Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C

Welcome to read homilies for the Sundays of the year. These are sample homilies which you can read with devotion. You may use them in your own homilies without asking my permission. You may also change or edit these to fit them to your audience. A unique quality of these homilies is that they are Christ-filled. From beginning to end they present to us some aspect of Jesus so that beholding his glory we “are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NAB).

The Gate Ajar for Me

I borrowed the title of this homily from Lydia Baxter who wrote the song The Gate Ajar for Me. This song has led very many persons to a deeper, more intimate friendship with Jesus. It begins this way:

There is a gate that stands ajar,

And through its portals gleaming

A radiance from the cross afar,

The Savior’s love revealing.

Lydia Baxter was a Christian songwriter in the 19^th century who lived many years of her life as an invalid. Her poem tells us that the gate of heaven is ajar, that is, it is open a little bit such that we can see the gleam of glory of the cross from inside that heaven revealing Jesus’ love for us.

Our Gospel reading today tells us that Jesus left the gate of heaven ajar so that we can see a little bit of what is inside heaven. Our Gospel text ends this way: “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Jesus addressed this statement, as Luke tells us, to the host who invited him for dinner. This statement tells us that there is a time or a moment when there will be a resurrection of the righteous and in that time or moment the host of Jesus will be repaid for giving a banquet to the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.

This statement of Jesus does not only tell us about this moment of time of repayment. It also tells us that there is a place where this repayment will be done. This place has a gate but Jesus has left the gate ajar, that is, a little bit so that we can see a bit of what is inside.

We see through this gate ajar that the ones living in that place are righteous who have been resurrected. It also tells us that they are repaid for what they did on earth for which they were not repaid then and there.

Our second reading makes this clearer. It says, ". . . you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel."

Our second reading tells us that this place referred to by Jesus where the righteous will be repaid is "the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" where countless angels, spirits of the just made perfect, God and Jesus dwell.

We see so many persons in this other place which Jesus talks about, where the resurrected righteous are repaid for work unpaid on earth. We see this through a gate ajar. Jesus left a small opening of this gate so that we can see what is inside that place. The second reading is more explicit. We see there the inside of the city of the living God, countless angels, perfect spirits, God and Jesus himself.

At least for now we see one person there who is righteous and resurrected, Jesus himself. And he lives within and through us. As we continue to live each day with him he reveals to us more and more what is inside that city of the living God.

Our responsorial psalm tells us that that city is our home. There we see  "the just rejoice and exult before God; they are glad and rejoice." And the Spirit of Jesus exhorts us: "Sing to God, chant praise to his name; whose name is the LORD."

That is our glory as Christians. We can see already through this gate ajar our home after our earthly home, we can see those inside that home, we can also see what is happening inside there.

When we finish our task on earth, our final home awaits us, most ready and most happy to welcome us. Thanks to Jesus who left the gate ajar and lives in us and through us making sure that we safely arrive there.

Let us bow our heads in prayer.

Jesus, thank you for leaving the gate of heaven ajar so that we can see a bit of what is inside your home which will also be our home with you. And thank you for your servant Lydia Baxter who two centuries ago wrote about this gate which you left ajar for us. Amen.

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Note for the readers:

The Mass readings are from the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE). This is where our Lectionary gets the readings.

NAB stands for New American Bible (before it was revised).

AV stands for Authorized Version of the Bible. It is more commonly referred to as the King James Bible. It is the version most used in English literature, therefore it is the one known more by the English speaking world.

Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C

Welcome to read homilies for the Sundays of the year. These are sample homilies which you can read with devotion. You may use them in your own homilies without asking my permission. You may also change or edit these to fit them to your audience. A unique quality of these homilies is that they are Christ-filled. From beginning to end they present to us some aspect of Jesus so that beholding his glory we “are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NAB).

The Narrow Gate

There is a story told by St. Teresa of Jesus, the founder of the Discalced Carmelites, that one time during prayer she complained to the Lord that she had so many trials. Our Lord answered her that that was the way he treated his friends, burden them with trials. She immediately replied, "No wonder you have so few friends".

St. Teresa affirms in her book THE WAY OF PERFECTION, chapter 1, that indeed Jesus has so many enemies and so few friends.

In our Gospel reading today Jesus himself confirms that he has only few friends. The reason is because those who want to be his friends have to pass through a narrow gate and with all the effort they can muster. And only few do this.

Let us listen again to the reading in our Gospel today.

In response to a question whether only few will be saved, Jesus answered, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough."

In the commentary of Barnes' Notes on the Bible, there is a quotation from Dr. Thomson, taken from his book  The Land and the Book, where he says: "I have seen these strait gates and narrow ways, 'with here and there a traveler.' They are in retired corners, and must be sought for, and are opened only to those who knock; and when the sun goes down and the night comes on, they are shut and locked. It is then too late." This gives us some background about the meaning of this narrow gate. Jesus might have been referring to these gates in retired corners of houses for travelers.

But even in our time we can also get the meaning of this narrow gate. You probably noticed that in big schools and buildings there is a narrow gate. There is a wide gate for the cars. There is also a narrow gate for individual persons. The structure of this narrow gate is such that it allows only one person at a time to pass through conveniently.

This is also what Jesus meant. We are to strive to pass through this narrow gate where only one person passes through at one time. In John chapter 10 Jesus speaks twice that he is the gate (verses 7 and 9). In other words it is Jesus himself through whom we pass through. And we do this one by one, not in a group. This means that individually we enter his life, his thoughts, his desires. This is nothing else than becoming friends with him.

He says that we strive to pass through him. The word used to translate the word "strive" here is the one from where we get the English word "agonize". This is the word used to describe an athlete struggling with all his strength to compete for a prize. In other words Jesus is telling us to strive with all our might, with all the strength that we have to be his friend, to enter into his life, his way of thinking, speaking, and acting. This is because there are so many things alluring us away from devoting our whole life for Jesus: our family, our friends, our work, our recreation, etc.

The Letter to the Hebrews in our second reading tells us that this is a painful process, the putting on of Christ in our life. But it is a condition for us to get saved both from the evils of this present life and those of the life to come.

We know that only a few do this. Most of us are contended with discharging our religious obligations and doing what we can to avoid sins. But Jesus is not content with this.

He wants us to so desire him with all our strength to be his friend that we can truly say with the psalmist in Psalm 73, "Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides you" (25 AV).

Again Teresa of Jesus writes in the Way of Perfection, chapter 34, "But He (Jesus) will not reveal Himself openly and communicate His glories and bestow His treasures save on those who He knows greatly desire Him, for these are His true friends. I assure you that anyone who is not a true friend and does not come to receive Him as such, after doing all in his power to prepare for Him, must never importune Him to reveal Himself to him. Hardly is the hour over which such a person has spent in fulfilling the Church's commandment than he goes home and tries to drive Christ out of the house. What with all his other business and occupations and worldly hindrances, he seems to be making all possible ways to prevent the Lord from taking possession of the house which is His own."

Notice that Teresa addresses here the situation of the ordinary person in the world, not just of the religious in a monastery.

Unless we have become personal, intimate friends of Jesus, we will later on hear him say to us what we heard in the Gospel reading, "I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!" Some of us may say to him, We attended your church, we contributed to your cause, we obeyed your commandments, we ate your body and drank your blood. None of these will move him to change his mind towards us. He will still say those very harsh words, most painful to us, "I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!"

In closing let us listen to the poem which has been sung countless times by Christians all over the world, especially by our separated brethren, but because it is a song owned by the Spirit of God, it also rightfully belongs to us.

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he'll take and shield you;
you will find a solace there. Amen.
(from the song What a Friend We Have in Jesus)

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C

Welcome to read homilies for the Sundays of the year. These are sample homilies which you can read with devotion. You may use them in your own homilies without asking my permission. You may also change or edit these to fit them to your audience. A unique quality of these homilies is that they are Christ-filled. From beginning to end they present to us some aspect of Jesus so that beholding his glory we “are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NAB).

The Divider

It is very strange, again I say, it is very strange that the person who holds all things together, who unites all creation, who is the principle of love and unity for all is also the principle of disunity among human beings. He divides human beings among themselves so that they are in conflict with one another. This principle of unity is also the principle of conflict and division.

That is very strange but that is what we have heard this morning from our Gospel reading. Jesus explicitly says that he has come not to bring peace but division. Again here are his words, "Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Jesus illustrates this division or conflict within the family: son against father, father against son, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. In other words Jesus will be the cause or occasion of conflict within a family.

But Jesus is also the principle of unity for all of creation. He disposes everything he created in such a way that a well-orchestrated harmony exists in this creation. St. Paul expressed this beautifully in his letter to the Colossians. He says, "In him, that is, in Jesus, everything in heaven and on earth was created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominations, principalities or powers; all were created through him and for him. He is before all else that is. In him everything continues in being" (1:16-17). In other words all things hold together in Jesus. He is the principle of unity.

The scientist and Jesuit priest Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin explained these words of St. Paul to mean that Jesus is the actual physical bond of the universe. He said, he "operates physically in order to regulate all things" (THE PHENOMENON OF MAN).

But it is only among human beings that he causes or occasions division or conflict. And this begins in the family, the basic unit of society.

The reason for this division or conflict is because for Jesus the priority is not the family but God's kingdom. When one's priority is not Jesus' kingdom but something else, like family, business, fame or fortune, or anything else, he runs into conflict with Jesus and with those who follow Jesus. And Jesus said that this happens in the family.

Today we hear the expressions "family first", "family time", "family bonding". There is an effort to strengthen family ties in the midst of work and recreation. For Jesus such expressions mean nothing. For him it is always the kingdom of God first, middle and last.

Since the 1960s when Fr. Patrick Peyton began his Family Rosary crusade the theme proposed to many families was "The family that prays together, stays together". Humanly speaking this is a worthy endeavor, to use the Rosary to maintain the unity of the family. But for Jesus this family unity has no value if it exists against the kingdom. The ideal is that the  family Rosary builds up the kingdom of Jesus and not just the maintenance of family togetherness.

A son is called by God to become a religious for the sake of the kingdom of God. The father objects. Conflict arises between father and son. A daughter is called by God to marry a poor, lay preacher of the Gospel. The mother objects because she does not want her daughter to stay poor. Conflict arises between mother and daughter. Situations like this can be multiplied. In all of them, Jesus is the determining factor. Follow him or one's family. He divides family members. He is the great divider.

   

The choice is ours. Is it Jesus we follow or will we follow our family and friends. There are other passages in the Gospel where Jesus is very explicit. In Luke 14 he says, "If anyone comes to me without turning his back on his father and mother, his wife and his children, his brothers and sisters, indeed his very self, he cannot be my follower" (verse 26). This is the translation of the New American Bible. The Authorized Version has the word "hate" for "turning his back" because the original Greek word here is really "hate". So  the commentators say that what Jesus really meant was "love less". "Hate" is only a Jewish expression, a hyperbole, to make his meaning very clear. Then they bring in the passage from Matthew where Jesus says, "Whoever loves father or mother, son or daughter, more than me is not worthy of me" (10:37). Then these commentators say that what Jesus meant was that we love him more than anyone else.

Anyone can give his own interpretation. But the words of Jesus are very clear. The kingdom of God, living God's life, inevitably produces conflict in our family and friends if their priority is not Jesus. Jesus asks each one of us today: What is your priority, living harmoniously with your family or living my life in God's kingdom? I hope that we give him the right answer.

Let us bow our heads in prayer. Father, your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

 

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C

Welcome to read homilies for the Sundays of the year. These are sample homilies which you can read with devotion. You may use them in your own homilies without asking my permission. You may also change or edit these to fit them to your audience. A unique quality of these homilies is that they are Christ-filled. From beginning to end they present to us some aspect of Jesus so that beholding his glory we “are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NAB).

Like A Thief

Why did Jesus describe himself as a thief when he talked about his second coming? Why did he not compare himself to a thunder which suddenly strikes in the sky? He did compare himself to a lightning to describe the speed of his appearance. Why did he not compare himself to a sudden rain on a clear, sunny day? Why did he did not compare himself to a sudden earthquake or an accident which is totally unexpected? Why did he rather choose the image of a thief to describe his second coming?

In our Gospel reading we heard him say, "Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Here it is clear that Jesus compared his coming to that of a thief who comes at an hour we do not expect.

The reason why Jesus compared his coming to that of a thief for those who do not expect his coming is because he was and is like a thief for those who do not wait for him, for those who do not expect his coming.

A thief steals. He steals from those who are not aware of his presence. Jesus also steals from those who do not expect his coming. A thief steals valuables from us, our money or our appliances or anything that he can bring with him. Jesus steals the most valuable material possession we have: our time.

When Jesus comes to get us time stops for us. Our time has run out. We can no longer do what we want to do because there is no more time to do them. In the language of the classroom our time to study has ended. It is already examination time.  

There was a song written by James M. Black in 1893 entitled WHEN THE ROLL IS CALLED UP YONDER. It begins "When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more". Indeed a time will come when time shall be no more. This song has a lively melody sung by our separated brethren and some charismatic groups.

We can also say that Jesus by his coming steals us from time. He snatches us from this world of time. He transfers us to a world without time, where there is no more sun or moon which provides us with our present measure of time.

So there are two senses by which we can say that Jesus acts like a thief. He steals time from us and he also steals us from time. In both cases we are no longer in this world of time but in the world without time.

When will Jesus come? He does not tell the hour and day of his coming. But he tells us to be always prepared for his second coming.

There are some who think that it will be a long time before Jesus returns. There are others who say that Jesus will come very soon. Some Bible scholars say that the early Christians were wrong in thinking that Jesus would come in their lifetime. The article “The Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Setting the Record Straight” (http://www.mgr.org/2ndcoming.html)  is a common example of the belief that the early Christians, especially Paul the Apostle, were wrong in thinking that Jesus would come back during their lifetime.  The logic is quite simple. They expected Jesus to come back during their lifetime. Jesus did not come. Therefore they had a wrong expectation.

The truth is that from the perspective of Jesus their attitude of expecting his return during their lifetime is the only proper Christian expectation of his return. Christians of all eras, whether in the first century or in the latest century, if they are to be faithful to the mind of Jesus have to expect his coming in their own lifetime. In fact we need to expect Jesus’ return always, every day, every minute of the day. That is what he meant when he said that we need to be watchful all the time.

Not only do we need to be always watchful for his second coming. We need to welcome him all the time. Peter even goes to say that we need to hasten his return (2 Peter 3:12) by doing what he told us to do during his physical absence, that is, announcing the good news of the kingdom to all we meet.

We are reminded of this future reality during the Mass. After the consecration we say, Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

For those of us who watch always, who welcome and hasten Jesus' second coming he is not a thief. He is our lover, our bridegroom, the one whom we desire all our life. Surely he will lead us straight into the heavenly courts without passing the pains in purgatory. This is plenary indulgence at its best.

Let us pray the prayer of the early Christians as they waited for Jesus' second coming. Let us bow our heads in prayer.

Mara natha. Lord Jesus, come. Amen.