Homily for 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time 2010

I don't mind watching the Chinese news on SBS sometimes. They even had a report on the Australian elections this morning. I must say even though I do not understand a word of Chinese the news makes just as much sense as in English! One report was about the train that was washed off a bridge in the extensive floods in China. Everyone on board the train was saved on that occasion by quick thinking people. We could ask how many will be saved from the effects of the massive floods in Pakistan? Will many more die? How many made homeless will find shelter? How many now staving will receive food?

What do we want to be saved from? Jesus was asked by someone in the crowd, "Will only a few be saved?" We are not told what kind of salvation the questioner was thinking of. For many Jews salvation meant the freedom that the people found led by Moses from slavery in Egypt into the promised land. Or it could mean freedom from captivity as the people experienced in Babylon. Or freedom from Roman occupation. There was not general agreement about eternal salvation as there was no common belief in resurrection as we might think it. But for Jesus it certainly means freedom from slavery to sin and death as well as the freedom to live peacefully in this life.

Jesus does not answer the question directly. He is not interested in such speculation. We are reminded of a previous question he was asked earlier in Luke's Gospel (10:29), "Who is my neighbour?" There, too, Jesus did not answer directly but turned the question around to the person asking it. He is more interested in the person asking the question. Where does he stand? He says to this person, "Strive to enter through the narrow door..." It is not what you know or which group you belong to that counts. There is one door and it is narrow. It is narrow because it is the size of a person. It it is not big enough for donkeys or camels, nor large crowds who clamour and knock. Nor is it big enough for you to be carried on someone else's back. That narrow door is Jesus, of course. On one occasion he described himself as "the gate" (John 10:7) for the sheep.

It is not enough to claim that I am a son of Abraham, or that I saw Jesus in the market place or even that I sat down to a meal with him. It does not depend even on how many times I come to Mass. What matters is that when we do come to Mass, when we do sit down with him, listen to him, share the Table with him, that we come to know him personally and act upon our friendship.

Lip service does not count. It requires some effort on our part. "Strive...", he says. This is a word which recalls the strain and sometimes agony of the athlete who puts in every effort to win the race. It recalls the words in the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews. "The Lord trains the ones that he loves." So suffering is part of the training. It is not a punishment for wrongdoing. It is the discipline of a parent out of love for a child or the discipline a coach gives to an athlete to help him or her achieve their best.

God's hospitality is offered to everyone as we hear in the reading from Isaiah. That is basic. But God cannot wait for ever for our response. Our life is short. Others may enter ahead of us while we ignore the opportunities we have. People not of our group, people from east and west, north and south, will eat in the Kingdom of God even if we don't.

A Buddhist, a Jew, and a Christian all die and get to heaven. Jesus asks each one, "If you could go back, what would you change?" The Buddhist ponders a while and says, "There's so much violence in the world. If I went back, I'd try and stop people form going to war with each other." The Jew thinks a bit and says, "There's so much poverty in the world. If I went back, I'd try and get people to share more of their wealth with the poor." The Christian looks at Jesus and replies, "If I went back, I'd change my doctor."

There are many in our midst who are being given their final training by God as they suffer sickness and approach death. Let us support their striving by our prayers.

Fr Graham