August
21, 2016
21st
Sunday in OT
Isaiah
66:18-21; Heb 12:5-7. 11-13; Luke 13:22-30
I remember this
story about a group of friends who wanted to know if there was basketball in
heaven. They agreed that whoever died first should come back to inform them.
After a couple of years, it happened that Juan first died. One night his friend
Pedro heard the voice of Juan. Pedro said: is that you Juan? “Yes” the voice
replied. “Okay tell me: is there basketball in heaven?” Juan said, “Yes, but I
have good news and bad news for you. The good news is: there is basketball here
in heaven. The bad news is: you will join us in the game tomorrow.”
I think all of
us would want to go to heaven. One of the characters in the gospel today asked
Jesus, “Lord, how many people will be saved? Will there be few or many people
in heaven?” Notice that Jesus did not give a straight answer to the question.
He did not give an exact figure of those who will be saved. Why? Because the character in the gospel asked the
wrong question to Jesus. Wrong questions lead to wrong answers. That is why the
response of Jesus in the gospel redirected this person to the right question.
What are some of the wrong questions posed by the man in the gospel? How did
Jesus correct them?
THE
FIRST WRONG QUESTION IS: “HOW MANY WILL BE SAVED?” Getting
to heaven is not a question of “how many.” Instead of asking how many
will be saved, the more important question is: HOW can we be saved? We
should not waste our time speculating how many people are there in
heaven or hell. Our first reading already tells us that God wills the salvation
of all peoples – not only Israelites, not only the chosen people of God but all
peoples. Isaiah says in his prophecy: “The Lord will gather nations of every language.”
But again, our concern must be: How can we be saved? How can we go to
heaven? Jesus
answered this by saying: enter the narrow gate.
THE
SECOND WRONG QUESTION IS: “WHERE IS THE NARROW GATE?” The
gate that Jesus refers to in the gospel is not a place. We cannot find
that gate in the Philippine map or any available map in the world. The
right question to ask is not, “where is the gate?” because there is really
no gate. The right question to ask is, “who is the gate?” The gate is a person
referring to Jesus Christ. Jesus is the gate to heaven. We need to follow Jesus in order
for us to be saved. But following Jesus is described as entering the narrow gate.
Why? What exactly is the narrow gate?
THE
NARROW GATE INVITES US TO EXERT EFFORT TO GET TO HEAVEN. The
door to heaven was not purposely made narrow so that people
may have difficulty entering it. It can be the other way around.
Perhaps we have become so “big” that we could no longer enter the narrow door. Perhaps
our excessive hunger for power, pleasure, wealth and other sinful
inclinations led us to indulge in these things to the point that we have become so
“big.” Sin has a way of disfiguring ourselves. Sin makes us ugly. Sin makes us big to
the point that we can no longer enter the narrow door.
How do we shape
up so that we can enter the narrow door? Our second reading reminds us, exert effort
and discipline ourselves to pursue good and avoid evil. Isn’t it that if
we are really determined to lose weight and be healthy, we need to consistently
put discipline in our food intake and exercise? The same is true in entering
the narrow door that leads to heaven. God wants all of us to be saved. Having a
baptismal certificate and regular Mass attendance does not guarantee our salvation.
We must go through the narrow gate. We should do our share, exert effort and
discipline ourselves to pursue good and avoid evil.
My dear friends,
salvation is God’s gift to us. There is enough space for all of us in the kingdom
of heaven. In this mass let us beg for the grace that we may be motivated to
exert effort in entering the narrow gate so that we may one day see each other
in the Kingdom of God. Amen.
