Today’s Reading, from Luke 12: 22-30, brings up serious questions. Is God clearly telling us to become Catholics quickly, while we still have time? Is Jesus saying that those in schism are “evildoers”? Is Jesus saying that if we don’t become Catholics, we won’t get into Heaven? We must read, think, and do what is best for our own immortal soul.
Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
Every person in every age wants to know about his or her own chances of getting into Heaven. His answer appears to tell all who ask about getting into Heaven to become Roman Catholics:
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.
Those blessed with wisdom understand that the “narrow gate” is the entrance to the sheepfold. He does not say “sheepfold” but tells us there is one sheepfold. The “sheepfold” symbolizes The Catholic Church. That is the one Church put on earth by the Good Shepherd’s very clear instructions to one man, the first Pope: “Thou art Peter, and on this rock, I build My Church.” Jesus is very clear. No human has the strength to get into Heaven without going through the sheepfold’s narrow gate. What happens to those who are vain enough to think they can get into Heaven on their own? They are left outside. Forever:
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply,
‘I do not know where you are from.
And you will say,
‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
Then he will say to you,
‘I do not know where you are from.
Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
If we do not take advantage of our time on earth to become Catholics, we will miss our chance. Those who are blessed with understanding the message He provides in this passage must escape into safety. They must cleanse themselves by repentance and Confession and enter through the narrow door into the sheepfold, His one, true Catholic Church. If they refuse, they will not be allowed in Heaven.
Worse, those who thought they knew Him, eating and drinking in His company and being passingly familiar with His teachings, will be classified among the “evildoers” if they stay outside the sheepfold. Why are those in schism automatically classified as “evildoers”? The schisms allowed great evils to come to earth. The schisms divided all those people who were Pro-Life into competing groups. The schisms allowed abortion to begin and spread throughout the nations. Is Jesus saying that those in schism are “evildoers”? The answer seems to be “Yes.”:
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God
and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.
For behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last.”
In every time and place, people will hear the message in this Reading. Some will see that God, Himself, in the Person of He Who fulfilled the prophets’ hundreds of predictions in every specific way has said to them with a clarity unknown to the lost, “Become a Catholic or you will not be allowed in Heaven.” The saved are blessed with the wisdom to become Catholic. They leave the schisms that allowed child sacrifice to return and remain.
The saved will heed and obey His “least commandments”. They join His Church gladly and gratefully. They will understand that the schisms allowed abortion to begin and spread throughout the nations. They will understand that’s why He calls those who remain in schisms “evildoers”. They will leave all that behind and know eternal joy.
