What We Will Be In the Future? |
(Luke 12:32-48) |
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There
is a novel called "The Man Who Lost Himself." In one scene, the main
character of the story trails a man to Paris. He has been hired to kill
him. He thinks he knows at what hotel the man is staying, but he is not
sure, so he devises a plan to find out, without arousing the suspicions
of others. He decides to go to the hotel desk, give the room clerk his
own name and ask if he is staying there. Then, as the clerk checks
through the register, he will watch over his shoulder to see if the man
who he has been hired to kill is staying there, and his room number. |
When
he goes to the hotel, he gives the room clerk his own name, and to his
utter surprise, the clerk does not look at the register. He simply says,
"Yes, he is staying in room 40. I'll have the bellhop take you to his
room." Well the man is utterly flabbergasted. He has no choice but to
go, so he follows the bellhop to room 40. When he knocks at the door and
it opens, he can hardly believe his eyes. There, standing before him is
a man who is his exact double, except that he is grayer, heavier and
about 20 years older. In fact, he is looking at himself 20 years into
the future, after 20 years of killing. |
The
story is pure science fiction, but it contains an important truth—the
same truth today's gospel talks about. We all will have to give an
account of our lives, the way we have lived, what we have done with the
gifts God gave us. There is a person out there in the future, waiting
for each one of us. This is the person we ourselves will be 5—10—20
years from now. The question today's gospel asks us is this: what kind
of person will we be then? Will we be someone our family and loved
ones, perhaps our children, can be proud of? Do you need to make any
changes?
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When
I think of life changes, I think of St. Matthew, the tax collector. He
was a despicable man. He was a schemer, a cheat, yet Jesus called him.
Talk about a scandal! Then, things got worse in the eyes of the
religious establishment. Matthew throws a dinner party. The guests
turned out to be as bad as Matthew himself—tax collectors and sinners.
Can you imagine what that room looked like with a guest list like that?
A bunch of cutthroats and low-lifes all eating with Jesus. For him,
barriers did not exist between people. In fact, he had a bad habit of
disregarding barriers. He touched an untouchable leper. He healed the
servant of a Gentile and cured a foreign woman's daughter. Then he told a
story about a Good Samaritan to people who hated Samaritans. He left no
doubt about his message. There are no barriers with Christ. No one is
excluded from the love of God, no matter how bad they have been or what
they have done. Mother Teresa once said of the lepers she treated, "We
have drugs for people with diseases like leprosy. But these drugs do not
treat the main problem... the disease of being unwanted and unloved."
And there stands Jesus, who does want us, with our faults and sins, with
all our problems. |
Jesus
came to reveal to each of us the loving, compassionate, forgiving face
of God, the Father. So many people are caught up in false notions of
God. A God of anger, a judge, spying on people, ready to pounce. In all
the world's great religions, people seek God. Christ, however,
introduces into the world an unexpected reversal. Christ reveals a God
who seeks us, a God who loves us far more than we love ourselves. He
reveals the true face of God... the God of love, of truth, a God of
light, a God who did not come to judge and condemn, but to save, to
heal, to bring back and make whole. |
We
might ask God sometimes to help us see our lives as he sees them. Help
us see those areas in our lives that need improving or changing. Help us
take those steps necessary to bring our lives into accord with the life
He had in mind for us when he created us. We are all called to be
saints because in scripture, saint is just another word for Christian.
What is a saint? A sinner that keeps trying and never gives up. |
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