Strong Enough for Heaven

The 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

I’m wondering if you happened to catch the list of towns that the prophet Isaiah rattled off in our first reading today: Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal, Javan. These are probably not places on your dream vacation wish list. In fact, except for dedicated students of the bible, most people have never heard of these places. Most of us couldn’t even tell you what continent they’re on without guessing!

It’s a little sobering to think that people from these towns—Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal, Javan—were wiped out… erased from the planet and all human memory.

Intellectually, everybody who’s ever studied history knows that civilizations rise and fall… they come and go. Look at ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Phoenicia, the Aztecs, the Incans, the great Chinese dynasties, even the British Empire. But we certainly don’t want to think the same about our lives—that somehow we can peak and then crash and burn. We know and believe that our souls are immortal. We are going to live forever—someplace! And boy, that “forever” better be in heaven, right? What a tragedy it would be to struggle through life only to find ourselves shut out of heaven.

Jesus tells us today that getting into heaven isn’t a sure thing. He says that the gate is narrow. He says that some people may not be “strong enough” to get in.

What does that mean—“not strong enough”?

Maybe you’ve seen the commercials on TV for Bowflex or other exercise equipment. They assure us that if we devote 30 minutes a day to their program, three times a week, within a few months we can tone up, get rid of our flab, and be a lot stronger. Are we supposed to strength-train with Bowflex to earn our way into heaven? No, I don’t think that’s what the Lord had in mind.

In the gospel, Jesus says: Strive to enter through the narrow gate. That little phrase might be better translated this way: everyone who enters must force his way in. In other words, maybe we’re supposed to be something of a gate-crasher. So maybe to be strong enough means that we’ve got to be intellectually strong and clever.

Now, I’ve read that experts these days are suggesting that a good way to ward off the onset of Alzheimer’s is by keeping our brain exercised. Things like crossword or Sudoku puzzles are great. But I don’t think that struggling to figure out the clue to16-across or 27-down is what Jesus had in mind, either.

Even the apostles were perplexed by what the Lord said. In our weekday mass readings this past week, we read the story of the rich young man (Mt 19:16-30) who asked Jesus what he had to do to be saved. Christ told him to keep the commandments. He said that he did. “What else?” he asked. Jesus said that he should sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and then come follow him.

The disciples were “greatly astonished” to learn that wealth and possessions and worthy charitable deeds and even recommended religious practices can’t save us—and in fact, these things might even get in the way of our life with God. So in amazement, the disciples asked Jesus what we all want to know: “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus replied: Humanly speaking, no one. But with God, everything is possible (Mt 19:26).

So, our very best efforts are not going to be enough to buy, barter, earn, or bribe our way into heaven. We are saved by faith—and faith is a free gift from God.

That makes perfect sense, of course. That’s how an innocent, little child can be “strong enough” to get into heaven. Aha! The strength that’s required is embracing the gift of faith that has been offered to us.

In case you’re wondering how that can be done, here are some of the ways.

We have to be strong enough to be humble and ask for the gift of eternal life in our prayer.

We have to be strong enough to live simply and not get too caught up in pursuing the money, possessions, and other benchmarks of success promoted by the world.

We have to be strong enough to trust God in his providence, knowing that he loves us deeply and will always see to our needs.

We have to be strong enough to flee from temptation and sin because they are brick walls and dead-ends along our path.

And yes, we have to be strong enough to acknowledge our weakness and seek forgiveness when we mess up—probably multiple times every day!

So you can see that getting into heaven is the simplest thing in the world… but also the most demanding. It definitely takes strength. We’ve got to pray for ourselves, and for each other, for the divine strength we all need. May God smile upon us and help us succeed.

Not Peace But Division

The 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

One of Jesus’ most beautiful titles comes from the prophecy of Isaiah: “Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6). The day that Christ was born, the angels announced his birth with great joy and praised God for blessing humankind with peace. We repeat this praise at every Sunday mass when we pray: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth! (Lk 2:14).

Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus kept repeating his message of peace:

• He taught us in the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (Mt 5:9). In other words, he meant that our God is the God of peace, so people who seek peace and pursue it reflect his character.

• He also taught us: If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also (Mt 5:39). Again, his meaning was clear: put up with other people and their anger as a way to diffuse conflicts and further peace. Don’t offer any resistance or retaliation if you’re attacked or ill-treated.

• The very last time that Jesus visited Jerusalem, his message was once again one of peace: As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes (Lk 19:41-42). He wept because the city refused his message and was on a course that was bound to lead them to destruction: Your enemies… will dash you to the ground… They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you (Lk 19: 43-44).

• Even after the Resurrection, Jesus’ disciples proclaimed what Paul called the “gospel of peace” (Eph 6:15) and the “word of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:19). And these weren’t just pious platitudes, but the lived experience of Christ’s followers. Individuals and groups of people who were formerly at odds found themselves reconciled through their common devotion to Christ.

Yes, Jesus’ unwavering message is a call to peace.

That’s why today’s gospel seems so jarring and out of character when Our Lord proclaims: Do you think that I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division (Lk 12:51). Then he goes on to describe the tensions and conflicts that will come about in families.

Actually, Jesus speaks from personal experience. There are indications in the gospels that some members of his own family were not supportive or even sympathetic with his ministry. You may remember the scene where so many people gathered at his door that he couldn’t even sit down to dinner. Mark’s gospel says: When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind” (Mk 3:21). And in John’s gospel, we hear that when some of Jesus’ relatives were told about his miracles, they didn’t believe in him (Jn 7:5).

So, when Jesus said that he had come to bring “not peace but division,” he meant that this would be the effect of his coming, not that it was the purpose of his coming.

We know that his words came true in the life of the early Church—and they continue to come true today.

In one of my previous assignments, a parishioner came to see me one day. She was a devout Catholic and had been married for a long time to a successful doctor who was now elderly and terminally ill. Her husband was fiercely anti-Catholic. He refused to be married in the Church. He wouldn’t even consider being baptized. Frankly, his wife was scared for his soul. Up to his dying day, he refused to give in.

I’ve also comforted other parishioners who converted to Catholicism and found themselves rejected by their own parents and relatives in the most hurtful and hateful way. They call our religion “not Christian” and “the whore of Babylon.”

These examples are exactly what Jesus warns us about today. He reminds his followers that their allegiance to him could very well cause conflict at home, and possibly even expulsion from the family circle. They couldn’t later come back and say, “We never expected that this would be the price for following Jesus!” He told us in advance.

But perhaps there is a bit of happy irony, because Jesus does bring us his peace even in the midst of such family turmoil. When in our words and deeds we stand up for Christ and God’s Truth, even when we are met with opposition, we can take comfort in knowing that Christ is with us. That sense of interior peace is the same peace that sustained Our Lord even as he hung dying on the cross.

As Christian believers, we are called into the battlefield of spiritual warfare. It is easy to quietly go along with friends and family members so as not to make waves. If Christ had made that kind of “peace” with the Jews and Romans of his day, we would have forgotten about him 2,000 years ago. But instead, he shows us how to be courageous and true peacemakers.

Jesus said: I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! (Lk 12:49). May each of us strive to carry the Lord’s torch.

Rich in God

Hans Holbein, The Dance of Death, 1538.
Death grabs the rich man’s money before stealing his soul.

The 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

I think that if we could come up with the simplest possible philosophy of life, it would be that we want to feel good—or at least feel better about ourselves.

And as you’d expect, we all have different ways that we try to get to that goal.

Some people really try to put God at the center of their lives. They pray, they study the Word of God, they do spiritual reading, they do their best to devote their lives to the service of God and others. What a blessing to be counted in this group! As Jesus says, if you are, you’re not far from the kingdom of God.

Sometimes, folks start out in this group but drift away—or are driven away.

You may feel, for example, that the Church condemns something about you or your past choices—and as a result, you no longer feel welcome. Think about politicians who try to reconcile their personal beliefs on issues of life or science versus the interests of the spectrum of people they’re trying to serve. Think about people who have made agonizing decisions about divorce or sterilization or end-of-life matters. Think about gay people trying to lead good lives yet are labeled an abomination.

And then there are the people who feel that they have been driven away not by a church teaching but by a human being representing the Church: the priest who insulted you or refused to baptize your child… the nun who humiliated you in class… the bishop who never answered your letter.

Regrettably, these kinds of situations often lead us to take it out on God. We think: if the Church doesn’t want me, then that means God doesn’t want me. And so when it comes to finding a way to feel good, or feel better, in life, we figure that we have to look someplace else—to lesser gods, we might say.

Some people become addicted to vices we are all aware of like drugs, alcohol or sex. But many turn to the more respectable “vices” of career, wealth and image that, even though are less destructive to the body, they are no less destructive to the soul.

This is the dilemma that Jesus speaks to in the parable of the rich fool in today’s gospel. The word “fool” sounds rather harsh, but Jesus directs it specifically at those people who purposely and willingly turn away from God—not those who have been driven away by the cruelty of others.

Nevertheless, the point Jesus makes is the same for everyone—being rich in God is the only type of wealth that matters in the end. Looking for comfort in anything besides God is a waste of time—whether that thing is a bottle or a bank account. Jesus’ warning here is not against wealth in and of itself, but against the false security that wealth and possessions can breed. Jesus says: One’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions (Lk 12:15b). We could replace money and possessions with anything besides God that we use to try to make ourselves feel good. The same futility is still present.

Our first reading from Ecclesiastes makes the same point. We hear that well-known opening line: Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! (Eccl 1:2b). The meaning is simply that anything less than the richness of God will not and cannot satisfy the longing that we have for wholeness in our lives. “Vanity” means something is empty or valueless. The original Hebrew word is hebel, which literally means “breath” or “vapor.” Maybe we could use a modern expression and say that this verse means that all apart from God is just smoke and mirrors.

Therefore, our job as Christian believers has got to be to reprioritize the things in life.

If we know people—friends or family members—who have been hurt and don’t feel welcome any more, it is up to us to be reconcilers. The simple fact is that God loves all his children with a love that is present and inexhaustible. There is room in the pews, at the communion table, and in the kingdom for everybody. Sometimes we just have to say that.

If it’s us who have slipped away, or have been driven away—well, we have to remember exactly the same thing. Coming back to the Lord is so important—eternally important—that it is worth an arduous effort to get there… despite any spiritual scars we may have picked up along the way. So whether we need just some gentle nudging or a wake-up call in the form of a divine lightning bolt, God’s love is our source of strength… and the richness of God our goal.

The world is full of many things that distract us or divert us from maturing in our spiritual lives. We are driven to some by the cruelty and shunning of others. We are drawn to others because our own particular passions and insecurities. But in the end, to be rich in God is the only thing that will satisfy.