There were many in Israel at the time of Jesus who thought that salvation was based on external factors, like race and ritual. In fact, many believed that only the Jewish people could live with God forever. Some even believed that you not only had to be Jewish, but you also had to follow the smallest details of the Law as well as all the rituals associated with the Law.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus addresses the question about who will be saved in order to correct those wrong ideas. He tells us that in God’s Kingdom there will be people from all parts of the earth—just as Isaiah prophesied in our First Reading. So race has nothing to do with it. He also explains that many who ate and drank with him while he lived among us will be excluded. So if race and ritual aren’t the keys to salvation, what is? It’s the heart!
Salvation doesn’t depend primarily on external appearances, but on friendship with Christ, and that’s rooted in our hearts. The people in his parable who were excluded from the heavenly banquet complained that the Lord had actually taught in their streets. But the Lord answers by telling them, “I do not know where you are from.” In other words, they are strangers to him. Maybe they did let him into their streets, but they never let him into their hearts!
Heart to Heart
St Margaret Mary Alacoque was a French nun who lived in the 1600s and was privileged by God with a series of visions in which Jesus appeared to her and revealed his Sacred Heart. He explained that his love for sinners was so great that whenever they ignored his love, or just didn’t accept it, he felt pain in his heart.
The Sacred Heart devotion has its beginnings in those apparitions. During one of them, St Mary asked our Lord a curious question. She asked him to tell her who among his followers in the world at that moment was giving his heart the greatest joy. His answer was even more curious than the question. He didn’t mention any of the famous preachers, or bishops, or even the pope. He didn’t mention any of the great intellectuals or aristocrats or missionaries. He didn’t even mention someone who later went on to be canonized. Instead, he told her that the person giving his heart the most joy was a little known novice instructor in a small convent in the European countryside, someone who was instructing novices how to become good followers of Christ.
What matters to Jesus is not drama and fireworks and great achievements; what matters is the humility and love that he finds in our hearts. As Mother Teresa tells us: “Often it is difficult to do one great thing. But you can always do many small things with great love.” Following Jesus is simply a matter of his heart reaching out to us and hoping for a warm welcome.
Jesus looks into our hearts
Jesus looks beyond appearances and into our hearts. This has twopractical applications:
First, it teaches us never to judge others byappearances. Often those who seem great or holy on the outside are actually filled with selfish-ness and arrogance on the inside; and those who seem petty and despicable on the outside are actually filled with humility and wisdom. That’s why we should follow the Lord’s example and give everyone the benefit of the doubt.
Second, since Jesus looks into our hearts, we should take care of our hearts. That means encouraging good desires and starving bad ones. Desires pop up inside of us without being invited. We should dwell on the ones that go together well with our friendship with Jesus. We should turn away from the ones that are self-centered, since they will interfere with our friendship with Jesus. Today Jesus renews this friendship by giving us his own Sacred Heart in Holy Communion. Let’s give him ours too!