Ordinary Time 26 - October 1, 2017

Homily for Ordinary Time 26

October 1, 2017

Welcome, But Call to Repentance

            I was alarmed when the headline read, “Progressive Criticizes Jesus for Not Being Christlike.” The article spoke about a millennial who wrote a blog post about how Jesus didn’t act nearly as Christian as she had hoped, since He spoke a lot about a pesky thing called sin, which, as she pointed out, just isn’t very welcoming or inclusive.

            Luckily that headline came from a satire news website called the Babylon Bee (a very funny site which I frequently read!). But behind every bit of satire and irony is a great deal of truth. And the truth is, some people would like to remake Jesus in their own image.

            In a particular way, as Americans we’d like to think that Jesus welcomed people just the way they are. We love to talk about the value of inclusiveness and acceptance, and how God loves us unconditionally. And all this is true, to a point. God does love us no matter what we do – we never need to earn His love, and we can never lose it. Jesus is indeed a Good Shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to welcome the one lost sheep who was an outcast. He came to touch the leper, welcome the foreigner, and reach out to those on the margins.

            But His welcome is only half of the story. As Adrian Rogers said, “God loves us just the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way.” He doesn’t just touch the leper, He heals him. He doesn’t just find the lost sheep – He brings the lost sheep back into the flock. He doesn’t just welcome sinners – He calls sinners to repentance, and gives them the grace to be holy.

Doesn’t He talk about the goodness of tax collectors and prostitutes in today’s Gospel? No, actually He doesn’t. He praises them because they listened to John the Baptist, and put into practice his teachings. And what did John the Baptist come to preach? Repent. Turn from sin. Yes, these people started off as sinners, but once they received the grace of repentance, they became saints. The tax collectors gave up their greed; the prostitutes gave up their lust – unlike the Pharisees, who are ostensibly religious people but who are still living a life of sin.

So we need to be careful when we speak about Jesus being welcoming. Yes, He welcomes all, and He loves us always. But His love wants us to become better than we are, to live a more abundant life in Him. He is constantly calling you and me to repentance. The first words that are recorded of Jesus in the Gospel are, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Repent!

St. Francis of Assisi called this “constant conversion” – every day seeking to turn our lives more over to Jesus, to become more like Him through intimate communion with Him. Sin blocks that intimate communion. It’s like our heart and blood vessels. The heart is constantly trying to pump blood into our body, but if our arteries are clogged, it won’t work well. Jesus is constantly trying to pump His divine life into us, but sometimes our spiritual connection with Him is clogged by sin which prevents us from living with His life in us. We must clean out the sin through repentance before we can fully receive the gift of a life transformed by Christ.

That’s why I love the stories of saints who started off as serious sinners. They show us that with repentance from sin, God’s grace can make us great saints. (Story of St. Mary of Egypt).

So, I leave you with a challenge. What is one sin that God is asking you to repent of? Maybe it will take a while to fully root it out of your life, but identifying it and asking for His strength is a major first step. This week, think about what God wants you to repent of, and make a resolution to repent so that His divine life may flow into you more fully and make you holy.