“Turned to God from Idols” by Rev. Paul Berghout (@Father PB)
Piety
You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake. In
every place, your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say
anything. For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we
had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and
true God and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus,
who delivers us from the coming wrath. (1 Thessalonians 1:5C, 8B-10)
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before
men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to
enter. Matthew 23:13
Study
The theme for the Twenty-First Week of Ordinary Time starts with
Jesus' caution about the difficulty of the Christian life. He explains that many will be unable to
"enter through the narrow gate." Jesus indicates it is those we do
not expect who will be the first in the Kingdom: "Some are last who will
be first, and some are first who will be last." Today, that lesson extends
to the Pharisees who make it difficult for others to enter Heaven.
The first readings this week are from Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians, the oldest book in the New Testament. The letters are reminders of how hard the narrow gate is to pass. We hear about the humiliation and challenges that Paul met in preaching to this community he loved so much.
"The Screwtape Letters" is a classic book, where C.S. Lewis came up with the idea of a senior demon named Screwtape telling his trade secrets about how to corrupt a human soul. Regarding the narrow gate mentioned in our Sunday Gospel, Screwtape would say several things.
First, a broad, constructed road, requires a significant capital investment. Such a way leads either to the king's palace or somewhere very useful. People frequently travel there safely frequented because the Kingdom properly polices broad roads. The broad road is wide enough for you to do what you want or what everybody else is doing. It stands opposite the "narrow road," which is a precipitous path likely to lead through robbers' territory.
The context from our Gospel, however, shows that Jesus advises his church not to follow the majority. Narrow is the way that leads to salvation. Many are the opportunities to fall into mortal sin and forfeit your salvation in Christ unless you urgently repent. After baptism, being saved means laying down the human burden of our sinfulness in repentance and confession, so we fit through the narrow door of salvation.
Second, a demon would also assert that the toll system of the broad road is entirely rational. Markets and inns need policing, caravans and individual merchants, traders, and countryfolk with produce to sell need protection. The inhabitants pay for the upkeep of their wall and broad gate. There are toll-collectors and spies, keeping a sharp watch.
Back then, the broad road was toll-free. People wore clothing worn puffed up with many layers of garments (the heat did not trouble them too much). Travelers paid the toll on slaves as well as cattle. Slaves back then were often prisoners of war or debt. If the slave owner declared at the toll-house, 'He is my son,' the rabbis debated whether, when he tried to sell him as a slave inside, he was estopped from denying his free status.' One was undoubtedly entitled to deceive toll-collectors even on oath. They were, after all, oppressors.
The Gospel truth is that just as many people would do everything reasonable to find an entry to a city which would diminish their financial loss. The children of the light must strive to find that entry to the Kingdom of Heaven, which will admit them to 'life' while it disencumbers them of attachment to their belongings. The entry into Heaven also strips them of their abundances. Finally, it reminds them that the Lord will judge them on the corporal works of mercy; that is, on how they fed and clothed the alien and stranger who is Jesus in disguise.
Third, a demon also wants you to deceive yourself so that you only see the broad road. For St. Augustine, self-deception results from sinful behavior. For him, "the proper exercise of one's intellectual capacities depends in part on one's moral behavior and its resulting dispositions." In short, moral virtue is necessary for intellectual excellence. Sinful actions, on the other hand, not only destroy moral virtue but also undermine one's ability to understand oneself, God, and the nature of goodness.
St. Augustine believed that our sinful choices would form habits of making decisions based on a distorted view of goodness. Self-deception often leads to a false assurance of salvation.
James 1 also warns against the danger of self-deception. For example, verse 22 states, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."
James is referring to deceiving oneself about your salvation. He is explaining what verse 21 means by receiving the word: it means not merely to hear the word but to do it. James later mentions in 2:19 that even demons, which are not saved, possess orthodox belief.
Action
As Gregg Ten Elshof puts it, “Self-deception occurs whenever we
manage our own beliefs without an eye on making progress toward the truth. It
is most likely to happen when we have secure emotional attachments to a belief
on some topic.
In conclusion, ancient cities were surrounded by a wall with gates, opened by day but closed at night or during a time of danger.
When authorities close the broad gates, entrance is possible only through the narrow gate (a small gate built into the large gate where only citizens can enter). The herald sounds the alarm. “Hurry!” cries Jesus to the lost sheep before the storm breaks loose. Don’t delay! The time is at hand!”
An ancient city kept a register of its citizens, and Scripture teaches us that in heaven there the Book of Life—the list of those who had title to eternal life. Revelation 20:15 declares, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” The Book of Life is also mentioned in Revelation 3:5; 20:12; and Philippians 4:3.
How do you keep yourself from erasing your name from the Book of Life? After you receive Christian baptism, stay in the state of grace by repenting and confessing every mortal sin, and do what God wills for you.
