As the beginning of our Gospel reading reminds us, we are still journeying with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem. In Luke’s Gospel, as in Matthew and Mark, he makes this trip only once. Jerusalem is his destination, but he is making his way to the cross. If we follow Jesus this is where he leads us. But he does not lead us to the cross to leave us there. He leads us there to bring us to our destiny, which is eternal life.
It's always difficult to talk about the narrowness of the road to life eternal. Responding to the very pointed question, “will only a few be saved?,” Jesus certainly speaks to this in our Gospel.1 In order to understand his answer better, it is important to give it some context.
Jesus lived his entire life in Israel, in what was then known as Roman Palestine. Virtually his entire life and ministry occurred among his fellow Jews. We know that rather than taking the long route normally used by Galilean Jews when traveling to Jerusalem, he took the shortcut through Samaria. Jesus also journeyed slightly outside of Jewish areas to the east and to the west.
The salient question in our Gospel is posed by a fellow Jew. At the end of his answer, Jesus says
people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last2He is talking about the salvation of non-Jews. In our first reading from Isaiah prophetically foretells that God will make himself known to other nations and “gather” those, non-Israelite people, to himself. Some of these gentiles he “will take as priests and Levites.3
To add insult to injury, the “you” to whom he refers when saying, using the third person, “you yourselves will be cast out” is his fellow Jews.4 He is talking to and about those who considered themselves the most righteous, the most observant, who thought they’d earned God’s good favor by stringent observance of the 613 mitzvot- the dos and donts that determined whether you were observant. In many cases, they felt their meticulous observance was their ticket to criticize the perceived laxity and sinfulness of others.
Jesus never had much time for or patience with those who did not recognize their own need for God’s mercy. As he said earlier in Luke’s Gospel, during his ministry in Galilee before setting out for Jerusalem: “I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”5
The word “hypocrite,” which, in Greek, refers to a stage actor, is bandied about quite a bit. Sometimes accurately, often inaccurately. It is part and parcel of Christian belief and should come as no surprise that even a committed Christian still sins. A fundamental aspect of Christian belief is summed up well by Saint Paul: “all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.”6
In his first lengthy interview, given about six months after becoming Pope, Pope Francis was asked: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” The Holy Father responded with- “I do not know what might be the most fitting description... I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.”7 As someone who preaches to others, I am conscious that I am a sinner who needs a Savior as much as anyone and perhaps more than most.
It is our reading from Hebrews, written for and to Jewish Christians who, due to persecution by fellow Jews, were tempted to renounce their faith in Christ, that helps us apply what Jesus teaches in our Gospel. It’s important to point out that “disciple” and “discipline” are closely related. A disciple is one who practices the disciplines of a master. A disciple is like an apprentice, or in our day, a player. Sticking with that metaphor, a master is like a coach. A player has to have confidence that it is by listening to, learning from, and applying what her/his coach teaches s/he will be a successful player and the team will be a winning team.
The inspired author refers to an experience that is common even now: fathers, at least good ones, seek to teach their children what they need to succeed in life. Disciplines like going to bed and getting up at regular times, exercising regularly, eating healthily, keeping your living space tidy, being reliable and keeping your word, and treating others with respect.
While I think all of us who are fathers want to have good, close relationships with our children, a good father recognizes that being a father sometimes comes first. This holds true even when it leads, as it almost inevitably does, to conflicts rooted in a failure to see beyond “Dad, you’re mean” or "Dad, you don't understand"(on a good day). Especially as your children get older, parents have to carefully discern when to intervene and when not to get involved.
Due to sometimes traumatic experiences, it is understandably difficult for some people to accept or even comprehend God as Father. Nonetheless, this is how God reveals himself through Christ. But God isn’t just any father; he is the best possible Father- the Mother of all Fathers! Unlike our own dads or those of us who are dads, even our Holy Father, the Pope, God is not a sinner. Our Father in heaven is perfect because he has revealed: God is love.8 Jesus is proof of this:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him9In a conversation with her when I was a young adult, my mom, who had a very complex relationship with her own mother, said to me: “I think at some point we all have to forgive our parents.” You know what? Our relationship with God can be complicated, too!
A few days ago, I texted a friend who is experiencing some difficulties and trying to help her brother, who is also going through a rough time. Her reply to my chipper inquiry took me back a bit: “I’ve given up praying. I’m mad at God and, quite honestly, I wonder if he even exists.” My friends, this happens. It's okay. Because God is a good Father, he understands and his love for you remains always undiminished.
Maybe the most perfect image of God as Father given in the whole of the Bible is the father in the story of the Prodigal Son. We can only call God our Father because of Jesus Christ, who suffered, died, and rose for us. Our Father, using his own (often difficult to understand or even endure) ways and means, urges us on our way to Jerusalem and beyond, along the narrow path back to himself. As the inspired author of Hebrews so accurately perceived:
At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed10
1 Luke 13:23.↩
2 Luke 13:29-30.↩
3 Isaiah 66:18.21.↩
4 Luke 13:28.↩
5 Luke 5:32.↩
6 Romans 3:23.↩
7 Antonio Spadaro, S.J. “A Big Heart Open to God: An interview with Pope Francis.” America magazine 30 September 2013↩
8 1 John 4:8.16.↩
9 John 3:16-17.↩
10 Hebrews 12:11-13.↩
Thank you, Deacon Scott. -Kathleen
ReplyDeleteI learned from years of clinical experience that our experiences with our fathers are so varied. Now, as a spiritual director, I recognize the effects this has on people’s relationship with the Father. I think a real challenge for all of us is to come to terms with the depths of our own “trauma wounds” which we have experienced from an imperfect world imperfect human beings. None of us are exempt, Dcn Bob Yerhot
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