No, not Everyone Will Get To Heaven… will you?

Homily

Saturday, August 25, and Sunday, August 26, 2007, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, C

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, Emmett; Sacred Heart Parish, Yale

             Many people say to me, “Father, I think everyone is going to heaven.” Well, I hope someone informs God of that, for Jesus, who is God, seems to have taken the opposite point of view. Others say, “Father, I don’t think God will send anyone to hell,” as if eternal damnation is God’s fault and not the sinner’s fault.

And so we wonder, how many will get to heaven? Our question is that of those in Luke 13 today, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” And to this question, Jesus gives an answer. He says neither, “No, on the contrary everyone will be saved.” Nor does he say, “No, on the contrary, many will be saved.” He gives the answer we are least eager to hear – and this is Jesus’ teaching, not my own private opinion on the matter –  “Many will try to enter by the narrow gate, but will not be strong enough” (cf. Lk 13:24), Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.” Or again, Jesus says, “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Mt. 7:13-14). Can you hear Jesus’ word without hearing it? Can you hear God’s word and reject it?

Jesus then gives this startling parable about the end, where he says that some claimed to eat and drink with Jesus, as many do by Holy Communion, and they claimed to teach, yet to them Jesus answers, “I did not know you.” These are those Catholics who say they are good Catholics, but they skip Mass on Sunday, which is of course a mortal sin. Or they view pornography or use contraception, still claiming to be “good Catholics.” Or they submit to drunkenness and blasphemy, or they gossip and slander others – even their own priests – and angrily demand to be recognized as good Catholics. To these who claim to serve both sin and God, God will say to them at their last judgment, “I do not know you.”

I have been told, “But Father, God is all merciful, and forgives all sins.” That hypothesis, of course, has never been a part of sacred scripture or sacred tradition. God forgives the humble, the repentant, the obedient; he does not forgive the hard of heart. That is why Jesus said to the Pharisees, after curing the man born blind, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains” (Jn 9:41). See: their guilt remains, so Jesus does not forgive the hard of heart.

But God is merciful, even to the hard of heart, for in hell, the unrepentant sinner, the demons and the enemies of God are punished far less than they deserve[1] for in all God’s works there is both justice and mercy.

Those who side with Jesus, affirming that in fact the smaller number part of all are those who are saved, include the greatest minds in the history of the world, many saints and fathers of the Church, including St. Basil, St. John Chrysostom, Pope St. Gregory Nzianzen, St. Hilary, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, Pope St. Leo the Great, St. Bernard, St. Thomas Aquinas, Molina, St. Robert Bellermine, Suarez, Vasquez, Lessius and St. Alphonsus de Ligouri.[2] The exact number is known only to God, and in this life we cannot come to any certitude. Some have referred to the book of Revelation saying that there are only 144,000 who will be saved, ignoring the fact that after that number St. John saw a huge multitude “of all nations and tribes and people and tongues, standing before the throne and in the sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands.”[3]

And so given this information, what are we to think, to do? In view of the teaching of Jesus, who is God, and who says very clearly that not everybody, indeed, the smaller number will be saved, what decisions shall each make? Are you willing to do what it takes to be part of that smaller number? Are you willing to renounce sin and live the faith of the Catholic Church? The answer to that question can be given by no one except by yourself.

Jesus has revealed to us, who were lost by the sin of Adam, how to get to heaven. and so we need to listen to him, and do what he says. It is completely illogical to hold the position that I, or any human being, will dictate to God the conditions under which I, a sinner, will enter an eternal reward which I totally do not deserve. God gives heaven as a gift, and it is there for all who are willing to embrace it. But to embrace this gift means I need to be humble. To embrace this gift means I have to stop thinking like the world and start thinking like Christ whose Body is the Church, and in this Body his Spirit dwells. To embrace this gift means I have to live a faithful sacramental life, and renounce all my sins. To embrace this gift means I have to love God and neighbor. And there are very few indeed who are willing to go that far in their following of Jesus the Lord.

And so the contract is drafted, the covenant is set: Jesus has died for us on the cross, but that is still not enough for one to get to heaven. You have to freely collaborate with the graces God offers you through the Holy Catholic Church. Let us encourage one another to keep our side of the covenantal contract, for the important and existential question for each one of us is not whether the majority or minority are saved, but rather, whether I will be saved. You can, it’s there for the getting, so life up your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees[4], for if you sincerely try, you will succeed. Jesus has revealed to you how: take it or leave it. And count on my prayers and endless sacrifices for you, that you make the right decision. Amen.