Homily: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
You know, Fr. Clayton and I talked
about making a bet about who would preach about the Olympics first. We didn’t actually make a bet, but I feel
pretty good that we both made it to the last day of the Olympics without
preaching about it! That, of course, is
all going to end right now…
I will admit that I am little more
than a casual watcher of the Olympics. I
don’t have any particular Olympic sport that I follow, nor am I really rabid
about seeing the USA win as many events as possible. I enjoy what I watch; but, in general, I don’t
feel a great need to watch.
One of the reasons why I watch,
however, is to marvel at the level of athleticism that these Olympic athletes
have achieved. Some of them (like many
of the female gymnasts) are barely freshmen in high school, yet here they are
performing incredible athletic feats, seemingly with ease! Just thinking about what it would be like to
do even 1% of what they do makes me realize just how much hard work must go
into performing at the level that is necessary to compete at the Olympic Games.
Because of the live coverage and
because there are often long breaks in between events, the networks will
pre-record segments documenting the backstory for some of the more popular
athletes (or, perhaps, the athletes who have a unique story to tell). These are great because you see just how many
sacrifices both the athletes and their families and communities make so that
this one person can compete on the world stage.
One of the things that I find most interesting is that the word that the
athletes will most often use when describing their training and preparation is “discipline”.
The word “discipline”, for most of us,
probably connotes something negative: that is, being punished for something that
you did wrong. Discipline, therefore, is
a corrective: suffering imposed on someone in order to correct an improper
behavior. For example, you discipline a
child for coloring on the living room walls.
In other words, you make them feel bad in order to teach them that it is
bad to color on the walls.
Now, I’ve just touched on something
that, I hope, will help us see that “discipline” is something more than just
punishment. You see, “discipline” shares
the same root word as the word “disciple”; and what is a “disciple” but someone
who learns from a master and tries to follow the master’s ways. In other words, a “disciple” is one who
learns and then applies that learning to his or her life. “Discipline”, therefore, looked at in this
way, is more than “punishment”; rather it is “teaching”. And so “discipline” for Olympic athletes is
not just a punishment that must be endured, but a way of teaching themselves
how to achieve the level of skill that they will need in order to compete at
the level of the Olympics. Thus, almost
every one of them will say that “you need a lot of discipline to compete at
this level”; and we all hear that and say, “You’re right” (which is probably
followed by a thought “and I don’t have it!”).
In the Gospel reading today, Jesus is
passing through towns and villages on his way to Jerusalem and somewhere along
the way a man approaches him and asks this very sincere question: “Lord, will
only a few people be saved?” Jesus,
being who he is, is able to hear the “question behind the question” that the
man is asking and his response reveals what that question might have been: “Lord,
is it possible that I can be saved?” And
how does Jesus answer this question? He
says, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.” Now we don’t need to know what “narrow gate”
Jesus is talking about: rather, it is enough to imagine a narrow gate that is
difficult to get through and, thus, what it would take to squeeze through it.
The word “strive”, itself, is heavy
with meaning, because the Greek word that Luke, the Gospel writer, used is the
same word from which we get the verb “to agonize”. So, in a sense, Jesus is telling this man “to
agonize to enter through the narrow gate”.
“Agony” is another word that has negative connotations. “To agonize over” something is to suffer
something unpleasant: for example, indecision at not knowing the correct choice
to make in order to achieve something important. Nevertheless, that “agonizing” often leads to
a decision; and thus the suffering produced by the agony turns into a “discipline”
that helps one achieve his or her goal.
Thus to strive—to agonize—to enter through the narrow gate is also to
discipline yourself to enter through the narrow gate; thus, we see that Jesus
was not talking only about exerting raw energy in your effort, but that he was also
talking about disciplining yourself so that you can enter through the narrow
gate: “for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter” Jesus said “but will not be
strong enough.” /// “Lord, will only a few be saved?” the man asks… “That depends” Jesus seems to say “on how
many people truly strive for it.”
Thus, we can see that making it to the
Olympics and making it to heaven are not dissimilar things: both require
discipline and effort. There is one
extremely important difference, however—a difference that makes the one nearly
impossible for any of us to achieve and the other very possible for all of us to
achieve—and that is this: in the Olympics you’re judged by your performance,
whereas in salvation, you’re judged by your effort. None of us would question that each athlete
in the Olympics is putting forth his or her maximum effort towards “entering
the narrow gate” and winning a gold medal.
Yet, only one athlete wins a gold medal, because his or her performance
was better than all of the others.
Salvation does not depend on the perfection of our performance, however;
rather it depends on whether or not we’ve given our maximum effort.
Thus Jesus says “strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will
attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.” “Strive”—discipline yourself—make yourself
strong so that you can give the maximum effort, because that is what it will
take to enter through the narrow gate.
This, my brothers and sisters, is what we do when we pray daily, when we
study the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church, when we live the
sacramental life (meaning primarily: regular confession and weekly
participation in the Eucharist), and when we serve others through the works of
mercy. These disciplines are what
prepare us to enter through the narrow gate.
Those who are not strong enough are
those who give up on one or more of these disciplines, believing that because
they “know Jesus” that they will still be saved. Jesus, however, disagrees. Those who have given up on these disciplines,
even though they know Jesus, will be like those locked out of the master’s
house after he has locked the door and who cry out to the master who then
replies “I do not know where you are from”.
We must know the master, yes, but we must also strive to enter; because
once the door is locked it won’t be reopened.
My brothers and sisters, it is a
beautiful mercy of God that he does not expect perfection of us so that we can
be saved. Although his justice requires perfection,
his mercy takes into account the effort that we put forth towards achieving it
and, thus, he welcomes us, in spite of our flawed performances. Therefore, taking the achievements of our
Olympic athletes as our inspiration, let us rededicate ourselves to those
disciplines of prayer, study, celebrating the sacraments, and doing the works
of mercy so that the glory we achieve will be the kind that never fades, the
glory of entering through the narrow gate to be seated at our master’s eternal wedding
feast: the foretaste of which we enjoy even now, here in this Eucharist.
Given
at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – August 21st, 2016
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