30 October 2024 - Wednesday of the 30th week
Homily
If you don't mind, we'll begin by analyzing the meaning of several expressions in this passage from Luke's Gospel, and then we'll see how this message also applies to us.
Luke places this story in the context of Jesus' ascent to Jerusalem. He is not yet concerned to emphasize the importance of Jerusalem. Instead, he emphasizes the fact that Jesus is on the road. Jesus had no place to stay; he was no longer welcome in the synagogues. So he preached his message in public squares in towns and villages.
It was at this point that someone asked him about the number of the elect. Here, unfortunately, modern translations are often an interpretation that changes the meaning of the text. The question is not: ‘Lord, will only a few be saved’? Obviously, we then understand this question in a future perspective, of eternal salvation. ‘Will many go to heaven’? But this is not the original meaning of the text. The Greek text of Luke, translated literally, simply says: ‘Are they few who are saved (oi sôzómenoi...)’. The question is in the present tense, not the future.
In Luke's Gospel, ‘to be saved’ always means ‘to be part of Jesus’ community ’. Thus, for example, in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke says that ‘The Lord added to the community every day those who were saved (all sôzoménous )’ (Acts 2:47). The fundamental question is whether salvation is reserved for a small privileged group, in this case the People of Israel, or whether it is open to the many.
As is often the case, Jesus answered something other than what was asked of him. The question was about ‘how many’; his answer was about ‘how’. The overall meaning of Jesus' answer is that with his own passage through death and resurrection, everything is changed. This is symbolically signified by the expression “ When the master of the house has risen and shut the door ”. From now on, Jews and Gentiles are on an equal footing. Being saved (from here on and for eternity) does not depend on belonging to a privileged nation, group or institution. It depends on how you live your life.
Jesus' answer begins with the word “strive”. - Strive to enter through the narrow gate ‘. Unfortunately, the expression ‘strive’ has lost all its force in our everyday language. We say to someone ‘ strive to arrive on time “, ” strive to understand “, ” strive to be kind ’. In general, this does not imply much effort. In fact, the expression used by Luke (agonízesthe) is much stronger. It could be translated: ‘ struggle, do violence to yourself, to force your way through the narrow gate ’. It's a question of doing violence to oneself, as in the other words of Jesus who says that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and only the violent conquer it.
Many, says Jesus, will receive from the Master of the house, that is to say from Himself, the Risen One (when He ‘will have risen’), the answer ‘ I don't know where you come from ’. The reason for this harsh response is explained: ‘ Depart from me, you who practice injustice “ (the Jerusalem Bible and all the best translations translate this as ” you who practice injustice “ and not, as the liturgical lectionary does, ” you who practice evil ’). The essential condition for belonging to the community of Jesus is to practice love and justice towards one's neighbor. Anyone who practices injustice (in the sense understood by all the great prophets of Israel) cuts himself off from the community of believers and therefore cuts himself off from Christ. It's exactly the same message as in Matthew 25: ‘I was hungry and you gave me something to eat... or... I was hungry and you didn't give me anything to eat...’.
The lesson for each of us is clear and can be summed up in a few words. We are privileged people. We have received the gift of faith; we belong to the Church; some of us belong to a monastic community; we are all gathered here in a great liturgical community to celebrate this Eucharist. These are all gifts we have received, all means given to us to live according to the Gospel of Jesus. But none of this guarantees our salvation. The condition for being saved -- that is, for being part of the ‘community of Jesus’ in all truth -- is to ‘ practice justice ’, that is, to conform the whole of our lives to the two commandments, which are one: love of God and love of neighbor.
Armand Veilleux