I don’t know if you were shocked by today’s Gospel, but I know I was. Tax collectors and prostitutes will enter heaven ahead of the chief priests and elders of the day. I know sometimes when I read the Bible, I sort of read it without dirt, for example imagining the prostitute would be a nice woman who did charitable works and was just mistaken. No, I don’t think that is what Jesus was talking about. He was talking about a woman or man who sells their body to make a living. Mostly likely these people also had an alcohol addiction, most likely were dirty, most likely abused as a child and he was talking about tax collectors who make their money by stealing and ripping people off. Have you ever meet a prostitute? I have. I was out walking one night and was actually solicited by one. I guessed she was slightly older than me. I know she was a drug addict and, yet, she will be going ahead of me, the religious people of the time. We like to demonize the Pharisees and the elders and priests of the day, but knowing people and that they don’t really change that much, they were probably a lot like the religious people of our day. We are good people, right? We are all going to heaven so how is that tramp who makes her living selling her body going to beat me to heaven, me, the sanctimonious priest?
I am guessing this is how it works: the prostitute knows that no matter how good of a prostitute she is, that will not get her to heaven. The tax collector knows that even if he is really good at stealing money, that will not save him. They need Christ to save them and when He came they joyfully followed Him. The religious people of the day thought they themselves were pretty good. They thought they had it made. They followed the laws, went to church and even gave large amounts of money. They were convinced that was enough, that they were holy and righteous by themselves and this is why they, and possibly us, will lose because we are in just as much need of repentance. We need Jesus to save us just as desperately as the prostitute.
Reflecting on this further, it occurs to me how much more damaging encountering a priest can do to one’s soul than a prostitute may. When one visits a prostitute, it can lead to repentance. We can see then see how far off track we have got and acknowledge our need for a saviour. As a priest though, if I am not willing to challenge my parishioners to grow in holiness, if I simply allow them to be “good” people then someone could listen to me preach for years and never repent. The truth that I could damage so many souls in fact frightens me.
In today’s readings, we have the theme of repentance. This is a very important and essential theme in our faith. To repent means to turn around. Turn around and follow God more specifically. Is this what is really happening in our lives as Christians? Are we following Christ? Are we listening to Him, letting Him change our lives, or are we merely existing in the Church?
I have been spending a bit of time recently with Leona. Maybe you know who she is, she is from our parish. She is in a hospital bed and every time I see her, she is very happy to receive Jesus. She tells me about her conversations that she has with Jesus. Recently she told me that while praying her rosary, the last decade to be exact in which she prayers for souls in purgatory, she had a vision of souls going by her up to heaven. Leona is not simply existing in the Church. In her hospital bed, she is living out her faith, getting instruction from Jesus. Not only that, she invites the workers to Church as she talks to them. Here is this little lady and she is one of the greatest workers I have met in my time as a priest. Leona also told me about her greatest sorrow, that one time she walked away from the Church and she is horrified at the example she may have set for her children. But she was like the first worker who said, “No,” and came back. Leona is a good example of repentance and following. She listens to God and has a deep friendship with Him, all from her little hospital bed.
I personally like to be challenged, well sometimes anyway. So, I would like to ask you as well: are you getting instruction from God and are you following Him? Do we set aside time to hear Him and accept the challenges He brings to us? Talking about being faithful and existing in the Church are not going to be enough, they are like rowing with one oar. We are called to follow where He is leading. That means we are daily asking for grace, we are setting time aside to listen and asking for the strength to follow where we are called.
You may wonder, “How can I hear God? How do I know it is God?” These are good questions to ask and important questions to ask because you cannot follow if you can’t hear the directions, but you also can’t hear if you have decided God must work under your direction, such as, “Lord, I will follow but here is how it is going to work.” I admit, it takes humility and trust to follow God, two things we won’t have if we don’t ask for them. Do you actually want to hear God’s voice? Are we scared of what He will tell us or where He will ask us to go? If we think like that, we are probably listening to the devil’s side too much, where he suggests that God will ruin your life when you give it to Him, you will lose your freedom and your worst fears will come true. It is an age old temptation starting from Adam and Eve until now, can you trust God’s plan for you? If you struggle with it, as most of us do, we can and should pray to trust Him. I admit that sometimes when I have said to God, “I trust you,” I have cringed and waited for the hammer to drop but it hasn’t happened so far. I laugh at myself because, of all people, I should trust God. He has never broken a promise, not a single one. I trust others who have broken many and failed. I was on a ski lift one day and talking about faith. The lady said it is hard to have faith. I said, “You have faith in the people who built this ski lift and they break.” We really live by faith as humans, yet the one thing that doesn’t fail, we do not trust. In talking to God, we need faith and trust. First step is that we must pray for faith and trust. Secondly, we must be humble and know that we don’t even know what is best for us and but we can trust a God who loves us and even died in our place.
Finally, we have to be ready to repent and follow. This is hard because often we think we are pretty good and don’t need any transformation, but God always calls us to deeper conversion. God is calling us to listen to Him. When is the last time you heard Him call you deeper? When was the last time God told you His plan for you? When was the last time you repented and ask for the grace to follow Him whole heartedly?