Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
At
the end of our life, standing before the judgment seat of God, we don’t want to
hear, “‘I do not know where you are from,’” coming from the mouth of
Jesus. That means that what comes
next is not good news, and we should be prepared for the afterlife elevator to
go down, rather than up. So it
makes sense that the person might say, as Jesus has them saying in today’s
Gospel, “‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’” But then they hear something even
worse: “‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’” These probably sound like pretty harsh
words from the Divine Person who is supposed to be a loving Shepherd.
But
both last week and this week the Church presents for us what can seem like the
harsher side of Jesus. Last week
Jesus was saying how following Him will split apart families. This week, He’s talking about eternal
salvation and how many will be saved.
When we hear passages like the one we heard today, perhaps we try to
theologize it away, by highlighting other passages from Scripture which talk
about how God desires the salvation of all. And certainly we take those very seriously and must read
today’s passage in light of those.
But more often than not, we don’t read this passage in light of those
other Scripture passages, we just ignore today’s and pretend that the one’s
about God’s desire for all to be saved are the only passages that are
important. But we do so at our own
peril.
Because
while God does desire all to be saved, God also tells us with great sobriety
that “‘many…will attempt to enter [through the narrow gate] but will not be
strong enough.’” Enjoying eternal
bliss is not the automatic destination, even one of one who is baptized. It’s the destination God programmed
into us, but sin so often takes us off course. Just because we’re baptized doesn’t mean that we’re going to
heaven. Salvation is not a gift
that is offered once for all and accepted or rejected in one moment, but is a
gift that is offered to us each day that we have to receive each day in order
for it to become our eternal reality.
Just because I lived a holy life yesterday, does not mean that I will
today. In fact, I could be
particularly evil today, which could undermine all the good I did
yesterday.
If
you think about it in an academic metaphor, we don’t start class off with a
4.0, and then only lose it if we don’t turn stuff in, or answer questions
correctly. Rather, God offers us
opportunities to respond to the love He first showed us, homework assignments
and quizzes and tests, and if we do well, we can get that 4.0. Or, if you prefer, think about it in
terms of lifting weights. We don’t
start off with buff little bodies.
We need to work out in order to keep a good, muscular physique. When we don’t, our muscles get weak and
they appear smaller. I’m living
proof of that. If muscles just
came, I’d be pretty buff. But
because I never lifted weights or did any kind of muscle conditioning, I have
these little scrawny arms. Now,
good grades are not the most important things in life, nor are muscles. But what is true with getting a 4.0 and
getting big muscles is true about salvation: it doesn’t just happen without any
work.
It
is not enough to be around Jesus, as if salvation comes by way of osmosis. We might as well sleep with textbooks
beneath our pillow in the hopes of learning the material. The people in Jesus’ words today were
around Jesus. They ate and drank
with Him and He taught them in their cities. And yet Jesus says He does not know them. It is not enough simply that we are
baptized. Each day we are called
to respond to God’s love that He give us first, and the opportunities that He
sends our way to share that love with others. Each day we are called to offer to God the sacrifice of our
lives as we seek to do His will in all things. We discipline ourselves to choose God not ourselves; to
choose love, not hate; to choose generosity, not selfishness; to choose truth,
not lies. Baptism is not a Get Out
of Hell Free card. It is, rather,
a catalyst that can be used to propel us towards heaven. Or it can just sit on a shelf and
collect dust.
The
work of the New Evangelization is to reenergize our own faith, and to bring
others back into the practice of the faith in which they were baptized, to work
out those spiritual muscles. And
our impetus in doing so is because we want them to go to heaven, just as much
as we want to go to heaven. And we
know for them, as for ourselves, that the gate to heaven is not wide, but
narrow, and the way to heaven is not the easiest path, but often is the
hardest, and that new life in God comes only through death to ourselves. It means that we form our minds around
what God has revealed to us, rather than doing our own thing. It means we go to Mass every Sunday and
Holyday; we give of our time, talent, and treasure to the Church; that we talk
about our faith in public and pass it on to our families and friends; that we
live a life of chastity; that marriages for Catholics happen according to the
laws of God and the Church; that we feed the hungry and give drink to the
thirsty; that we do all this and more according to our abilities. I pray that I, and all of us, and all
those to whom we as a parish are called to evangelize, are not spiritually
lazy, but do the hard work of responding to God’s love in everyday life, so
that when we die, we will not hear, “I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, evildoers!” but, “Come,
my good and faithful servant; share your Master’s joy.”
