St. Maria Goretti Parish - Fr. Peterson's Weekly Homily

Homily for August 22, 2010     21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time

                 It has been said that a minister sees men and women at their best; a lawyer sees them at their worst; but a doctor sees them as they are. St. Luke was a doctor, and true to form he sees the unnamed questioner in this scene as someone holding a preconceived notion that only Jews merit salvation. He forgot his Isaiah, which we hear in today’s First Reading: “This says the Lord: I know their works and their thoughts, and I come to gather nations of every language…”. But this man wants numbers from Jesus. He doesn’t get them. Instead, Jesus answers with startling brevity, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.”   Talk about surprise answers!   That’s not what the rabbis said most Sabbaths! Then Jesus goes further: “The Lord will say ‘I don’t know where you are from” (even if you did eat and drink with me).
                     I’d like to preclude further commentary here, because right at this juncture lies a twofold danger as well as a satisfying delight for us present day believers. Here are the two dangers. First, that many people will draw a conclusion that all one needs to reach the goal of Christian life is to make a verbal commitment to Christ and then sit back relaxed. The spiritual life has no neutral gear. One is either moving forward or slipping backward.
                       The other danger is a trap-like one. It engenders a kind of “spiritual schizophrenia”, in which a person commits to Christ, but not to His Church. The so-called “cafeteria Catholic” exemplifies this. He or she continues to practice contraception, despite knowing the Church’s teaching. Or perhaps he or she acts as if the Third Commandment is merely a suggestion having little to do with the Sunday Mass obligation.
                         The delight in striving to enter “through the narrow gate” (read “the less popular route”) comes when we let the Lord take over our lives in loving trust. “Eating and drinking” with Jesus means fully sharing our lives with Him. Forging a connection. Getting involved with Him.
                         This happens in a variety of vocations. It is one thing for a cloistered nun and another for a mother and housewife. It can be a foreign as that of a missionary in Afghanistan and as domestic as a parish pastoral council member. Yet each in his or her own way carries out today’s Psalm demand: “Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.”
                        A warning: Never be put off if the Lord pulls a surprise or two. That seems to be His way. Be aware that God has every right to demand a particular response to His love because we have no rights that were not given. Yet we have every right to heaven, especially if we choose here and now to get involved with Him, beginning with prayer.
                          I can suppose that this effort is something like building spiritual equity. Or, if you disdain the financial metaphor, think of it as providing all the material a contractor needs to build your dream house.
                           Good Dr. Luke, whose gospel has so many of Our Lord’s best stories (e.g. “The Good Samaritan”) would probably liked this one. A woman who had been used to every luxury and honor died. When she arrived in heaven, an angel was sent to conduct her to her house. They passed many lovely mansions, and the woman thought that each one , as they came to it, must be the one allotted to her. When they had passed through the main streets, they came to the outskirts where the houses were much smaller. On the very fringe they came to a house which was little more than a hut. “That is your house,” said the conducting angel. “What!” said the woman. “That! I cannot live in that.” “I am sorry,” replied the angel, “but that is all we could build for you with the material you sent up.”

Father Leonard N. Peterson