Adapted from a
homily by Fr. Tommy Lane
Isn’t it rather shocking to hear Jesus say, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.”
Of course,
Jesus was talking about the tax collectors and prostitutes who had listened to
his preaching and had had changed their lives.
· Fitting that
description might be Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector.
· Also, One of
the Twelve Apostles, Matthew also called Levi who had been a tax collector.
· And what about
Mary Magdalene?
o
The Scriptures do not explicitly say that she had been a
prostitute but Luke tells us that Jesus expelled seven demons from her so
certainly she had lived what we might describe as “a very bad life” before she
met Jesus.
So, in the
parable that Jesus taught, we can identify the tax collectors and prostitutes as
the first son who at first said no to his father but then thought better and
obeyed his father and worked in the vineyard.
They had lived
a life disobedient to God in the past, but when they heard the preaching of
Jesus they changed.
Like the first
son they said no at first but later said yes.
On the other
hand, the chief priests and elders of the people were like the second son in
Jesus’ parable who said “Yes sir” but did not obey his father.
They heard the
preaching of Jesus and knew the Scriptures but their hearts were closed and
they were not responding to God.
Why were tax
collectors and sinners able to open their hearts and respond to the preaching
of Jesus while the chief priests and elders were not?
Perhaps it is
because the tax collectors and sinners had reached rock bottom and realized
that the lives they were living were empty and meaningless.
In Jesus they
found life as it was meant to be.
Jesus offered
hope to them, hope they never before had.
When they
converted to this new way of life, the words of God to the prophet Ezekiel in
our first reading were fulfilled,
if
a wicked man, turning from the wickedness he has committed, does what is right
and just, he shall preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the
sins which he committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. (Ezek
18:27-28)
If Jesus were
talking to us now, we can imagine that he might say, “The drug addicts, the
alcoholics, the gang members, the adulterers, the liars, the thieves, and the
dishonest are making their way into the kingdom of God before you.”
That would be
rather shocking to hear, but if those just mentioned really allowed Jesus
to touch their hearts, turned toward Him, stopped their
sinning, while we only knew about Jesus, but did not know him
personally in our heart, that would make a lot of sense.
Those who
lived dark lives in the past and have undergone conversion experiences may be
living life at a much deeper level than many of us here today.
Having
experienced the depths of misery and the meaningless of their former life they
have probably probed very deeply into the meaning of life and found that only
in friendship with God does life have value.
Likewise, many
of those who enter the Catholic Church later in life know the faith at a much
deeper level than a lot of us “Cradle Catholics” because they were searching
for answers in their own church denomination, or in life itself, and did not
find the answers, but found the complete answer in the Catholic Church.
I find it fascinating to hear the stories of those who allowed
Jesus to touch their hearts and then their whole lives changed.
One example is
John Pridmore, now a catholic evangelist, who shared the story of his dark past
and his conversion in his book From Gangland to Promised Land.
He described the
moment of his conversion like this:
“I
sat alone and found myself thinking how my life was completely messed up.
I
felt very depressed and empty…
Then
I heard what I can only describe as a voice.
It
was telling me the worst things I had ever done…
It
was the voice of God, my conscience.
The
breath was going out of me.
It
was as if I was dying, and an incredible fear gripped me.
I’m going to hell, I thought.
I
fell to my knees, and tears began to well up in my eyes. ‘Give me another
chance!’ I cried.
Suddenly,
I felt as if someone’s hands were on my shoulders and I was being lifted up.
An
incredible warmth overpowered me and the fear immediately evaporated.
At
that moment I knew — really knew, not just believed — that God was real.
…Then
I did something I had never done before: I prayed:
‘God, up to now, all I’ve done is take from you and now I want to
give.’
Then,
What I can only describe as an awesome feeling of love consumed me.…
I
knew for the first time in my life that I was loved by God.
Up
until then, I had always thought I was worthless and it didn’t matter whether I
lived or died.”
(From Gangland to Promised Land 84-85)
Later in his
book and looking back on his life he wrote:
Looking
back across my life — a journey, you might say, from gangland to promised land
— I’ve come to understand that we just need to ask Jesus to reveal himself in
our hearts and let us know that he’s real and that he loves us.
I
did, and He replied.
To
anyone who is skeptical about this, I would simply say, “just do it.”
If
someone had said this to me when I was involved in all that criminal activity,
I would probably have laughed and told them they were living in
cloud-cuckoo-land.
Now
I know that Jesus is real, not through reading books or studying theology, but
from personal experience.
(From Gangland to Promised Land 174)
John Pridmore
was like the first son in Jesus’ parable; in his early life he said no to work
in the vineyard, but then underwent a conversion, came to know Jesus, and said
yes to work in the vineyard.
Pridmore further
wrote:
When
I was with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in the South Bronx, Father
Bernard told me about the time he went to work with some poor people in a
village in the mountains of northern America.
He
was deeply impressed by one old man who, despite having no running water, no
electricity and little food, was so joyful.
‘How
come you’re so happy when you have so little?’ asked Father Bernard.
‘Because
I know Jesus,’ replied the old man.
‘But
I know Jesus as well.’
‘No.
You might know about Jesus in your head, but not in your heart.’
(From
Gangland to Promised Land 175)
So, what is
the message for all of us here today?
Well, maybe it
starts with a question?
The question
is:
Do I know
Jesus, do I truly know Him, or do I only know about Him?
If those who
were drug addicts, alcoholics, gang members, and even prostitutes, have turned
away from sin and now know Jesus personally and intimately, and if we only know
about Him and have not stopped our sinning, then surely Jesus can say they are
making their way into the kingdom of God before us.
Let us ask
ourselves that very important and revealing question once again:
Do I only know
about Jesus, or do I truly know Him personally and in my heart?
Have I met Him?
Do I often
spend time with Him?
If not, tell Him
that you want to meet Him, to get to know Him, to feel His presence in your
life.
And then carefully
listen for Him in the quiet of your heart, in your conscience, and in those
special daily encounters with other people, but most importantly…..
Humbly, open
your heart and allow Him to live within you.
It is never
too late to become… like… the first son.
Amen
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