Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Do Not Take Your Salvation For Granted

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Church

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Sisters and brothers in the Lord, once again, we have all gathered together to worship a faithful God, the Only who alone is good. Today, we celebrate our first ever T-shirt Sunday and at the end of the Mass, we shall also bless our new HVAC units. On the front-view of our shirts are the inscriptions: “I love St. Gerard Majella Church” and “When God made me, he was showing off.” Now, we may have different reasons for loving this church, but I want to believe that the main reason, the chief reason why we love this church is because it is associated with God, God who was showing off when he created us. We love this church because it is associated with Jesus. We love it because it is the House of God. It is our gathering place of worship and when we gather together here to worship the Triune God, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit is here. We love St. Gerard Majella Church because in this place, in a special way, we are fed with the Word of God and with the Finest Food of all- the Eucharist, Jesus’ precious Body and Blood. 

Today, the God we come here to serve, the God we come here to listen to, the God that loves us exceedingly, the God that showed himself off when he created us says to us: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.” Today’s gospel from Luke 13:22-30 tells us that as Jesus was passing through towns and villages, teaching and heading towards Jerusalem, someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” His response to the question was: “Take your salvation seriously!” “Do not take your salvation for granted!” 

God’s Kingdom is a free gift to all. It is offered to all people. People from all nations- the north, south, east and west will be part of it. Jesus did not answer the question of whether it will be few or many that will accept the free gift of the Kingdom and be saved. And he does not want us to concern ourselves with who and who would be saved, but rather to concern ourselves with being saved. Don’t spend your time thinking or wondering whether Mr. Spark would be saved. Don’t spend your time wondering whether Ms. Lizzy who have died has been saved. Don’t spend your time wondering whether people of other religions would be saved. Instead of asking: “Will a Muslim or a Buddhist be saved” ask yourself “Will I be saved?” There are Catholics who think they can ignore the important things God wants of us and still feel confident they are going to be saved. But today, the Lord tells us that if we want to be saved, then we must strive, we must make effort to enter through the narrow gate. Why? Because many people will attempt to enter through it, but will not be spiritually strong enough to squeeze themselves in. Having a loose or distant relationship with Jesus will not be able to keep a seat for us in the kingdom. Visiting the Lord once in a while is not enough to guarantee us a place in the Kingdom. Jesus says that on the last day some will stand and knock on the door of the Kingdom saying: “Lord, open the door for us.” But they would be told: “I do not know where you are from.” Then they will insist: “But we ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets?” But they would be told: “Depart from me, all you evildoers.” Yes, we may have ate and drank in the company of the Lord, but some of us would still not be saved because right after that, they never followed the Lord again. Right after that, they did not take the Word of God and put it into practice. Right after eating and drinking with the Lord, they went away doing what the Lord abhors. Even when they are in the house of God, they are in a haste to leave. Some in this church find it hard to spend few minutes after receiving the Eucharist to say a prayer. They just cannot wait till the end of the Mass; as soon as they have received Communion, they head to the exit door. They just cannot wait till the priest says: “Go in peace, the Mass is ended.” But I have never seen anybody leave the movie theater before the end of the movie. I have never seen anyone walk out of a restaurant without first finishing the meal. People go to football games and spend hours cheering their team. But spending just one hour out of the many hours of the week for the Lord is too much. When it comes to managing our time, it is always God’s time that is often reduced and cut short. God is the one that often “suffers.” And after being ungenerous with our time for the things of God, we still convince ourselves that we are still on track, that we are headed to the right direction, that we will make heaven, that we are heaven-bound. 

Today, our wonderful Savior tells us not to take our salvation for granted. He urges us to make strong and consistent effort to enter through the narrow gate- the gate to the Kingdom. There are so many people trying to enter it, but it is only those who have a lively and living relationship with Jesus that will gain entrance. For those of us who believe that because they belong to a particular race, or particular group or a particular religion and therefore have a guaranteed place in the Kingdom of heaven without making effort to gain entrance, today’s gospel calls each of us to think again. We may still be in the church but are already out of the track. Take Jesus seriously! Take the Word of God seriously! This call is an urgent one. Time is running and may be running out! If you haven’t made a decisive decision, do it today. I do not want to scare any of you. But I also do not want to stand before Jesus and be told that I did not do a good job of telling people what they should have been told from the pulpit. Once again I say, “Do not take your salvation for granted.” In Philippians 2:12, St. Paul says: “...work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Never assumed that your salvation is assured and guaranteed. Remember, it is not over until it is over!