Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: This is Sundays with Bishop Kenn.
Thanks for sharing some quiet time with the Lord today. We welcome guest reader Deacon Eric Bissette.
Deacon Eric is a beloved spiritual leader in his home parishes of the Diocese of Rochester, New York.
Little Book's listeners will recognize Deacon Eric as a regular narrator for our daily reflections.
And now, here is today's gospel and homily.
[00:00:46] Speaker B: A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.
Jesus passed through towns and villages teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him, lord, will only a few people be saved?
He answered them, strive to enter through the narrow gate. For many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then you will stand outside knocking and saying, lord, open the door for us.
He will say to you in reply, I do not know where you are from.
And you will say, we ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.
Then he will say to you, I do not know where you are from.
Depart from me all you evil doers.
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south, and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.
For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.
The Gospel of the Lord this sounds like a harsh gospel, but it really isn't harsh.
Let's take a closer look.
Jesus doesn't get into the question of what percentage of people will be saved.
Instead, he talks about the effort it takes to be saved.
I suppose we could read into his words and interpret them as meaning, I want everyone to sit at the banquet table in heaven.
But I want you to know it takes personal effort because it involves your whole person and a personal relationship with God.
Imagine what we would say if a youngster asked, will I be a success when I grow up?
We'd know they were talking about getting a good job, being popular, liked by other people, having good friends, perhaps getting married and having a family.
What would you say to them?
A lot of thoughts would go through our minds.
We want them to be successful and we'd help them in any way we could.
But there are some things you can't make easy for someone else.
They'll have to keep going to school and keep learning.
No one can do it for them.
And learning can be hard work.
We don't have a pill to make that easy.
They'll have to learn how to manage relationships and they'll have to go through the heartbreaks of young love.
Sooner or later, they'll have to leave home and experience homesickness.
They'll make mistakes and work through them and maybe have to pay a price.
There would be all of those things and more.
You can't just drift into becoming a mature, well developed human being.
So we tell the youngster we want them to be successful and we're pulling for him and will help him in every way possible.
And he probably will be successful, but it will take effort and hard work.
That's Jesus Response to the question Will many people be successful and go to Heaven?
He uses three images, probably spoken on different occasions, but put here in one place by Luke.
First, the image of the gate.
It's narrow, which means it'll take effort and strength to pass through.
Second, the image of the Master of the house who has locked the door.
It can only be opened from the inside, which is to say we need God's help. We can't do it on our own.
We need God's grace, which is given to us as a gift, but we have to freely acknowledge we need it.
Third, he uses the image of a banquet to which all sorts of people come from east and west, north and south.
There's no privileged class that has an inside track.
You just don't drift into heaven.
It keeps coming back to the same thing.
There are things that can't be made easy for us.
A parent can't do it for a child and God can't do it for us.
There are things no one else can do for us, not even God.
We're not robots.
We can't be programmed by someone else.
To learn how to let ourselves be loved by God and to love God in response takes us to the core of who we are.
The question comes into play here.
Do I accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior?
No one can answer that question for us, and no one can make it easy.
What we can do, just as a parent can do for a child, is provide a supportive environment.
Help one another through all the narrow gates, tell them about God's unconditional love, and assure them that they can do it no matter what their social class or IQ or status is in the eyes of the world.
That's why we come together every week to the table of the Lord.
We receive the food that is God's word and the food that is the Eucharist.
We sing the same songs together, pray together, and reach out a hand of peace to one another.
We're trying to open ourselves up to God's love, God's gifts, and we're trying to help one another as parents do for children, as friends do for friends.
To live as a true daughter or son of God is within reach of everyone.
We were created for this.
It's not complicated, but it can be difficult at times because we were created not as robots, but as free human beings capable of true love, capable of receiving God's love, and capable of rejecting God's love.
In Luke's Gospel, two chapters after today's passage, Jesus tells three consoling the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the prodigal son.
Let there be no doubt about God's love for us, God's forgiving love.
Know that despite our failures, our inadequacies, God is there to help us every step of the way and to see us through, even carry us on his shoulders if we will just freely choose to let God do it.
[00:08:02] Speaker A: Thanks for joining us today.
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Sa.
