let him try one more time.
He would return the next day and prove that this bird was an eagle. The farmer, convinced otherwise, said,
"It is a chicken."
The naturalist returned the next morning to the chicken farm
and took the eagle and the farmer some distance away to the foot of a high
mountain. They could not see the farm
nor the chicken coop from this new setting.
The man held the eagle on his arm and pointed high into the sky where
the bright sun was beckoning above. He
spoke: "Eagle, thou art an eagle!
Thou dost belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth thy wings and fly." This
time the eagle stared skyward into the bright sun, straightened his large body,
and stretched his massive wings. His
wings moved, slowly at first, then surely and powerfully. With the mighty screech of an eagle, he flew.
Nine years ago her dream came true -- she lost a great deal
of weight. As a result, many wonderful
things happened: Her blood pressure went
down and her energy level wept up. Her
feet, knees and back didn’t ache any more.
She no longer had to shop in the “big” women’s stores.
Here is what Magic Woman tells them:
“I can tell you what I did: I never gave up. Losing weight was something I deeply desired,
and I was relentless. When I found what
worked -- a way of balancing what I ate with how much I moved my body, my way
of earning a living, my way of connecting with the people I love -- I did it
with all my heart and soul, every day, without fail. When I [messed up], I kept going. When I was afraid, I felt the fear and took
the next step into the darkness. When I
was confused and uncentered, I pretended to know which end was up and kept
plodding. When I was empty and alone, I
reached out to others.
[Gay Norton Edelman, Spirituality & Health, May/June
2004.]
Discipline and sacrifice are the
hinges of the “narrow gate” that Jesus speaks of in today’s Gospel. All of the important things of life demand
that we struggle through the narrow gate.
There are no magic words to loving and being loved, to creating a world
of justice and peace, to forgiving and being reconciled with one another. Jesus promises that anyone willing to
struggle through the “narrow gate” will come to experience the life of God to
the fullest and find welcome in the dwelling place of God. (Connections)
5. Joe Rosenthal
What is little known
is that the photographer Mr Rosenthal was a convert to the Church from Judaism.
For his conversion, he was shunned by fellow Jews for abandoning the faith of
his people. But Rosenthal was not intimidated.
He wrote, "The day before we went ashore on Iwo Jima, I attended Mass and received Holy Communion. If a man is genuinely convinced of the truth and still neglects it, he is a traitor and that goes not only for my Jewish friends who do not attend synagogue each Saturday but also for my friends who miss Mass each Sunday."
5. Joe Rosenthal
Arthur Tonne tells an interesting tale. Most people have
seen the famous photo of Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. It
pictures United States Marines raising the American flag on a hill in bloody
Iwo Jima during World War II. Many of us too have stood mesmerized by the
equally famous heroic size bronze likeness of the scene sculpted in Washington
DC.
He wrote, "The day before we went ashore on Iwo Jima, I attended Mass and received Holy Communion. If a man is genuinely convinced of the truth and still neglects it, he is a traitor and that goes not only for my Jewish friends who do not attend synagogue each Saturday but also for my friends who miss Mass each Sunday."
The Teacher was
pulling himself through the towns and villages of Palestine. Busily He was
teaching all the time. His destination was Jerusalem. There He would keep His
long-planned rendezvous with death. He was asked by someone, "Lord, are
those to be saved few in number?"
The exhausted Christ,
desperately needing a shower and a cold drink, ignored the query. Oftentimes
the question put to Him did not touch on His syllabus. But He took advantage of
the well-intentioned question to say in effect, "The door to the kingdom
is unlocked. Keep in mind it is not wide, but it freely swings open on
well-oiled hinges. Those willing to exert themselves will walk right in. No
people at any time need stand outside with their noses pressed against the
glass door wistfully looking in." (Father James Gilhooley)
6. The Fat NGO Director in Africa
The Narrow Door: You might have to squeeze yourself
There was a director of a funding agency from USA visiting Africa. He had to fly from Nairobi to South Sudan by a 6-seater chartered plane. He was a bulky man – unimaginably big. As they prepared for the take-off, the pilot had a tough time working out the seating arrangement in order to balance the weights across the aircraft. They managed. When they landed, that huge director could not come out of the plane. Probably due to sitting down for a few hours that contributed to water retention in the body, the director had become a little bigger and could not bring himself out of the door of that small aircraft. His companions had to literally pull him out of the plane! (The director was so embarrassed that after he returned to the US, I was told, he underwent an operation to reduce his size!) (Sahaya Selvam, SDB)
7. African Homes
The Narrow Door: Make yourself small
When I served as a co-pastor in a parish in South Tanzania, during Eastertide every year we undertook this elaborate activity of blessing the houses of all the faithful. There were over 1300 households spread out in over 15 villages. And in that part of Africa villages, and houses within the same village, are spread out over a vast area. We had to walk long distances, and often the doors to the houses were rather narrow. We had to bend down, and as soon as you entered the house you found yourself in a dark space filled with smoke. It was really a humbling experience for us adults. But often, I noticed, children ran in and out of these houses as a matter fact. (Sahaya Selvam, SDB)
***************6. The Fat NGO Director in Africa
There was a director of a funding agency from USA visiting Africa. He had to fly from Nairobi to South Sudan by a 6-seater chartered plane. He was a bulky man – unimaginably big. As they prepared for the take-off, the pilot had a tough time working out the seating arrangement in order to balance the weights across the aircraft. They managed. When they landed, that huge director could not come out of the plane. Probably due to sitting down for a few hours that contributed to water retention in the body, the director had become a little bigger and could not bring himself out of the door of that small aircraft. His companions had to literally pull him out of the plane! (The director was so embarrassed that after he returned to the US, I was told, he underwent an operation to reduce his size!) (Sahaya Selvam, SDB)
7. African Homes
The Narrow Door: Make yourself small
When I served as a co-pastor in a parish in South Tanzania, during Eastertide every year we undertook this elaborate activity of blessing the houses of all the faithful. There were over 1300 households spread out in over 15 villages. And in that part of Africa villages, and houses within the same village, are spread out over a vast area. We had to walk long distances, and often the doors to the houses were rather narrow. We had to bend down, and as soon as you entered the house you found yourself in a dark space filled with smoke. It was really a humbling experience for us adults. But often, I noticed, children ran in and out of these houses as a matter fact. (Sahaya Selvam, SDB)
From Fr. Tony Kadavil’s
Collection:
1.
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.
2.
Narrow
door to successful living:
Thousands upon thousands of young boys grow up bouncing
basketballs and dreaming of a life in the National Basketball Association - the
professional ranks. But only a handful are chosen each year. Woe to the young
man or young woman who is talented at sports but neglects his or her education!
Thousands upon thousands of new businesses are started each year, but only a
small number of people in our society become super-successful in material
terms. The higher you go up the scale, the smaller the numbers become.
Thousands upon thousands of young couples each year stand at the altars of
churches like this one and pledge their love to one another, but half these
marriages will end in divorce. Many couples will stay together only for
convenience, for appearances or for the children. Only an estimated 10% will
find true fulfillment in their marriages. The door to any kind of successful
living is a narrow one. That is why Jesus reminds us in today’s gospel:
"Strive to enter by the narrow door, for many I tell you, will seek to
enter and will not be able." Successful living requires making hard choices.
It requires dedication and sacrifice. How can Christian faith demand any less?
3.
The
narrow gate of great musicians:
Someone once said to Padarewski, the great pianist,
"Sir, you are a genius." He replied, "Madam, before I was a
genius I was a drudge." He continued: “If I missed practice one day, I
noticed it; if I missed practice two days, the critics noticed it; if I missed
three days, my family noticed it; if I missed four days, my audience noticed
it. It is reported that after one of Fritz Kreisler's concerts a young woman
said to him, "I would give my life to be able to play like that." He
replied, "That's what I gave.” The door is narrow. Why should we think we
can "drift" into the Kingdom of God? The Christian life is a constant
striving to do the will of God as Jesus revealed it. We need to strive because
there are forces of evil within us and around us, trying to pull us down.
4.
Self-discipline:
Many years ago, an editorial in the magazine, War Cry put it
like this: "A loose wire gives out no musical note; but fasten the ends,
and the piano, the harp or the violin is born. Free steam drives no machine.
But hamper and confine it with piston and turbine and you have the great world
of machinery made possible. The unhampered river drives no dynamos, but dam it
up and we get power sufficient to light a great city. So our lives must be
disciplined if we are to be of any real service in this world." If you are
going to walk with Jesus, there are some things you will need to leave behind.
