Homily for June 26th, 2018: Matthew
7: 6, 12-14.
AStrive to enter through the narrow
gate,@ Jesus says. That Anarrow gate@ stands for every situation in which
God=s demands weigh heavily on us and
seem too hard to bear. We all experience such situations. It is important to
know that trials and troubles are not signs not of God=s absence, but of his presence.
Everything that threatens our peace of mind, or even life itself, is a
challenge, and an opportunity to grow. Our trials and sufferings are the
homework we are assigned in the school of life.
The idea that God is a supernatural
protector who guards his own from all suffering is not a Christian idea, but a
pagan one. Why is there suffering in a good world, created and upheld by a good
and just God? Which of us has never asked that question? Our faith does not
answer it. Faith gives us instead the strength to endure amid of suffering.
Our teacher in this school is Jesus
Christ. Whatever trials and sufferings we encounter, his were heavier. The
letter to the Hebrews says of Jesus: ASon though he was, he learned
obedience from what he suffered; and when perfected, he became the source of
eternal salvation for all who obey him ...@ (5:8f).
This is the Anarrow gate@ of which Jesus speaks in the gospel:
the patient endurance of all the hard and difficult things that life sets
before us. Jesus never promised that God would protect us from trials and
sufferings. He promises that God will be with us in every trial and in
every suffering.
We pray, then, in this Mass in a
special way: “Be with us, Lord, in times of darkness, when clouds shut out the
sunshine of your love. Be with us in the power of your Holy Spirit. Lead us
ever onward. Give us the protection of your holy angels, to lead us to you.”
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