Gospel: Lk 13, 22-30
Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from. And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’ 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. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Homily
The Gospel passage given to us for this weekend calls to mind the question which worries so many people; who will be saved and will I be among them? It is important to remember that we do not have a capricious God who saves those whom he wants to save and forgets about others. Our God wants every single human being to be saved and puts in our hearts and minds all that we need to do to be saved. St. Paul tells us that it is already written in our hearts. Moreover all the means and the help that we need are within our reach. What is written in our hearts in the law of love and how difficult it is to live that law, for love demands putting the other first and that is difficult for all of us. It is no wonder that Jesus tells those to whom he is speaking; “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”
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As many of you know I am on vacation this month and I went to visit this past week a group of native people, the Aché, who first came into contact with, for want of a better word, modern civilization thirty six years ago. With the help of three very wise anthropologists this group of Aché people have learnt to use the tools of modern civilization without losing their culture and identity. They hold everything in common except their handicraft. They work together, they make decisions together and they refuse to allow within their community anyone whose attitude disrupts the harmony of the community. This harmony which this group lives finds its expression in the real joy which one experiences within the community and the welcome which is extended to those who make the long journey to visit them. As I thought about this group of Aché whom many of us would label as primitive I wondered whether they had found the secret of entering through the narrow gate. I began to understand that, in spite of propaganda to the opposite, it is possible to live in the manner in which the first Christian communities lived. The Acts of the Apostles tells us that the first Christians held everything in common and it was said of them; “See how they love one another.”
The Gospel passage tells us however that unless we are capable of giving up the selfishness which leads to disharmony, i.e., strive to enter by the narrow gate, nothing that we do will be of value for entering the Kingdom. “ And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’ And those whom we consider primitive “will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.” As I brought the Gospel passage and my visit to the Aché together I cannot help but think that those we consider to be the least, the last in the line have a wisdom which we the sophisticated ones have lost, a wisdom which is so necessary for God’s purpose, of which we are the architects, to be fulfilled. Truly the ending words of the Gospel are being fulfilled; “For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, there is a wisdom out there that has eluded us and so we do not see the need to strive to enter through the narrow gate. Yet that wisdom is finding expression and is being lived by those we consider to be of little worth, the last in the line. Help us your Christian people to find that wisdom so we do not find ourselves standing outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ And You replying, ‘I do not know where you are from, Depart from me, all you evildoers! We ask this through the mediation of Mary, our Mother and the intercession of your Son Jesus. Amen
