Homily for August 26, 2007 21st Sunday of the Year

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.”

I want to begin by repeating the question asked of Jesus in the Gospel today and see what your answer is. You know, He doesn't answer the question, really, but somebody says, "Will only a few be saved?" What do you think?

I know I’m setting you up here. So let me just tell you what I think. I believe that God really, really wants us to be saved; and I believe that God is not stingy or begrudging with his gifts.

I also know that the Church has declared many people to be in heaven. It has never declared anybody to be in hell. You pick the worst example you can think of, and the Church would say, "No, you can't say that they're in hell, because you don't know how God's mercy might have operated in their life at the last minute."

So with all of that, I believe personally -- and if you disagree with me, that's fine; it's only my own personal thing -- I believe that you really have to try hard not to be saved, and that practically everybody is saved. That's my view. So how do you put together the Gospel?

Well, I want to ask you to imagine in your mind people whom you think have it all together spiritually and are really spiritually advanced. I won't ask you who they are, but think of somebody. Did you all think of somebody? Good. Now, I want to share with you what the people I thought of have in common, and measure it for yourself.

First of all, the people I know always strive to enter the narrow gate. They're not people who are looking for the easier, softer way. They're not people who look for shortcuts all the time. They are people who try their utmost to use everything they've got to get rid of their character defects, to grow, to do what they believe to be right, and to live as they think they should live. Would you agree with that?

The other thing, though, they have in common is when they first experience success  and we're all that way, you know. When we first feel God's blessings, or experience some success in our spiritual life, we're tempted to say, "Wow! Look at what I did!" And we think it's because of something we did, and we look for ways to do it again and do it better  but the more they progress, the more they say, "I didn't do anything. It's all what God did." So the more advanced people are  and there's that strange combination. I mention it in my letter in the bulletin.
When I was in grade school, the nuns taught me that I should work as if everything depended on me and pray as if everything depended on God. And there's that mixture of working hard and yet knowing that it's all God's grace. I think the people I know who are spiritually advanced also are well aware that it isn't anything magical about what you say or what you do.

Some people think, "Ah, if I can speak in tongues, I'm saved." Some people say, "Ah, if I only say I believe in Jesus, I'm saved." Other people say, "If I go to Mass every Sunday, I'm saved." Other people say  and I think what Jesus seems to be saying, is  it's not who you know, it's not having the right formulas, it's not all of those things that matter.

There are a lot of people who go to Mass every Sunday, and God might say, "I don't know where you're coming from." There are a lot of people who speak in tongues, and God might say, "I don't know where you're coming from." It's not the magic of all those things, but it really is all God's grace.

The other thing that I think they have in common is they  well, Fritz Perls, who is a psychologist  kind of a feisty one  was once asked by somebody, "Are you saved?" And he said, "I'm trying to be spent."

I think the people I know who are spiritually advanced are not preoccupied with themselves, and with their own growth, and with their own development, and with their own salvation. But they are trying to be spent in the service of something bigger than themselves. They're capable of selfcare, but that's not their mission in life. They're capable of setting boundaries and of saying "yes" and "no" when it's appropriate, but they're not preoccupied with themselves.
And I think they also have the awareness that there are many people, as Jesus says, from the east and the west and the north and the south who will recline at table in God's Kingdom. They're not so arrogant as to say, "If you don't believe what I believe, you won't make it. And if you don't agree with what I think, you won't make it." They're aware that there's a wideness and a broadness in God's mercy that's incomprehensible.

So what does it mean to strive to enter by the narrow gate? Well, the other thing I can reflect on is, I know some people who, what I would call, got "zapped." Do you know what I mean? Boom! Zap! The Holy Spirit came upon them, and they're holy and they've got it, and their life unfolds, and they've had this tremendous moment of spiritual awakening.

But I don't believe that that is the pattern. I think more often than not, we try to do the best we can, and we fail. But we keep trying, and the more we try, the more we begin to change. And oftentimes we don't even know that we're changing. Other people see it and begin to notice it and begin to wonder what's happening in our life. And I think that's the way most of us grow.
So, in the readings today, I read several things that we try to hold together. The broadness and the wideness of God's love and mercy, the importance of trying to enter through the narrow gate, and the stripping away of every kind of confidence that if we just say the right words and do the right things, we'll be saved. But ultimately it is all God's grace and God's mercy.

So I think Sister was right when she told me, "Work like everything depends on you, but pray like everything depends on God." And have the confidence that because everything depends on God, and because God is good, it will be given to you.