Will You Be Strong Enough?
Deacon Angelo Volpi’s homily
Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Isaiah 66:18-21; Psalm 117:1, 2; Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13; Luke 13:22-30
INTRODUCTION
Good evening!
Will you be strong enough? Strong enough to be saved?
In today’s gospel Jesus tells us that many will try to be saved but not all will be strong enough. This is a challenging truth to hear.
Let’s try to unpack this truth. And I want to begin with a personal story.
ME
Last month Lorel and I celebrated 30 years of marriage. Isn’t that a miracle!
The day of our anniversary fell in the middle of the week and we were unsure how to celebrate it. Then one of our kids suggested we go out for dinner where we had our first date. That was not what I had in mind! Our first date was at Red Lobster!
As strange as it sounds, we decided to have dinner at Red Lobster. So we drove to North Little Rock to the only Red Lobster in the area. By the way, the atmosphere of the restaurant hasn’t changed much in 30 years!
We got the menu and I started thinking - should I order what I ordered 30 years ago?
No, that felt a little awkward!
We placed our order. And as we were waiting I kept asking myself - what am I supposed to make out of this? This seems a little strange.
Everything changed when our food arrived. At that moment our posture changed; we were getting ready to bless the food. And right in that moment I had a leap of joy inside me!
This is what the Lord wanted to show me - that our hearts have been transformed over time. In some small way, little by little, our hearts have become more like Jesus’s heart. Our hearts are not the same as they were 30 years ago - what we desire is different now. In that moment, we desired what Jesus would have desired - to give thanks to the Lord for the food and to ask for blessings for our marriage.
What a beautiful grace to experience that our hearts have been transformed!
YOU
What about you? Have you ever experienced that your heart has been transformed?
That you have begun to desire what Jesus desires?
GOD
Today’s gospel from Luke challenges us deeply. It is clear that Jesus is saying that salvation is not for everyone. Some will be saved and the same will not be saved.
Rightly so, the disciples wanted to know how many will be saved. So they ask: “Lord, will only a few be saved?” They are seeking reassurance. Basically, can we assume since they were following Jesus that they would be saved?
These are the same questions that we ask ourselves today. Is it enough to attend Mass on Sunday, follow the Ten Commandments and the Catholic rules? Jesus's answer is sobering: “strive to enter the narrow gate, for many I tell you, will attempt to enter but they will not be strong enough.” Because if we are not strong enough, He will not recognize us when we knock at his door.
And he will say, “I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, you evil doer.”
How can we be recognized and invited into His Kingdom? How can we be strong enough?
To be recognized by Jesus we need to change. Our hearts need to be transformed and become more like His heart.
Jesus uses the word “strive,” which means that it will require effort on our part. Being born is not enough - we need to be born again through His living water. To become our second nature. To become something different - to start desiring what God desires.
It requires a willingness to rest in his forming hands - a desire to be shaped by God.
I am reminded of Jeremiah 18, the story of the potter and the clay. We are the vessels made of clay. Life is spinning us in many directions and God is always ready to reshape us in His perfection.
What we need to ask ourselves is - Do I desire to be re-shaped by God’s hands? The spinning of life will create bumps and cracks on us.
Am I strong enough to put myself willingly into His shaping hands - even when it requires stepping outside my comfort zone or when it hurts? Am I willingly to be transformed into His likeness?
YOU
On the day when we knock on the door of heaven the Father will open the door if He sees our heart transformed with Jesus in it. And only then He will say "Come in!”. He will want to see if our heart is able to desire what Jesus desires, at least in some ways.
I do not know how much is “good enough.” But I do know that He will be looking for a change of heart. For some, it might come at the last breath like the good thief crucified on the side of Jesus.
Personally, I don’t want to bet everything on my last breath!
WE
My invitation to you is to be strong enough to enter in deeper contact with the church, our ministries, our sacraments, our people, maybe get a weekly Adoration hour.
Establish habits that put you in God’s hands to be constantly molded into His likeness.
I pray that when my time comes to knock at God’s door, my heart will be good enough to enter His Kingdom.
