August 24, 2025 Homily: Fr Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:05After a long illness, a woman dies and
2. 0:09went to heaven.
3. 0:12She was waiting at the gates
4. 0:15when St. Peter came walking by.
5. 0:20Curious, she asked him, "St. Peter,
6. 0:25what do I have to do to get into heaven?
7. 0:28looks so nice.
8. 0:31St. Peter smiled and said, "My dear,
9. 0:33it's very simple.
10. 0:36You just have to spell one word."
11. 0:41She said, "One word?
12. 0:44What word is that?"
13. 0:46He replied, "You need to spell the word
14. 0:49love."
15. 0:52She carefully spelled out the word L
16. 0:56O
17. 0:57V E and St. Peter welcomed her into
18. 1:02heaven. Very good. You spelled it
19. 1:04correctly.
20. 1:06So about a year later, St. Peter asked
21. 1:09the woman to cover the gate for him that
22. 1:11day. You're in charge.
23. 1:15While she was standing there watch,
24. 1:18all of a sudden her husband appeared.
25. 1:22Surprised, she said, "What are you doing
26. 1:25here?"
27. 1:27Her husband answered, "Well,
28. 1:31after you passed away, things went
29. 1:33pretty well for me. I married that
30. 1:36wonderful nurse that was caring for you.
31. 1:40I hit the lottery.
32. 1:43I bought a beautiful house and we've
33. 1:45been traveling the world. And just today
34. 1:48I was out water skiing, took a bad fall,
35. 1:51hit my head, and here I am.
36. 1:54So tell me, how do you get into this
37. 1:56very nice place?
38. 1:59She says to him, "Oh, it's very easy.
39. 2:03You just have to spell one word." And he
40. 2:06said, "Oh, one word? Yes. What is that
41. 2:08word?" And she replied, "Wishachure.
42. 2:20I don't usually tell jokes during a
43. 2:22homaly. It's not my thing. Some guys are
44. 2:25able to do it and it works well for
45. 2:27them. But
46. 2:29it is a funny story, but it makes the
47. 2:32point I make a very serious point.
48. 2:36Getting into heaven is not always easy
49. 2:38or as we may sometimes imagine.
50. 2:42That's the very question that was raised
51. 2:44in today's gospel when someone asked
52. 2:46Jesus,"Lord,
53. 2:48will only a few people be saved."
54. 2:51But I want you to notice something very
55. 2:53important.
56. 2:55Jesus doesn't give a number or a
57. 2:58percentage or a statistic.
58. 3:01He doesn't say, "Well, most will be
59. 3:03saved or only a few will be saved." What
60. 3:06does he say? He shifts the focus
61. 3:08entirely and tells us strive to enter
62. 3:12through the narrow gate.
63. 3:15In other words, the real question is not
64. 3:17how many will be saved, but the real
65. 3:20question is am I striving?
66. 3:24Am I walking the path of holiness that
67. 3:26leads to eternal life?
68. 3:29This question has echoed through all of
69. 3:32the centuries.
70. 3:34People have been preoccupied with this
71. 3:36question.
72. 3:38St. Augustine, our patron saint that we
73. 3:40will celebrate on Friday, wrestled
74. 3:43deeply with this mystery of salvation.
75. 3:46He insisted that salvation is only
76. 3:48possible through God's grace.
77. 3:51But he also preached that God desired
78. 3:54that all people be saved. And if you
79. 3:56listen carefully to that reading, the
80. 3:59first reading from Isaiah, it's all
81. 4:01there. God's plan.
82. 4:05And then St. John Chrysum, one of the
83. 4:07greatest preachers of the early church,
84. 4:10warned his congregation not to presume
85. 4:12that baptism or ba or church attendance
86. 4:16alone guaranteed salvation.
87. 4:20And in the Middle Ages, pilgrims would
88. 4:22walk long, very hard, narrow, and often
89. 4:26dangerous roads to reach holy shrines.
90. 4:30It's a physical reminder to them that
91. 4:32the way to heaven is uphill. It's very
92. 4:36demanding and it's costly
93. 4:39but worth every step.
94. 4:43The truth is at every age Christians
95. 4:45fall into opposite camps
96. 4:50and I would say possibly two errors.
97. 4:54In my grandparents' generation, the
98. 4:56emphasis was always on
99. 4:59was often on how serious is the sin and
100. 5:02you must avoid it at all costs
101. 5:06because if you didn't, there was a
102. 5:07serious
103. 5:10very serious danger of losing heaven.
104. 5:15And this is true. But sometimes this
105. 5:16bred an image of God being this harsh
106. 5:19judge that was waiting to to trample on
107. 5:22you.
108. 5:24In our time the pendulum has swung the
109. 5:27other way. We emphasize God's love and
110. 5:29mercy which is also true. But often we
111. 5:33assume that salvation is automatic.
112. 5:36That sin is no big deal. You don't
113. 5:39really need to go to confession. You can
114. 5:40do it in your bedroom or in front of
115. 5:42your mirror in your bathroom.
116. 5:45and then at the end it all works itself
117. 5:48out and that everyone gets into heaven.
118. 5:51Well, the Catholic truth is always both.
119. 5:55God is love and mercy and desires that
120. 5:58all people be saved, but the way what
121. 6:01matters is our response.
122. 6:05Salvation is a gift, but it is a gift
123. 6:08that must be received, lived, and
124. 6:10guarded with perseverance.
125. 6:12And here's a point we must not miss
126. 6:14today.
127. 6:16Jesus warns that some will stay at the
128. 6:18door. And you heard him in the gospel.
129. 6:20We ate and drank in your company. Don't
130. 6:22you remember me, Jesus?
131. 6:25And he says, I don't know you.
132. 6:29The issue is not proximity to holy
133. 6:31things, but a real relationship with
134. 6:34Christ.
135. 6:35A life conformed to him. A life that is
136. 6:38completely changed and that follows him.
137. 6:44We have to ask ourselves, am I a
138. 6:46Christian just by name or by a label or
139. 6:49by the truth that guides my life?
140. 6:54Being a Christian is not a name tag.
141. 6:56It's letting Christ know us through a
142. 6:58daily friendship. A daily friendship
143. 7:01that is expressed in prayer and penance
144. 7:04and charity and justice and mercy.
145. 7:08That narrow door that Jesus talks about
146. 7:12is himself. Christ himself passing
147. 7:15through means welcoming him and his word
148. 7:18so that he can reshape our lives.
149. 7:22In other words, it's possible to be
150. 7:24sacramentally near but so spiritually
151. 7:28far.
152. 7:29Present at the banquet yet unchanged by
153. 7:32the host.
154. 7:34Today the Lord asks for more than
155. 7:36attendance.
156. 7:38He's asking for your allegiance, for
157. 7:40your commitment,
158. 7:42for your changed heart.
159. 7:45Here in Miami, being around the
160. 7:47University of Miami, being around the
161. 7:49campus, we see the football team
162. 7:51training under brut under the brutal
163. 7:53summer heat, hours after hours, drill
164. 7:57after drill, sweat pouring down their
165. 8:00faces as they push themselves to the
166. 8:02limit. You can ask Jackson Carver all
167. 8:04about that. But why do they do this?
168. 8:08Why? Because they want to win.
169. 8:11And if one of those players ever asked
170. 8:13one of their one of his coaches, "Hey
171. 8:15coach, how many do you think of us was
172. 8:17going to make it to the NFL?"
173. 8:20Well, that coach would probably not give
174. 8:22him a number. He would probably say
175. 8:24something like, "Don't worry about that.
176. 8:26Don't worry about how many. You work
177. 8:28hard. You give it everything that you've
178. 8:30got."
179. 8:32And that's exactly Jesus's point.
180. 8:36Don't waste your time comparing
181. 8:38yourself, calculating this or that, or
182. 8:41even presuming.
183. 8:43Don't despair, and don't grow complacent
184. 8:46or indifferent. Strive to repent to sin.
185. 8:50Strive to forgive when it cost you.
186. 8:53Strive to pray when you're distracted
187. 8:55and you don't feel like it. Strive to
188. 8:58pay attention at mass and listening to
189. 8:59the homaly.
190. 9:02Strive to love your neighbor who annoys
191. 9:04you. Strive to carry your cross
192. 9:08faithfully each day.
193. 9:10And because striving can feel like a
194. 9:12grind, the church gives us guard rails,
195. 9:16fuel.
196. 9:18Remember what the Hebrews adds today,
197. 9:21what the second reading taught us.
198. 9:23Discipline from the Lord is not
199. 9:24punishment.
200. 9:26It's training.
201. 9:28It's medicine that heals when it's lame.
202. 9:30and makes our steps straight.
203. 9:34God is not trying to break us. He's
204. 9:37trying to make us saints.
205. 9:39When we accept his discipline,
206. 9:41confession that humbles us, fasting that
207. 9:44frees us, charity that costs us, we
208. 9:48begin to walk with purpose towards that
209. 9:50narrow gate.
210. 9:52Yes, that narrow gate, the way is
211. 9:55demanding,
212. 9:57but it is not impossible.
213. 10:00Christ himself has walked it before. The
214. 10:03saints have walked it. And the same
215. 10:05grace that carries them will carry you
216. 10:07if you decide to follow and to if you
217. 10:10choose to follow.
218. 10:12St. Paul once said, "Work out your
219. 10:14salvation with fear and trembling, not
220. 10:17because God is cruel,
221. 10:20but because heaven is worth it."
222. 10:23Ask any athlete who has won a
223. 10:26championship whether the sweat, the
224. 10:28training, the sacrifices were worth it
225. 10:30and they will tell you absolutely it's
226. 10:32worth it.
227. 10:35How much more worth it is to be able to
228. 10:37enter through that narrow gate and see
229. 10:39God's face to face.
230. 10:42So the real question this weekend is not
231. 10:45how many will be saved.
232. 10:47The real question is will I be saved? Am
233. 10:51I striving? Am I changing my life? Am I
234. 10:54giving my complete heart to Christ? Am I
235. 10:58changing my behaviors and my habits?
236. 11:00Today, let us hear Jesus call us to
237. 11:02strive to recommmit ourselves to the
238. 11:04daily work of holiness so that one day
239. 11:07by God's mercy, we too may pass through
240. 11:10that narrow gate and enter into the joy
241. 11:12of his eternal kingdom.
242. 11:15And maybe, just maybe, when we do, St.
243. 11:19Peter won't ask us to spell a word like
244. 11:21worsture.
245. 11:23He'll look at us and say, "I know you.
246. 11:27You have loved. You gave yourself. You
247. 11:32really truly gave your complete heart to
248. 11:35me.
249. 11:37Gave your heart to Christ. Come on in.
250. 11:39Enjoy the kingdom prepared by our
251. 11:42father. Amen.