XXI Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Is 66:18-21
Ps 117:1, 2
Heb 12:5-7, 11-13
Lk 13:22-30


Today, our Lord, in no uncertain terms tells us about the very narrow gateway to heaven.  The people ask Him, Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He doesn’t give a definite answer but basically tells us the outlook does not look good.  Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many… will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.  It is not like we can barge through the gates of heaven or run so hard that there is a cartoon cutout of the shape of our bodies in the clouds.  I think for some of us it’s gonna be like us trying to catch that subway as the doors are closing.  When Jesus says that there is “a narrow gate”, that means that heaven some people are gonna be left out and we don’t need to be looking at others to see who, we just have to worry about looking at the mirror.  I’m going to be frank about this: Heaven is exclusive.  This narrow gate is going to be a “close call” and I don’t want to be unprepared.

We sing songs about inclusivity, we preach about welcoming and inclusion, but the bottom line is this: heaven is exclusive.  Jesus does not say that “he is a way, a truth, and a life”; He says that is THE way, THE truth, and THE life.  When we sing the song “All are Welcome”, I find it is not a completely honest message.  Yes, we do welcome all – because God calls all people to Himself – heaven was and is for all of us.  He says in Isaiah today, … I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory… But there must be a complete and total conversion to Him to enter into our heavenly reward.  Sin and vice must be rooted out, virtue must be practiced, and a complete and total reliance on God.  This is a daily task for each and every one of us, including myself.  This journey did not stop when you got baptized, when you were confirmed, or even when you started being parents.  Nobody’s journey is complete until the day we die and even then we pray that the work of purgatory will be quickly completed in us.   All are called, many will answer and hear, but few will actually enter.  

We hear in the Gospel: Lord, we ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets!  This shows just how close we can be to Him and STILL miss the mark!! You come here every Sunday to eat and drink with Him, I preach to you, and then you go home feeling all warm and fuzzy.  One day you die and you go up to the gate and the door is slammed in your face.  God says to you, I do not know where you are from.  Depart from me, all you evildoers!  [Wow ouch!]

One may ask, Well is there any hope for us?  [If even Fr. Reuben is worried about his salvation, then there’s no way I’m gonna be saved.]  Where is the silver lining in this dark cloud?  Let’s look at our second reading from Hebrews for some consolation.  My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.  In other words, if He didn’t love us, He wouldn’t give us such a hard time.  The fear of the pains of Hell – the wailing and gnashing of teeth – is our ultimate deterrent from the habits of sin and vice; and we would do well to listen. There is also the message of peace and love from God, but sometimes it fails to soften our hardened hearts.  But everybody understands pain and suffering and if that is not enough for us to change and be converted, then I fear there is little hope for them.

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, when we come here every Sunday to celebrate this Divine Liturgy, this Holy Mass, we are doing more than just eating and drinking and having “community” and “communion”; we are standing at the gate of heaven.  Something that is lost in our modern age is the notion of ritual sacrifice.  In times of old Jews and Pagans alike would sacrifice meat and offerings to their gods – it was something bloody and necessary and afterwards a meal would be shared.  When Christ came, He completed a once and for all Sacrifice: all of the sacrifices are now rolled into His!  This was so that we may have a perpetual wedding banquet for all eternity.  He is the groom and the Church is the bride.  We enjoy this wedding feast every time we celebrate the Holy Mass, but quite often we forget the sacrificial part which allows this celebration to happen.  We must remember what has happened; and change our hearts – pick up our cross and follow Him.  We cannot just enjoy the fruit of the harvest without working right there with Him in His vineyard.  Strive to enter the narrow gate – to enter into His passion and death – so that we might decrease and He might increase – to forsake the temptations of the world and turn to Him.  Then and only then can we have true “communion” with Him.  Our “Communion” with Him is not just in the Eucharist, but in every single aspect of our lives: from the grocery store, to the mall, to the road, and especially in the house.  We do not just sing and laugh and have a good time on Sunday and then resume our hedonistic ways the rest of the week; because that is for the hypocrites that will not be entering through the narrow gate.  No, we are better than that and we are called to more.

What kinds of sacrifices in your life have you brought to the altar of God? How are you communing with God at this narrow gate?  If you have not done well this week or even today, then it’s time to change – go to the sacrament of Reconciliation – and make a fresh start.  Unite your sacrifices with His, allow Him to be the leader, so that you may be the true Bride to the Bridegroom that is Christ. Only then will the words we ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets, not be a statement to condemn ourselves in our hypocrisy, but a declaration of true communion.  Because we will have remembered what He did for us and what we do for Him as we eat His flesh and drink His blood in the Holy Eucharist.

XIX Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Wis 18:6-9
Ps 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22
Heb 11:1-2, 8-19
Lk 12:32-48

Growing up, we lived close to our schools and we would always walk home.  When we got home we did what any kid would do when no one was around.  Watch television!  Of course we had lots of homework to do; not only from school, but also homework from Chinese school, practice our band instruments and chores – things that my parents would want us to do before they got home from work.  If we had started when we got home right away, we probably would have just been finishing up when our parents got home; but that was rarely ever the case.  Instead we would watch all our favorite cartoons and shows and MAYBE do a homework assignment or two.

Now the TV room was next to the garage so when we heard the garage door open, that was our alarm to scramble and look like we were being productive.  Because we knew, as you probably have experienced in your homes… parents are interesting creatures that apparently have a different concept of time and cause and effect.  Because when my Mom would walk through the door and greet us, she would see whatever we were doing.  And whatever we were doing would be what we have been doing all day. If we had the TV on when she came home, the assumption was that we were watching TV all day and we hadn’t done any work.  If we were playing video games or on the computer, the assumption was that we were playing video games or on the computer all day long.  Even if we were good and just turned on the television after finishing all of our work, when my parents got home the assumption was that we had playing all day.  This, of course, was quite frustrating and the evidence submitted to the Court of the Chen Family would never hold up.

So we got smart.  We would watch television all afternoon and then when we heard the garage door, we got our books and things out and looked busy!!!  But somehow they knew… parents have some sort of secret power that allows them to figure out that we have been up to no good.  Turns out, all they did was touch their hand to the screen of the television, if there was static or it was warm – we were watching TV.

Now I tell this story not because I wanted to confess shenanigans or reveal parents’ sneaky ways of figuring out what their kids have been up to, but because our scriptures speak about being ready for the Second Coming.  Are YOU ready?

Christ says to His disciples, “Gird your loins and light your lamp and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.” Unlike my childhood, we are not going to have a garage door announcing the coming of Christ.  The Master of the House will come and we are either going to be ready for Him or we are going to be caught unawares.  No one knows the day or the hour.  As it says in Wisdom, The night of the Passover was known beforehand to our fathers… We know that the day of reckoning is coming, what are we doing to prepare ourselves?  It could be in a few minutes, it could be years.  But it is coming; are you prepared to meet our Lord?  Let’s not procrastinate and put off our work here on earth to the last minute, but rather prepare for the end.
We are the master of our own house, our mortal body; we must not only prepare for the end but live a life that is pleasing to God.  If I had been doing my homework all afternoon, I would had proof to show my Mother that I worked hard and what I had been doing was pleasing to her; not just for those few minutes before she walked into the house.  The good works that we do in this life go with us, the Faith and the Hope sustains us and keeps us going forward.

 In the same way that we do not know when God is coming, we do not know when Satan will try to mess with us.  Temptation and sin is all around and guess what?  Hell is real place.  [You think Texas is hot?]  If we fail to keep the Commandments, to avoid sin and temptation, if we fail to live a life full of charity and compassion, and if we lose the faith – it is not God who will turns His back to us, but it is YOU who turn your back on Him.  God does not condemn you to Hell; you condemn yourself because your soul is heavy with sin and vice. And no angel or saint will have the strength to lift you out of your filth.  

 Hell isn’t talked about much these days because we think that life is hard enough without adding more things to worry about.  But guess what, the opposite is true it is one of the most important things to worry about.  If the Love of God is not enough for you to desire Him, maybe the pains of Hell will scare you straight.  It is not a made-up place, but one that is very real.  For me – I would rather I desire God for Him and not just because I don’t want my rear seared.  But sometimes that’s what motivates us.  Those afternoons home alone were more productive when I knew that if I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, I’d get in trouble – [that bamboo tree that grew in our backyard was not for feeding pandas.]  When we know what we are up against, we know that we must have faith and continue in our faith, to persevere and to see that: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.  

When we see the example of Abraham, we see a man of faith – a man tested and tested.  He was a given a promise of the greatest blessing of descendants, land, and prosperity.  But he had nothing that would indicate that God was going to make good on that promise; only faith.  He was told to relocate from the city into an alien wilderness; from having property to having nothing.  He was told that he was going to have children, when both his wife and he were way past the age of having children.  He was a given a wonderful son, Isaac, and then asked to sacrifice him – and all of this Abraham was willing to do because he trusted in God’s promise.

If Abraham, who did not have the benefit and blessing of the experience or knowledge that the Incarnate Son of God would come, suffer, die and rise again, for the salvation of the world, how much more should our faith be who have the benefit of the Incarnation and the Gospel of Christ: the Tradition of the Apostles, the prayers and supplications of the Universal Church, and the most blessed gift of the Eucharist in our midst?  The blessings and benefits of our Faith are on our side, but it is up to you to avail yourself to it.

Sin, temptation, vice, and the devil surround us.  We are steeped in the world and in sin – every single one of us: idolatry of money, status, work, and pleasures, anger, grudges, gluttony, sins of the flesh, pride, lies, gossip, theft, drunkenness, laziness, lack of charity and compassion; and probably the most egregious one of all: receiving our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, in this state of sin because you are too “embarrassed” that other people are going to judge you.  Your pride and saving face is more important to you than protecting the sanctity of God and the state of your soul.  If you have not been to confession in the last month or two, it would be a good idea to go.  No, not just a good idea: it is imperative.  If it has been years, then the urgency is even greater.  There is no sin that is so great that God cannot forgive.  Sin impedes and can even cut off our relationship with God – like really really bad cholesterol clogging your arteries.  Go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Repent, purge yourself of these sins, and get rid of them. For our Lord says, ‘Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.’  We, who have the gift of Faith like Abraham, have been giving much, and therefore much more will be demanded of us.