Sunday, August 21, 2022

 TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(Isaiah 66:18-21; Hebrews 12:5-7.11-13; Luke 13:22-30)

You probably have asked yourself this question as I have.  We wonder what will become of relatives and friends who were brought up Catholic but no longer practice the faith.  Also some of them are living in relationships that have always been considered sinful.  However, we know them as “good people.” They lend a hand to the needy and speak with good sense.  We wonder, like the person in today’s gospel who questions Jesus, if our loved ones will be saved.

Perhaps we should first define salvation.  The term has been used so much that it has acquired different understandings.  Salvation is the perfection of all creation achieved by God’s action en Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.  It will take place only at the end of time.  However, it is not wrong to think of salvation as heaven that has a certain existence now.  When we speak of personal salvation, we are asking whether an individual will participate in the triumph of God.  Because it will take place after deaths of all living today, we can address ourselves to the condition of the individual’s soul at death.

In today’s gospel Jesus seems to doubt that many will be saved.  He says, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many…will attempt to enter (heaven) but will not be strong enough.’”  Before Vatican II the Church emphasized the difficulty of salvation. Catholics, if it was possible, were to confess, be anointed and receive Communion before dying.   It was said that Protestants had less possibility of being saved because they received only the sacrament of Baptism.  And little hope for salvation was extended to non-Christians.  There exists a letter of St. Francis Xavier which illustrates this point.  Laboring intensely to convert Hindus in India, the saint wrote to St. Ignatius how he wanted to visit the universities of Europe crying out to the students that their preoccupation with knowledge in place of becoming missionaries was excluding throngs of Hindus from heaven and casting them into hell.

The position of the Church on salvation received a makeover at Vatican II.  The Council declared that non-Christians could be saved.  If a person did not know Christ through no fault of his or her own, sincerely looked for God, and tried to do God’s will, he or she could participate in salvation at the end of time.  However, Vatican II was not as optimistic about the salvation of the masses as some today think.  The Council warned of the deceit of the devil which derails many on the way to salvation.  Therefore, it saw a great need of evangelization.

Moralists have contributed important insights about freedom that should be included here.  They say that freedom to make a decision for which the person is completely responsible is always limited.  For example, if a child is sexually abused by a priest, it is possible that she or he will not be able to go to church as an adult.  However, this line of reasoning should not be used as a pretext to avoid responsibility for all one’s actions.  As the second reading indicates, God can use bad experiences as corrections of one’s behavior. 

It is better that we do not presume that the mercy of God will permit all to enter glory at the end of time.  Rather let’s make effort to fulfill three objectives.  First, let’s pray for those who do not make use of the sacraments.  We should ask God to awaken them to the fact that his love is found primarily in the Church.  At the same time, we should tell our loved ones of the efficacy of the sacraments.  Second, we should make every effort to enter heaven through the narrow gate as a testimony to the truth of Jesus’ mandate in today’s gospel.  Finally let’s support the missions, be they foreign or the work of the “new evangelization.” The entire world needs not only the good news of God’s love but also guides to respond to it appropriately.

The first reading today assures us that salvation is for the entire world. As Isaiah envisions, at the end of time inhabitants of all the nations will come to the city of God.  But this vision does not give us license to think that we are automatically saved.  No, salvation, always a result of God’s mercy, requires our efforts as well.