The first reading from the last part of the Book of Isaiah is a prophecy of consolation for the community of Israel that had been gathered again after the exile, but who were still experiencing difficulty and uncertainty about their future. The prophet proclaims a glorious future in which mankind’s covenant with God is opened to the whole human family. Returnees from every part of the then known world, who had been scattered would return to Jerusalem. Nations of every culture and race will lead the Israelites home. Salvation is extended to all the ends of the earth. For it is through holiness that one will enter the city of God.
Jerusalem! My Happy Home!
A little boy always wanted to visit the place where heaven and earth meet. He could see quite plainly from his mother’s cottage and he thought the place where heaven came down to earth must be very beautiful. With his eyes fixed on the horizon, ‘the meeting place of heaven and earth’, he began, one day, to walk. He walked on and on until he became very tired. He found himself in a valley where the horizon lay hidden from view. A cottage was near and a woman was standing in the door. He told her of his quest, and she pointed out a house not so very far away. “There it is,” she said, “only hurry; it will soon be dark.” He hurried on and was soon climbing the hill that led to his own home. And there in the doorway was his mother waving to him. “My own home,” he thought to himself, “is the place where heaven and earth meet.”
Frank Michalic in ‘1000 Stories You Can Use’
The key idea of St. Luke’s gospel is a symbol of Christian life: a pilgrimage to our heavenly home. We are constantly on the way to the heavenly home. We must make sure that we are on the right way and that we are moving in the right direction. Will everyone reach their final destination? Will everyone who journeys be saved? Jesus never answers the question about the number to be saved. He stresses rather the effort to be made on the journey and that the way is narrow and not easy. Secondly, Jesus speaks about the closed door, namely people cannot take for granted that just because they are along the way, just because of set rituals and practices, they will be saved. There is nothing that definitely guarantees automatic salvation. There are neither reserved places nor favoured people whose salvation is guaranteed. Yet, on the other hand, no one is excluded from heaven. God has no favourites because everyone is a favourite of God! Heaven will be full of surprises. Many who are despised on earth will find themselves in heaven and many who considered themselves holy and better than others, may not find themselves among the chosen ones in heaven. The Jews had considered themselves the chosen ones of God and that their God was only the God of Israel. Jesus reminds them that many pagans and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God, while many of the Jews who rejected God and his chosen Messiah, will be excluded from God’s kingdom. “Those who are now last will be the first, and those who are now first will be the last.”
The last shall be first!
Barbara Hutton, the Woolworth heiress, was known as the ‘poor little rich girl.’ Since her mother died when she was five, Barbara Hutton described her childhood as an unhappy one. She said, “Though I had millions of dollars, I had no mother and no home.” Nor was her adult life a happy one. She was married seven times and was a princess three of those times. A virtual recluse, she died in 1979 at age 66. A newspaper article summed up her life with the words: “Barbra Hutton died unmarried and alone, a symbol of the cliché that money does not buy happiness.” By way of contrast, consider the life of Dorothy Day. She was known as “the mother of the faceless poor of the city’s offscouring.” She always felt she existed for a special purpose. She discovered that purpose when she became a Catholic at age 30 and dedicated her life to help the poor. Dorothy Day founded and edited the Catholic Worker newspaper, went to prison as a suffragist and pacifist, and established farm communes and hospices for the dispossessed. When she died in 1980 at age 83, Time magazine called her a “secular saint”. Barbara Hutton and Dorothy Day illustrate somewhat the proverb cited by our Lord today: “There are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.”
Albert Cylwicki in “His Word Resounds”
There are none so blind as those who will not see!
An atheistic scientist not only denied the existence of God but also vehemently maintained that the world had come about by chance and was certainly not the work of an Almighty and Omniscient creator. His Christian colleague was a firm believer and so, as could be expected, all conversations between the two ended with the polite decision to respect each other’s viewpoint, even though they were radically different. One day the Christian scientist ingeniously devised a model of the entire Solar System. At a mere touch of a button, all the planets would revolve around the sun in perfect harmony. He invited the atheistic scientist to view his invention and instructed him to press a button. The atheistic scientist was astounded to see the marvelous model come alive with flawless coordination. Fascinated, he asked, “Who made this?” “No one,” returned the Christian scientist, “it just came about by chance.” “You’re joking! This cannot come about by chance. It requires the ingenuity of a very intelligent person.” At this the Christian scientist said, “This is a mere model and you believe it has to be done by a human being who is intelligent. How much wiser is the Person who created the unfathomable reality and with such flawless wisdom and perfection!” Moved by the grace of God, the scientist rejected his atheism and humbly professed his belief in God! –This scientist is a real example of what Jesus means when he says in today’s gospel that the gate to God’s kingdom is narrow. It isn’t narrow because God made it that way, but because it calls for a definite decision and commitment, and that is something that only a few freely and deliberately make.
James Valladares in ‘Your words, O Lord, Are Spirit, and They are life”
The kingdom of heaven is not a private club!
A man died and went up to heaven. St. Peter met him at the gate, brought him inside and took him on a tour of the place. At a certain point they came to an enclosure surrounded by a high wall. As they were passing it Peter said, “Keep very quiet as you pass this place.” “Why,” the man asked. “In case we might disturb those inside,” Peter answered. “Who is inside?” the man asked. St. Peter said, “Catholics. You see, they think they are the only ones in heaven. In fact if they found out that there are others in heaven, they would be very disappointed. In fact, some of them would probably ask for their money back!” The kingdom of heaven is not a private club.
John Pichappilly in ‘The Table of the Word’
The narrow door?
In an interesting cartoon in the Peanuts series, Charlie Brown wakes up one morning and looks out of the window. It has snowed all night but now the sun is shining brightly, so he decides to go out skiing. Donning all the winter gear he can find, he collects his shoes and skis and makes for the door. Unfortunately, he is unable to get through, because the clothes he has worn make it impossible to pass. He makes one unsuccessful effort after another. Finally, in desperate frustration, he screams at the top of his lungs: “Will someone please tell me what I have to do to get through this door?” Charlie Brown typifies those who would like to make it to heaven, but are reluctant to shed the unnecessary attachments that impede their passage. So like Charlie, we end up standing at the front door of heaven screaming. The door of heaven is narrow only for those who are too ‘bundled up’.
James Valladares in ‘Your words, O Lord, Are Spirit, and They are life”
Which Way to go?
“To every person there opens a way; a high way, a middle way, and a low way. And the high soul takes the high way; and the low soul takes the low way; and in between on the misty flats, the rest drift to and fro. But to every person there opens a way; a high way, a middle way, and a low way. And every person decides the way his soul shall go.”
Paraphrase of a Poem by John Oxenham
****
MORE ILLUSTRATIONS:
1. Once upon a time there was a daddy
who prided himself on his abilities as a driver. He wouldn't let the mommy of the family drive when he was in the car. Ever. Nor would he let the one legal teenager drive. They were simply not competent enough, careful enough, responsible enough. Which is to say they were not as competent, careful, and responsible as he was, or thought he was. Moreover, as he drove he favored his family with a running commentary on the mistakes of other drivers. The mommy and the kids, naturally, had long ago learned how to tune out these commentaries. He was generally a nice man and you have to put up with certain things in daddies, don't you?
WELL, this one day when they were on vacation, they all went over to the local Baskin Robbins for some ice cream. I won't delay you with a list of the decisions that had to be made (that's another story which I may have told you already!) Anyway, when they were backing out of their parking place - and it was a very crowded parking lot - the Daddy didn't see a car that was coming behind him and plowed into it! The car was a brand new Jeep Wrangler. It had the right of way. The daddy was furious, especially because he knew it was his fault. He jumped out of the car and cursed the teenage boy who was the driver of the Wrangler. All the kid could say was you wrecked by graduation present. He had the right of way, the mommy said. Then the kid sighed and made sure that the Mommy and the kids and the dog were all right. I guess we can get it fixed he said. Don't worry about it. The Daddy wouldn't apologize, though everyone knew he was wrong. But, like God, the kid forgave him anyway. (Andew Greeley)
********************
2. Shame on You!
I was waiting my turn to see the emergency room doctor when a young mother came through the doors with her child, maybe three or four years old. The little girl was crying and the woman who, I took to be the child's mother, was holding a bloody handkerchief over the little girl's mouth. She looked around frantically for someone to help and rushed to the desk and said, "My daughter's been hurt and I need to see..." She was cut off in mid-sentence, "You need to take a seat and wait for one of the clerks to sign you in."
"But my little girl was hit in the mouth by a..." She was interrupted again. "Please take a seat ma'am, someone will be with you shortly."
Just then, the ER doctor walked in and said to the woman at the desk, "Shame on you... this little girl needs help right now!" He motioned to the woman and the little girl and led them to an examining room.
Briefly, (and guiltily) I wondered when my turn to see the doctor might come, but -- if I live to be a hundred years old, I wonder if I will ever see another time when a person's pain so clearly wins out over the system's protocol. "Shame on you!" I love it! The physician was looking at a child's pain. The clerk was looking at the hospital's procedure.
John Jewell, Shame on You!
3. Fable of the Eagle and the Chicken
A fable is told about an eagle who thought he was a chicken. When the eagle was very small, he fell from the safety of his nest. A chicken farmer found the eagle, brought him to the farm, and raised him in a chicken coop among his many chickens. The eagle grew up doing what chickens do, living like a chicken, and believing he was a chicken.
A naturalist came to the chicken farm to see if what he had heard about an eagle acting like a chicken was really true. He knew that an eagle is king of the sky. He was surprised to see the eagle strutting around the chicken coop, pecking at the ground, and acting very much like a chicken. The farmer explained to the naturalist that this bird was no longer an eagle. He was now a chicken because he had been trained to be a chicken and he believed that he was a chicken.
The naturalist knew there was more to this great bird than his actions showed as he "pretended" to be a chicken. He was born an eagle and had the heart of an eagle, and nothing could change that. The man lifted the eagle onto the fence surrounding the chicken coop and said, "Eagle, thou art an eagle. Stretch forth thy wings and fly." The eagle moved slightly, only to look at the man; then he glanced down at his home among the chickens in the chicken coop where he was comfortable. He jumped off the fence and continued doing what chickens do. The farmer was satisfied. "I told you it was a chicken," he said.
The naturalist returned the next day and tried again to convince the farmer and the eagle that the eagle was born for something greater. He took the eagle to the top of the farmhouse and spoke to him: "Eagle, thou art an eagle. Thou dost belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth thy wings and fly." The large bird looked at the man, then again down into the chicken coop. He jumped from the man's arm onto the roof of the farmhouse.
Knowing what eagles are really about, the naturalist asked the farmer to let him try one more time. He would return the next day and prove that this bird was an eagle. The farmer, convinced otherwise, said, "It is a chicken."
The naturalist returned the next morning to the chicken farm and took the eagle and the farmer some distance away to the foot of a high mountain. They could not see the farm nor the chicken coop from this new setting. The man held the eagle on his arm and pointed high into the sky where the bright sun was beckoning above. He spoke: "Eagle, thou art an eagle! Thou dost belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth thy wings and fly." This time the eagle stared skyward into the bright sun, straightened his large body, and stretched his massive wings. His wings moved, slowly at first, then surely and powerfully. With the mighty screech of an eagle, he flew.
4. Magic Woman and her secret formula
Nine years ago her dream came true -- she lost a great deal of weight. As a result, many wonderful things happened: Her blood pressure went down and her energy level wept up. Her feet, knees and back didn’t ache any more. She no longer had to shop in the “big” women’s stores.
Here is what Magic Woman tells them:
“I can tell you what I did: I never gave up. Losing weight was something I deeply desired, and I was relentless. When I found what worked -- a way of balancing what I ate with how much I moved my body, my way of earning a living, my way of connecting with the people I love -- I did it with all my heart and soul, every day, without fail. When I [messed up], I kept going. When I was afraid, I felt the fear and took the next step into the darkness. When I was confused and uncentered, I pretended to know which end was up and kept plodding. When I was empty and alone, I reached out to others.
[Gay Norton Edelman, Spirituality & Health, May/June 2004.]
Discipline and sacrifice are the hinges of the “narrow gate” that Jesus speaks of in today’s Gospel. All of the important things of life demand that we struggle through the narrow gate. There are no magic words to loving and being loved, to creating a world of justice and peace, to forgiving and being reconciled with one another. Jesus promises that anyone willing to struggle through the “narrow gate” will come to experience the life of God to the fullest and find welcome in the dwelling place of God. (Connections)
5. Joe Rosenthal
What is little known is that the photographer Mr Rosenthal was a convert to the Church from Judaism. For his conversion, he was shunned by fellow Jews for abandoning the faith of his people. But Rosenthal was not intimidated.
He wrote, "The day before we went ashore on Iwo Jima, I attended Mass and received Holy Communion. If a man is genuinely convinced of the truth and still neglects it, he is a traitor and that goes not only for my Jewish friends who do not attend synagogue each Saturday but also for my friends who miss Mass each Sunday."
5. Joe Rosenthal
Arthur Tonne tells an interesting tale. Most people have seen the famous photo of Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. It pictures United States Marines raising the American flag on a hill in bloody Iwo Jima during World War II. Many of us too have stood mesmerized by the equally famous heroic size bronze likeness of the scene sculpted in Washington DC.
He wrote, "The day before we went ashore on Iwo Jima, I attended Mass and received Holy Communion. If a man is genuinely convinced of the truth and still neglects it, he is a traitor and that goes not only for my Jewish friends who do not attend synagogue each Saturday but also for my friends who miss Mass each Sunday."
The Teacher was pulling himself through the towns and villages of Palestine. Busily He was teaching all the time. His destination was Jerusalem. There He would keep His long-planned rendezvous with death. He was asked by someone, "Lord, are those to be saved few in number?"
The exhausted Christ, desperately needing a shower and a cold drink, ignored the query. Oftentimes the question put to Him did not touch on His syllabus. But He took advantage of the well-intentioned question to say in effect, "The door to the kingdom is unlocked. Keep in mind it is not wide, but it freely swings open on well-oiled hinges. Those willing to exert themselves will walk right in. No people at any time need stand outside with their noses pressed against the glass door wistfully looking in." (Father James Gilhooley)
6. The Fat NGO Director in Africa
The Narrow Door: You might have to squeeze yourself
There was a director of a funding agency from USA visiting Africa. He had to fly from Nairobi to South Sudan by a 6-seater chartered plane. He was a bulky man – unimaginably big. As they prepared for the take-off, the pilot had a tough time working out the seating arrangement in order to balance the weights across the aircraft. They managed. When they landed, that huge director could not come out of the plane. Probably due to sitting down for a few hours that contributed to water retention in the body, the director had become a little bigger and could not bring himself out of the door of that small aircraft. His companions had to literally pull him out of the plane! (The director was so embarrassed that after he returned to the US, I was told, he underwent an operation to reduce his size!) (Sahaya Selvam, SDB)
7. African Homes
The Narrow Door: Make yourself small
When I served as a co-pastor in a parish in South Tanzania, during Eastertide every year we undertook this elaborate activity of blessing the houses of all the faithful. There were over 1300 households spread out in over 15 villages. And in that part of Africa villages, and houses within the same village, are spread out over a vast area. We had to walk long distances, and often the doors to the houses were rather narrow. We had to bend down, and as soon as you entered the house you found yourself in a dark space filled with smoke. It was really a humbling experience for us adults. But often, I noticed, children ran in and out of these houses as a matter fact. (Sahaya Selvam, SDB)
***************6. The Fat NGO Director in Africa
There was a director of a funding agency from USA visiting Africa. He had to fly from Nairobi to South Sudan by a 6-seater chartered plane. He was a bulky man – unimaginably big. As they prepared for the take-off, the pilot had a tough time working out the seating arrangement in order to balance the weights across the aircraft. They managed. When they landed, that huge director could not come out of the plane. Probably due to sitting down for a few hours that contributed to water retention in the body, the director had become a little bigger and could not bring himself out of the door of that small aircraft. His companions had to literally pull him out of the plane! (The director was so embarrassed that after he returned to the US, I was told, he underwent an operation to reduce his size!) (Sahaya Selvam, SDB)
7. African Homes
The Narrow Door: Make yourself small
When I served as a co-pastor in a parish in South Tanzania, during Eastertide every year we undertook this elaborate activity of blessing the houses of all the faithful. There were over 1300 households spread out in over 15 villages. And in that part of Africa villages, and houses within the same village, are spread out over a vast area. We had to walk long distances, and often the doors to the houses were rather narrow. We had to bend down, and as soon as you entered the house you found yourself in a dark space filled with smoke. It was really a humbling experience for us adults. But often, I noticed, children ran in and out of these houses as a matter fact. (Sahaya Selvam, SDB)
From Fr. Tony Kadavil’s Collection:
1: Three surprises in Heaven: Venerable Bishop Fulton J. Sheen tells us that we will have three surprises in Heaven. The first surprise: We will be surprised to see that many people we expected to be in Heaven are not there. St. John of the Cross gives the reason why they are not there: “At the evening of our life, we shall be judged on how we have loved.” The second surprise: We will be surprised to see that the people we never expected to be in Heaven are there. That is because God judges man’s intentions and rewards them accordingly. The third surprise: We will be surprised to see that we are in Heaven! Since our getting to Heaven is principally God’s work, we should be surprised that God somehow “went out of His way” to save us, simply because we showed the good will and generosity to cooperate with His grace. In today’s Gospel, Jesus answers the question, who will be saved, when and how.
2: Narrow door to successful living: Thousands upon thousands of young boys grow up bouncing basketballs and dreaming of a life in the National Basketball Association – the professional ranks. But only a handful are chosen each year. Woe to the young man or young woman who is talented at sports but neglects his or her education! Thousands upon thousands of new businesses are started each year, but only a small number of people in our society become super-successful in material terms. The higher you go up the scale, the smaller the numbers become. Thousands upon thousands of young couples each year stand at the altars of churches like this one and pledge their love to one another, but, on the average, half these marriages will end in divorce. Many couples will stay together only for convenience, for appearances or for the children. Only an estimated 10% will find true fulfillment in their marriages. The door to any kind of successful living is a narrow one. That is why Jesus reminds us in today’s Gospel: “Strive to enter by the narrow door, for many I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” Successful living requires making hard choices. It requires dedication and sacrifice. How can Christian Faith demand any less?
3: The narrow gate of great musicians: Someone once said to Paderewski, the great pianist, “Sir, you are a genius.” He replied, “Madam, before I was a genius, I was a drudge.” He continued: “If I missed practice one day, I noticed it; if I missed practice two days, the critics noticed it; if I missed three days, my family noticed it; if I missed four days, my audience noticed it. It is reported that after one of Fritz Kreisler’s concerts a young woman said to him, “I would give my life to be able to play like that.” He replied, “That’s what I gave.” The door is narrow. Why should we think we can “drift” into the Kingdom of God? The Christian life is a constant striving to do the will of God as Jesus revealed it. We need to strive because there are forces of evil within us and around us, trying to pull us down.
4: Self-discipline: Many years ago, an editorial in the magazine, War Cry put it like this: “A loose wire gives out no musical note; but fasten the ends, and the piano, the harp or the violin is born. Free steam drives no machine. But hamper and confine it with piston and turbine and you have the great world of machinery made possible. The unhampered river drives no dynamos but dam it up and we get power sufficient to light a great city. So, our lives must be disciplined if we are to be of any real service in this world.” If you are going to walk with Jesus, there are some things you will need to leave behind.
5: Irish solidarity on the “wide way” to hell. The Irish pastor said, “Everyone who wants to go to Heaven stand up!” and the whole church stood up. And he said, “And those who want to go to hell, remain standing!” At the back of the church, old Murphy remained standing. The pastor said, “Murphy, do you want to go to hell?” Murphy said, “No, Father… I just hate to see you go there all by yourself!” (No offence intended to my great Irish friends!).
6: A little boy once asked his mother if people who told lies went to Heaven. She replied, “Of course not.” “Well,” he said, “it must be awfully lonesome and boring there with only God and George Washington.”
7: An open-air evangelist, preaching on today’s Gospel text was warning his congregation about the eternal damnation. “On the Day of Judgment,” he said, “there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” But an old woman in the crowd asked, “Look preacher, I got no teeth!” “Never mind,” says the evangelist, “teeth will be provided.”
25-Additional anecdotes
1) Narrow gate of football stadiums: Have you ever been among the great crowd moving toward the entrance to a big-time football game? At first the entrance seems wide and open to all, but once you begin seriously pushing and struggling to go in, you discover that the gate is not wide at all. The broad gate narrows down to a turnstile where you enter one by one, and the keeper says, “Hold your own ticket, please.” So, Jesus describes the door to the Kingdom. It begins wide and open to all – but then comes the struggle to go through the narrow door: one at a time and hold your own ticket. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
2) Narrow gate golf & basketball: Arnold Palmer, for many years, was one of America’s finest golfers. Certainly, he was our most popular golfer. Wouldn’t it be great to be a “natural” athlete like Arnold Palmer? Except that Arnold Palmer practiced golf eight hours a day, day after day after day. Being a great golfer requires commitment. Some of you who play the game are thinking to yourself that even being a poor golfer requires commitment. You don’t excel in athletics or anything else unless you are willing to pay the price. Larry Bird won the Most Valuable Player award in the National Basketball League for three years in a row. How did he achieve such excellence? Larry Bird is legendary for his dedication to the game of basketball. An opposing player tells of arriving at Boston Garden with his teammates to play the Boston Celtics several hours before an important game. There was the great Larry Bird standing at the foul line of dark, deserted Boston Garden practicing free throws over and over again. The coach of the opposing team preached a little sermon about dedication to the game using Larry Bird as the prime example. Successful living requires commitment. It requires dedication. That’s true in athletics. It is also true in business. Jesus says in today’s Gospel that it is true in our relationship with God. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
3) King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table: In the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, a vision of the Holy Grail comes to Sir Gawain. He vows to set off in search of it the very next day. All the other Knights of the Round Table vow that they, too, will go in search of the sacred chalice. But they will not journey together. As dawn breaks the following morning, each of the knights enters the forest alone, where he perceives it to be the darkest and the thickest. No knight follows a pathway. To do so would be to go where someone else had already searched. So, it is with the case of the narrow way of sacrificial service in the Christian life. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
4) The NCAA cross-country championship: Back in 1994, 128 runners lined up to compete in the NCAA cross-country championship in Riverside, California. Unfortunately, one of the turns on the 10,000-meter course was not well-marked. Only five of the 128 runners stayed on the correct path. Mike Delcavo was the first runner to notice the problem. He began waving at the other runners to follow him, but most refused. Can you blame them? One-hundred-and-twenty-three runners took the wrong path, only five took the right one. What did the 123 think of Delcavo? He commented later, “They thought it was funny that I went the right way.” (Leadership, Summer 1994, p. 49.) We all like to think that we’re on the right path; what a rude awakening it would be to discover we aren’t, if we take the broad way leading to eternal damnation. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
5) Twenty million tons of cement. In 1974, in the wake of oil boom, the government of Nigeria decided to bring their country at a single leap into line with most developed Western nations. The planners calculated that to build the new roads, airfields, and military buildings which the plan required would call for some 20 million tons of cement. This was duly ordered and shipped by freighters from all over the world, to be unloaded onto the docks at Lagos, Nigeria. Twenty million tons of cement. Unfortunately, the Nigerian planners had not considered the fact that the docks at Lagos were only capable of handling two thousand tons a day. Working every day, it would have taken twenty-seven years to unload the ships that were at one point waiting at sea off Lagos. These contained a third of the world’s supply of cement much of it showing its fine quality by setting solid in the holds of the freighters. Hasty transactions bring painful losses. Poor planning yields disastrous results. Building a tower before counting the cost is most unwise. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
6) “The Road Less Travelled – Robert Frost:
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
7) Carl Jung and Rabbi Zusya: In 1933 Carl Jung observed in his book, Modern Man in Search of a Soul, that it is no easy matter to live a life modeled on Christ, but it is unspeakably more difficult to live one’s own life as truly as Christ lived his. The question for Christians living today is not, “What would Jesus do?” for he has not left us here to live his life as a clone, but to live our own in Him. No one can do my living for me, or dying either, for that matter. God has not given my life to you or your life to someone else. No one but you will be held accountable for it. It is written of Zusya – the old Rabbi of Annitol – that shortly before his death he gathered his disciples around him and said, “When I die and stand before my Heavenly Judge, God will not say to me, ‘Zusya, why weren’t you Moses?’ No! God will say to me, ‘Zusya, you could at least have been Zusya … so why weren’t you?’ (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
8) Screening at the Pearly Gates: According to an anonymous storyteller, three people who died found themselves together before the Gate of Heaven. When asked by St. Peter what they had done to gain entrance, the first answered, “I was a physician and I helped many people to recover from their illnesses.” Peter admitted the doctor to Heaven and questioned the second person similarly, “Why should I let you in?” In response, she explained, “I was an attorney and I defended the rights of many innocent people.” “Welcome to your eternal home”, said Peter. Then he put the same question to the third candidate who replied, “I was the administrator of a Health Management Organization and I managed to keep health care costs to a minimum.” After a few moments of thought, Peter decided, “You may come in,” he said, “but you can stay for only three days!” Pointed humor such as this entertains while it teaches. The story of Peter and the three potential residents of eternity illustrates the truth that earthly words and works have eternal consequences.This does not suggest that Heaven can be merited or earned by any human activity. Eternal happiness will forever remain a gracious gift of God. Nevertheless, the manner in which God’s gifts are appropriated in time and space will have a bearing on the enjoyment of those gifts within that reign that perdures beyond time and space. (Patricia Datchuck Sánchez). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
9) We aren’t told how he got back into the car later. An assistant to former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes once told how he and another coach were looking out a window one day and saw Coach Hayes slowly easing into the last empty space in the parking lot, barely wide enough for a car. But he couldn’t get out of the car once it was parked. There weren’t more than four inches alongside and he couldn’t open either door. A moment passed, and then he backed the car out. Now, as they stared in disbelief, Hayes got out of the car, walked to the rear, planted his hands on the trunk and slowly, grimly, pushed the car back into the space. We aren’t told how he got back into the car later. Maybe the cars on either side moved. I suppose if you are determined, no space is too narrow. Except one. Jesus says in our lesson for today, “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able….” (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
10) “I tell you, I do not know where you come from!”: How many times have you had someone approach you and say, “Do you remember me?” You stand there and look deeply into their eyes, but for your life you cannot remember the person. You “fish” around for some hints, but there are none that make any sense. Finally, with a trace of a smile, the person says, “I was in John and Mary’s wedding party eight years ago, and you witnessed their marriage. I thought surely you would remember me.” Isn’t that presumptuous? How in the world are you supposed to remember the name of a person who was in a wedding party eight years ago? Yes, sometimes people expect that from you and me, and sometimes we expect it from others. Jesus warns those who do not do his will that he won’t recognize them on the day of the Last Judgment. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
11) “The Lady, or the Tiger?”: In The Lady, or the Tiger? Frank R. Stockton sets before the reader the dilemma of a gladiator who faces his fate in the arena standing before two doors. He must choose which of them to open. Behind one door waits a hungry tiger. Behind the other is a lovely maiden. Jesus presents us with a similar dilemma in this parable. Behind one door to the Kingdom waits the tiger of Divine wrath. Behind the other door stands the fair maiden of grace. Jesus, in today’s Gospel, envisions a crowd, clamoring at the entrance to get in. But the door will be closed and locked to them. Grace will not be granted to the multitudes battering the gates of Heaven. What is not available to the masses of seeking pilgrims can be obtained, one person at a time, if each will strive to enter by way of the narrow door. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
12) Broad gate of addictions: A guy walks into a bar, orders three shots and downs them all. “What’s up with the three shots?” asks the bartender. “My two closest buddies and I have gone our separate ways, and I miss them terribly,” says the guy. “See, this glass here is for Tom, this one’s Bob, and this one’s mine. I feel like we’re all drinking together, just like old times.” So, every day the guy comes in and the bartender sets up three glasses. Until one day, the guy asks for just two shots. “I hate to ask,” says the bartender, “but did something happen to one of your friends?” “Nah, they’re okay,” says the guy. “I myself just decided to quit drinking.” I told you it was terrible. But I doubt that this guy really has decided to quit drinking, don’t you? (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
13) 72% of Americans deserve Heaven: According to most polls, most Americans not only believe in Heaven, they believe that they someday will be there. For example, a poll conducted by USA Today sometime back showed that 72% of the people polled rated their chances of getting to Heaven as good to excellent. Interestingly enough, these same people said that only 60% of their friends will go to Heaven. I wonder why the discrepancy. 80% said they believe in Heaven, but only 67% said they believe in Hell. [Glenn Van Ekeren, Speaker’s Sourcebook II (Englewood Cliffs, NY: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1994), p. 326.] Here’s what interests me: By what authority do they assume that they are likely candidates for Heaven? Particularly if they are only nominally interested in religion as are most Americans? And, for that matter, by what authority do they believe in Heaven but not in Hell? The evangelical Christians are so obsessed by the notion of salvation by Faith that we totally ignore an entire body of Jesus’ teachings that call for commitment and sacrifice. (Rev. King Duncan). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
14) Coach Carter: Some of you are undoubtedly familiar with the movie Coach Carter. Coach Carter is the true story of Kenneth Carter, an inner‑city Richmond basketball coach who took a ragtag group of high school players and shaped them into a tightly disciplined and almost unstoppable team of athletes. “To accomplish that, he was brutal. He pushed the boys, always to the edge of their endurance, and then a little further. Any insolence was immediately reprimanded with a crackdown of grueling drills. The slightest lateness was penalized. Backtalk was squelched beneath a mounting regimen of workouts. To show you that Carter meant business, he made headlines in 1999 for benching his entire undefeated high school basketball team due to poor academic results. When was the last time you heard of a coach doing that? Under Coach Carter’s taskmaster harshness, the boys at first withered, then flourished. [Mark Buchanan, Hidden In Plain Sight (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2002), p. 60.] Why did Carter put his players through such agony? Was it because he hated them? No, it was because he loved them and wanted the best for them. His desire was that they should be more than they were. And that is Christ’s desire for us. He wants us to be fit to share eternity with him. (Rev. King Duncan). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
15) Narrow gate of George Foreman: Some of you remember George Foreman. Foreman is a two-time former heavyweight boxing champion of the world. He is also an Olympic gold medalist, ordained Baptist minister, author and entrepreneur. Foreman is a colorful character who is probably better known today for his George Foreman Grill. When he won his second heavyweight world championship, at age 45, he became the oldest man in the world to win the heavyweight title. It’s quite a remarkable story. In his book, God in My Corner, he tells about that second title. He says that when he started his comeback, he had to get rid of what he called “some excess George.” He was extremely overweight. In the nearly ten years he had been out of boxing, he had ballooned from 220 to 315 pounds. And it wasn’t muscle that he gained! To get back into an exercise regimen, he started with the basics running every day. He was so out of shape that he couldn’t go far. At first, he couldn’t even make it around the block, which was about a mile. He had to stop a few times to catch his breath, huffing and puffing. “Just imagine a big, fat guy,” he writes, “gasping for air, barely able to jog around the block, who claims that he will be the heavyweight champion of the world again! I looked ridiculous to everyone who saw me. I’m sure they laughed as they peeked through their curtains early in the morning while I slowly shuffled past their houses. Only two people on this entire planet believed I could recapture the title—my wife and me.” But he had to get his weight down. He would walk and run, walk and run. Finally, he was able to run the whole time without walking. Then he began running longer distances, and with the combination of a proper diet and regular exercise, the fat continued to melt away. He kept running for the next eight months, until he finally got down to his fighting weight 229 pounds. The flab was fun to put on, he says, but hard to take off. Some of us know what he’s talking about. However, he contends, he wouldn’t have won the championship title if he first hadn’t gotten rid of that extra weight. [George Foreman, God In My Corner (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007), p. 169; cited www.kentcrockett.com.] I admire George Foreman. I admire anyone who sets a lofty goal and then gives his or her best to attaining that goal. (Rev. King Duncan). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
16) The last shall be first! Barbara Hutton, the Woolworth heiress, was known as the “poor little rich girl.” Since her mother died when she was five, Barbara Hutton described her childhood as an unhappy one. She said, “Though I had millions of dollars, I had no mother and no home.” Nor was her adult life a happy one. She was married seven times and was a princess three of those times. A virtual recluse, she died in 1979 at age 66. A newspaper article summed up her life with the words: “Barbara Hutton died unmarried and alone, a symbol of the cliché that money does not buy happiness.” By way of contrast, consider the life of Dorothy Day. She was known as “the mother of the faceless poor of the city’s off-scouring.” She always felt she existed for a special purpose. She discovered that purpose when she became a Catholic at age 30 and dedicated her life to help the poor. Dorothy Day founded and edited the Catholic Worker newspaper, went to prison as a suffragist and pacifist, and established farm communes and hospices for the dispossessed. When she died in 1980 at age 83, Time magazine called her a “secular saint.” Barbara Hutton and Dorothy Day illustrate somewhat the proverb cited by our Lord today: “There are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.” (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
17) The Kingdom of Heaven is not a private club!
A man died and went up to heaven. St. Peter met him at the gate, brought him inside and took him on a tour of the place. At a certain point they came to an enclosure surrounded by a high wall. As they were passing it Peter said, “Keep very quiet as you pass this place.” “Why,” the man asked. “In case we might disturb those inside,” Peter answered. “Who is inside?” the man asked. St. Peter said, “Catholics. You see, they think they are the only ones in heaven. In fact, if they found out that there are others in Heaven, they would be very disappointed. In fact, some of them would probably ask for their money back!” The Kingdom of Heaven is not a private club.
(John Pichappilly in The Table of the Word; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
18) The narrow door? In an interesting cartoon in the Peanuts series, Charlie Brown wakes up one morning and looks out of the window. It has snowed all night but now the sun is shining brightly, so he decides to go out skiing. Donning all the winter gear he can find; he collects his shoes and skis and makes for the door. Unfortunately, he is unable to get through, because the clothes he has worn make it impossible to pass. He makes one unsuccessful effort after another. Finally, in desperate frustration, he screams at the top of his lungs: “Will someone please tell me what I have to do to get through this door?” Charlie Brown typifies those who would like to make it to Heaven but are reluctant to shed the unnecessary attachments that impede their passage. So like Charlie, we end up standing at the front door of Heaven screaming. The door of Heaven is narrow only for those who are too “bundled up.” (James Valladares in Your Words, O Lord, Are Spirit, and They Are Life; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
19) The narrow gate of St. John Mary Vianney. One of the greatest examples for entering through the narrow gate to holiness was John Mary Vianney. He was the last in his class. In French and Latin, he was the last student. He failed in Theology studies. So, he was asked to leave the seminary. After that he was taught Theology privately and was ordained in 1815. Three years later he was appointed to the parish of Ars, a parish, where practically no one went to church. In a few years people began to come on pilgrimage to Ars. He became the most sought-after spiritual advisor. It is an example of last being first. John Mary Vianney was last but now he is the patron of parish priests. What has caused the miracle? The gracious touch of the Lord. This miracle will happen to anyone who tries to enter by the narrow gate; who disregards the standards of the world and set his goal on high. (Fr. Bobby Jose). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
20) The narrow way on highway: I think of what happens on the freeway or expressway when there is a bad accident. The police close off three lanes; only one single lane is open, which is like the narrow door. All the traffic slows down and at times comes to a complete stop because of the bottleneck. As I think of the narrow door Jesus refers to, I see people all bunched up like cars on the freeway, moving very slowly, trying to squeeze through the one open lane. Drivers are upset. They are fussing and fuming and making obscene gestures at each other. Cars and tempers are overheating. The bottleneck is a pain in the neck. Sin is like the accident on the freeway which causes all the trouble. This is not an inviting scene but is an image of what it means to get to Heaven. I realize that only one person has to get to that door. That person is Jesus Christ. And through that door he has passed in the paschal mystery of the death and resurrection. We do not have to force our way through that door. All we have to do is make sure we are united with Jesus, who is the door to heaven. (Charles Miller C.M. in Sunday Preaching.” (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
21) Joe Rosenthal: Monsignor Arthur Tonne tells an interesting tale. Most people have seen the famous photo of Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. It pictures United States Marines raising the American flag on a hill in bloody Iwo Jima during World War II. Many of us too have stood mesmerized by the equally famous heroic size bronze likeness of the scene sculpted in Washington DC. What is little known is that the photographer Mr Rosenthal was a convert to the Church from Judaism. For his conversion, he was shunned by fellow Jews for abandoning the Faith of his people. But Rosenthal was not intimidated. He wrote, “The day before we went ashore on Iwo Jima, I attended Mass and received Holy Communion. If a man is genuinely convinced of the truth and still neglects it, he is a traitor and that goes not only for my Jewish friends who do not attend synagogue each Saturday but also for my friends who miss Mass each Sunday.” The Teacher was pulling himself through the towns and villages of Palestine. Busily He was teaching all the time. His destination was Jerusalem. There He would keep His long-planned rendezvous with death. He was asked by someone, “Lord, are those to be saved few in number?” The exhausted Christ, desperately needing a shower and a cold drink, ignored the query. Oftentimes the question put to Him did not touch on His syllabus. But He took advantage of the well-intentioned question to say in effect, “The door to the kingdom is unlocked. Keep in mind it is not wide, but it freely swings open on well-oiled hinges. Those willing to exert themselves will walk right in. No people at any time need stand outside with their noses pressed against the glass door wistfully looking in.” (Father James Gilhooley). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
22) Which way shall I go?
“To every person there opens a way;
A high way, a middle way, and a low way.
And the high soul takes the high way;
And the low soul takes the low way;
And in between on the misty flats,
The rest drift to and fro.
But to every person there opens a way
A high way, a middle way and a low way.
And every person decides
Which way his soul shall go.”
Paraphrase of the poem by John Oxenham (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
“To every person there opens a way;
A high way, a middle way, and a low way.
And the high soul takes the high way;
And the low soul takes the low way;
And in between on the misty flats,
The rest drift to and fro.
But to every person there opens a way
A high way, a middle way and a low way.
And every person decides
Which way his soul shall go.”
Paraphrase of the poem by John Oxenham (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
23) Display of universal unity: Each time the Olympics are convened, the opening and closing ceremonies of the games are marked by an International cavalcade of athletes; men and women from nations all over the world march together in a spectacular and diverse display of universal unity. For the duration of the games, all share one vision and one goal and the whole world unites in looking on in admiration and appreciation. In today’s first reading, the late sixth or early fifth century B.C.E. prophet, Trito-Isaiah wished to offer his contemporaries a similar experience; he envisioned a great parade of nations on pilgrimage to Jerusalem where they would unite in praising and glorifying God. (Sanchez Files).(http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
24) ‘Man, how good is your cotton?’” Several cotton farmers were whiling away a winter afternoon around the potbellied stove. They soon became entangled in a heated discussion on the merits of their respective religions. The eldest of the farmers had been sitting quietly, just listening, when the group turned to him and demanded, “Who’s right, old Jim? Which one of these religions is the right one?” “Well,” said Jim thoughtfully, “you know there are three ways to get from here to the cotton gin. You can go right over the big hill. That’s shorter but it’s a powerful climb. You can go around the east side of the hill. That’s not too far, but the road is rougher and difficult. Or you can go around the west side of the hill, which is the longest way, but the easiest.” “But you know,” he said, looking them squarely in the eye, “when you get there, the gin man won’t ask you how you came or what religion you believe. He just asks, ‘Man, how good is your cotton?'”(Fr. Lakra). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
25) The narrow gate: St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is meant to symbolize the Church as a whole, literally built right on top of Peter, who is buried underneath the main altar where the nave and the transept intersect. The central aisle, called the nave, comes from the Latin word for boat. The Church is Peter’s boat. But to enter the Church, you have to go through the front door, and over the front door, in the pendentive, stands the Resurrected Christ. To enter into the Church, you have to go, in a sense, through Christ. And right underneath Christ is the balcony from which the Pope gives his solemn blessings, symbolizing that the Pope literally stands under Christ, stands under his authority and speaks to us for Christ. To be saved, we have to enter through this narrow gate who is Christ into his Church and remain in his Church. Peter’s barque or boat is like Noah’s ark and we have to enter and stay in that ark in order to be saved. (Fr. Roger J. Landry). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/19
