Bible
Study: Isaiah 66, 18 to 21. Hebrews 12, 5 to 13 and Luke 13, 22 to 30.
Our
opening prayer for today’s mass summarizes perfectly our readings for today. It
says: O God, who cause the minds of the faithful to unite in a single purpose,
grant your people to love what you command and to desire what you promise, that,
amid the uncertainties of this world, our hearts may be fixed on that place
where true gladness is found. How true it states that this world is full of
uncertainties. If you are a regular reader of our newspapers, you cannot but
agree with this fact. Day after day, it is one shocking news after another. No one
knows what the future holds. Every morning, waking up in this country is like
waking up to expect the worst.
The truth
is that even though our problems are unique to us as a nation, there is no
country in the world that is free of political, economic, religious or social
challenges. The world is indeed full of uncertainties. He is indeed foolish the
man who places his trust in the world and fails to turn his gaze to God. This is
why we pray that God may grant us a genuine love for what he has commanded and
a desire for what he has promised. What is that thing which God has promised? Heaven;
a place where true gladness is found.
Getting to
heaven is like being rescued from drowning and pulled to safety from the middle
of the sea by a helicopter. The feeling of being alive again when you thought
death was inevitable only a moment ago is one that brings non-negotiable joy. To
eventually get to heaven after the uncertainties that abound in our world is
the purest of all joys and the definition of salvation. Hence, in our Gospel
passage, when someone asked Jesus if only a few would be saved, he meant to
ask, if only a few people will enter heaven.
Jesus did
not say how many will enter heaven instead he responds by giving us the ticket when
he says: “Enter by the Narrow Door.” By giving us the ticket openly, Jesus expresses
God’s desire for everyone to get into heaven. This is exactly that the prophet
Isaiah speaks of in our first reading: “I am coming to gather all nations and
tongues; and they shall see my glory…” It is not God’s will that anyone should
be denied entrance and there isn’t such a thing as being destined for heaven or
hell. We are ones to choose which door to enter and whether or not we would
respond to our calling to enter.
When the
master shuts the door, some will come saying: “we ate and drank in your
presence, and you taught in our streets.” But he will say: “I do not know where
you come from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!” The narrow door is
that door that is passable only by people whose lives are free from iniquity. You
cannot pass through a narrow door if you are carrying a heavy load of sin, and
so to get into heaven, you must cut off your attachment to any sin or
defilement.
Consider the
thousands of Christians who go to church day in day out, they are eating and
drinking in God’s presence and they are listening to powerful sermons every day.
But how many Christians are actually living in the light? How many are free
from iniquities? Upon getting to heaven, God will deny knowing us because even
when we flocked his church every day, we refused to take our hands off from
evil, we tried eating our cake and having it at the same time, we thought we
could serve two masters, we wanted to give God his due and at same time, give
the world its due. We pretended to be good externally but we soaked ourselves
in sin in secret. On the last day, it is those things we did secretly that will
count.
The Good News
is that it is not too late to repent today. It is not too late to drop our old
ways of vices and secret sins. It is not too late for us to start walking in
the light so that we can pass through the narrow door. Hence part of our
opening prayer is that we should love what God commands. The only way we can
keep God’s commandments is to love them. In that way, they are no longer
burdensome. When we consider God’s commandments as infringement on our personal
freedom or obstacles to our innate desires, the commandments become very
difficult to keep. For instance, a person who believes strongly that the organs
are designed solely for pleasure or that there is nothing wrong with having sex
outside marriage will find it very very difficult to practice chastity. And this
applies to all the commandments of God. our deep seated beliefs determine
whether or not we would find them easy or not.
Our second
reading encourages us to change our opinion on what we consider to be difficult.
If indeed, we are aiming for heaven, then we must not resist it when God allows
us suffer bodily pain since that would represent our detachment from the
baggage of sin and enable us to pass freely through the narrow door that leads
to heaven. That things are not going as smoothly as I want them to be is not
because God hates me. God is not giving me all the comforts and luxuries I so
desire right now, he is not answering my prayers, he is not making me have the
world’s goods as much as I want because he wants me to trust little in passing
things and look forward to heaven. Jesus said anyone who wants to follow him must
deny himself, take up his cross and come after him. The cross I carry symbolizes
the things that Jesus himself rejected during his temptations; power, pleasure
and prosperity. Carrying the cross may look like suffering right now but in the
end, this cross becomes the discipline I need to enter through the narrow door.
Let us
pray:
Lord
Jesus, I repent today from all my iniquity. I have ate and drank with you by
worshipping in your presence. May I not be left out on the last day. Amen
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.
Happy Sunday.
Fr. Abu
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