TOPIC:
HEAVEN IS OUR HOME
21C
Sunday Homily Luke 13:22-30, August 21, 2022
1) STORY
A widowed mother loved her four children very much. She wanted them to be holy, healthy and happy. She decided that the best way she could achieve this goal was to attend daily Mass for them. This required great effort on her part. Not only did she have heart trouble but she also had to walk up and down 300 steps to get to the church and return home each day. After several years of attending daily Mass for her children, her doctor was amazed that her heart condition had improved. He asked her what she had done over the past years resulting in her improved condition. She told him about having to walk daily up and down 300 stairs on her way to church and back. He now knew that this daily exercise was the cause of her improved health. In helping her children, she helped herself. This story shows us that this mother had a clear goal and a method, hard work, to achieve her goal.
2) GOSPEL, Luke 13:22-30
A)
WHO WILL BE SAVED?
This
question asked of Jesus reminds us that there is eternal life after death. Life is like a journey and our final goal is
heaven. This is the meaning of being
saved. Are we clear about this goal? Do we wish to achieve this goal of being
saved?
B) ENTER BY THE NARROW DOOR
Jesus
tells us that to get into heaven we must enter by the narrow door. This means we must make a great effort in our
lives to reach heaven. There is no room
for laziness or indifference.
3)
APPLICATION TO LIFE
A)
MY GOAL IN LIFE
We
must be clear about our goal in life. We
must resist other goals such as money, pleasure, fame and power.
B)
ENTER BY THE NARROW GATE
We
must take every effort to do the following three things.
i)
Love God by daily prayer; attend Sunday Mass and periodic confession.
ii)
Love our neighbor by kind words and generous, helpful actions.
iii)
Love oneself by eating properly, exercising and getting enough rest.
4) CONCLUSION
Our goal is heaven. Just as the mother in the story had a clear goal and hard work was her method to attain that goal, so we must make every effort to achieve our goal of getting to heaven by following the example of Jesus who loved God and neighbor.
