Visitation of Our Lady

This weekend we begin a new liturgical year, as we are celebrating the First Sunday of Advent. To me, Advent is probably the most misunderstood of the liturgical seasons. We kinda don’t understand it, and so we don’t celebrate it well. But the better we understand Advent, the better we spiritually enter into the season, and we have a better Christmas.

How many people do you suppose actually make it to heaven? A few? About half? Quite a few? Most? Well, if you know the answer, give me a call. I’d like to know the answer as well. Because, truth be known, I don’t know. But, I do have an educated guess which, later in the article, I’ll share with you. Jesus was asked the question. And, he punted. Rather than answering the question directly, Jesus did what he so frequently did. Jesus said in effect, “Look, I’m not going to give you a percentage of people who get to heaven but I’m going to tell you HOW to get there.” Jesus then went on to say, “Go through the narrow gate.” And, of course, that’s a head scratcher. What does going through the narrow gate mean? Well, I think it means we’ll get to heaven if we live the way Jesus did. If we live a life of sacrificial love. If we put others first and ourselves last.

Perhaps you know someone who says being Christian is easy. If you do, please introduce me. I do not know a single person who says being Christ-like is easy. And, because I am a priest and study Jesus’ life, I believe I can include Jesus himself in the group that says being Christ-like is hard, incredibly hard. Jesus’ agony in the garden was excruciating. His best friends slept while he individually contemplated the zillions of times we rejected him by sinning. That contemplation was so hard, Jesus sweat blood. Later, those same friends would abandon him. Peter, the future head of his Church, would three times deny he knew Jesus, even though, in the Transfiguration, Jesus had shown himself to Peter as God. And Jesus’ crucifixion? Get real! It was hours of mind bending, horrific pain.

As we get into the full swing of a new year, let’s add a belated resolution to our lists. Let’s resolve to be more faith-filled during 2018. I will offer an insight in this article about how to do that. I hear over and over and over, “Father, I just don’t feel my faith any longer. I know I’m supposed to have a strong faith, but I just don’t feel it.” Usually, I say, “So what!” I’m not trying to be demeaning. I’m trying to be provocative, to begin a conversation I hope will help the person understand that faith has far less to do with feelings than it does with actions. Good feelings are great; but, when it comes to faith, they are unnecessary. Only actions, based on the teachings of Jesus, are essential. I’ll try as I usually do to make my point with a story, a modern parable. It’s an oldie but it’s also definitely a goodie. I have added a couple of new twists at the end.