What Door would you choose?

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter

Holy Names Church

May 15, 2011

In today’s gospel, Jesus declares that “anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a robber.” This means there is only one door that leads to salvation, and that is the door of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the way, the truth and life. Jesus is the door. Through him alone, we find access to God. St. Paul in Ephesians 2:18 says, “Through him, we have access to the Father.” Hebrews 10:20 says that Jesus “is the new living way.” The Lord is the one that opens the way to God. Before Jesus came, humans could only think of God at best, as a stranger and at worst, an enemy. God was seen as a God that is far away from the people. But Jesus came to show us that God is with us, and he opens the way to him. Jesus is the door through whom alone entrance to God becomes easy and possible.

When Jesus said, “All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them” he was not referring to the great prophets of the Old Testament. He was referring to men who rose in Palestine and promised that if people would follow them, they would bring in the golden age. The men Jesus referred as thieves and robbers were insurrectionists and zealots. They believed that the golden age can only be attained by violence and by the shedding of blood. According to Josephus the scripture scholar, there were ten thousand riots and disorders in Judea. People like the Zealots did not mind slaughtering an entire community and even their loved ones just to achieve conquest.

So when Jesus said, “All who came before me are thieves and robbers…” he was saying, “There have been people who claimed that they were leaders sent to you from God. These people believed in war, murder, assassination, terrorism. Listen, their way can only lead to more suffering, destruction of life and property, and also lead people farther and farther away from God. Their way lacks love, charity, forgiveness, mercy and tolerance. Their way destroys unity and togetherness. Their way increases human hardship. Their way recreates creation and destroys friendships. My way is the way of peace, love, and life. If you will take it and live by it, it will lead you ever closer and closer to God.”

This reminds us of wicked men like Osama bin Ladin who believed in destroying an entire nation just to achieve an aim. Sadly, these people carry out the most violent and wicked act in the name of God. They claim to be fighting for God. They claim that it is God who had sent them on their vicious missions. To such people, I say that they are worshipping a god that does not exist. They believe in violence, class warfare, bitterness, destruction. The message of Jesus today is that the only way that leads to God, the only way that leads to heaven, the only way that leads to the golden age on earth is the way of love.

Love is the basic Christian teaching. It is the pillar that holds us together. It is the path to life. When it’s all been said and done, there is just one thing that really matters- love. When all our earthly treasures will mean nothing; when all our earthly achievements will mean nothing; when all the fame and status will mean nothing, when all the material things we have will mean nothing, the only thing that will mean something is the love that we showed. It is only what we have done for love and for the sake of love that will stand the test of the time. No wonder St. Paul says 1 Corinthians 13:13, “We have faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.

Jesus says that “A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; but I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” After the killing of Osama bin Ladin, I wrote a short commentary titled “My reaction on the death of Osama bin Ladin,” and part of what I wrote is this, “Jesus Christ brought peace! Osama bin Ladin brought violence and unrest. Jesus Christ brought healing and deliverance, Osama bin Ladin brought hurt, pain and misery. My Lord Jesus Christ brought unity! Osama brought division. Jesus brought salvation. Osama brought doom and destruction. Jesus brought blessings. Osama bin Ladin brought curse. Jesus died an innocent man in order to set us free. Osama died a guilty man so that people would be free to worship God. Jesus brought us deliverance through his death. Osama brought us pain, anguish and unspeakable suffering through his wicked actions. Jesus’ killing represents the greatest attack on good and on a good man. Osama’s killing marks the greatest attack on evil in modern history.”

Dearest beloved, Jesus came that you and I may have life in abundance. To have a superabundance of life entails being a follower of Jesus, knowing who he is, and what he means. Having an abundance of life means enjoying a great deal of inner peace and joy even in the face of difficult and suffering. Having an abundance of life means being in a relationship with the Lord. Having an abundance of life means being alive in the spirit.

My mother once told me a story of a wealthy man who went to his community and asked all the widows in the town to see him in his house for some gifts he had brought to them. He gave a date and a time of the meeting. On that very day, all the widows gathered in his house. But in their midst was one woman whose husband was not yet dead. Her husband was still alive and healthy. Now the news of her presence in the gathering of widows got to her husband. The man, half-drunk stormed the place and started yelling and cursing his wife, “So you want me dead?” “So you have already declared me dead even when I am still alive? Shame on you! Stand up now and go home before I do something I would later regret.” Meanwhile, this man was always seen in a booze bar drinking. Because of long years of drinking, he looked like a wretched dispirited person with no vitality. But his wife looked at him from head to toe and said, “Mr. John, were you ever really alive? I think you are long dead.”

Dearest beloved, when we try to live our own lives, life becomes a dull dispirited thing. I have often said that life without Christ is crisis. Life without God is gloomy. But when we walk with Jesus daily and enjoy a holy relationship with him, a new vitality, a superabundance of life is experienced and enjoyed. It is only when we live with Jesus Christ that life becomes really worth living, and we begin to live in the real sense of the word. The Lord has come that we may have life, life in its fullness. With Jesus, there is plenty of redemption. To live abundantly is to be aware that God knows us personally, like a shepherd who knows his sheep. It means we have the confidence that he cares for us. It also means we are ready to yield to God’s will for our lives, like the sheep who listen to the familiar voice of the shepherd.

Follow the door that is Jesus. Walk in the way that is Jesus. Three doors have been opened before us. One door leads to empty pleasure. Another door leads to pain and destruction. Yet another door leads to peace, joy, life and salvation. When you are in your house, these three doors are opened before you. When you are driving on the road, there are also three doors before you. When you are in the office working, three doors are opened before you. No matter where you are, there are three doors. One door belongs to the world; another belongs to Satan, and one belongs to Jesus. In fact, the first door is the world; the second door is the Devil. The third door is Jesus Christ. Which of these doors would you choose? As for me, I have chosen the third door- Jesus Christ!