In today's Gospel, Jesus tells a parable that has disturbed me for as long as I can remember. After first telling people that they should strive for the narrow gate and warning that most will not be strong enough, He then tells of a master who has locked his door and will not admit those who are knocking at his door. The master goes so far to say that he does not even know them despite them having eaten and drank in his company and listened to his teachings.
Jesus' description eerily presages the Catholic mass. In it, we listen to His teachings and we eat and drink with Him (consuming Him directly). Yet, in this Gospel, Christ is saying that the mass is not enough. Jesus was telling the people that there was no secret knock that lets people into the clubhouse of heaven. There's no formula or magic words that unlock salvation for us. Instead, He tells us that we need to give up ourselves for others.
I like my life, my family, my friends, my house, my job, and the many other things that God has given me in this life too much to let them go. Sure, I go to church regularly, pray regularly, and try to live a moral life, but this Gospel seems to say that those things are not enough. In today's homily, we were told that we cannot presume our way to heaven, but that we need to strive for it. We can place our hope in the Lord, but we should not rely on the presumption of salvation without working towards it in our lives.
I've expressed this concern before--that what I do is not enough, that I do not have the strength for the narrow door. In response, some people have said that I shouldn't have any worries in that matter--that if I couldn't get in, most people wouldn't. While that seems like a nice thing to say, I feel that it's also exactly what Jesus was saying, "... many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough."
My hope has been that God will lift us all up despite our failures. Now my hope includes hoping that such a hope is not presumptuous.
Jesus' description eerily presages the Catholic mass. In it, we listen to His teachings and we eat and drink with Him (consuming Him directly). Yet, in this Gospel, Christ is saying that the mass is not enough. Jesus was telling the people that there was no secret knock that lets people into the clubhouse of heaven. There's no formula or magic words that unlock salvation for us. Instead, He tells us that we need to give up ourselves for others.
I like my life, my family, my friends, my house, my job, and the many other things that God has given me in this life too much to let them go. Sure, I go to church regularly, pray regularly, and try to live a moral life, but this Gospel seems to say that those things are not enough. In today's homily, we were told that we cannot presume our way to heaven, but that we need to strive for it. We can place our hope in the Lord, but we should not rely on the presumption of salvation without working towards it in our lives.
I've expressed this concern before--that what I do is not enough, that I do not have the strength for the narrow door. In response, some people have said that I shouldn't have any worries in that matter--that if I couldn't get in, most people wouldn't. While that seems like a nice thing to say, I feel that it's also exactly what Jesus was saying, "... many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough."
My hope has been that God will lift us all up despite our failures. Now my hope includes hoping that such a hope is not presumptuous.
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