Twenty-first Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C
Reflecting on Luke 13:22-30
It turns out that the question of who gets into heaven and who doesn’t gets settled on the bus. Well, not just any bus. It’s that primordial bus that C.S. Lewis creates for us in his masterpiece, The Great Divorce. There we see ourselves as the fearful, suspicious, whiny, gossipy passengers who have boarded the bus between heaven and hell. And guess what? We can’t get into heaven because we won’t get off the bus.
And why should we? We can see from our stuffy, boarded-up windows that SHE made it in, and we CERTAINLY aren’t interested in getting out if they let HER in, for heaven’s sake. We’ll just sit right here, thank you just the same.
The grass in heaven is so strong it’s like walking on sharp knives when you’ve been such a cheat and such a fake your whole life that you’ve never built up any real integrity to give you strength. And who can stand up to the rain in heaven? It’s like getting hit with bullets when you’ve spent your whole life dodging responsibilities, or the outstretched hands of those who are poor.
But watch! There are angels to help us step off the bus and take those first courageous steps towards humility, and forgiveness, and healing from addictions, and reunions with family members we’ve cheated or ignored or abused. All it takes is the grace to give God permission to make us fit for heaven.
Lord, will only a few be saved? Perhaps the better question is Lord, will only a few WANT to be saved? Because heaven isn’t for sissies. But heaven IS for those grateful souls who, in fear and trembling, take God’s hand and step off the bus.
Sharing God’s Word at Home
What are you working on changing so that you’ll be comfortable in heaven?
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I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).