Holy Hatred
Homily on Wednesday, 31st Week in OT; 6 November 2024, DBPH Talamban
We are almost at the end of the liturgical year. And the end of the year reminds us of the end of our life. So the question is, are we ready to face death anytime it comes? …or to meet the Lord on the last day? We firmly believe in God’s universal plan of salvation. God wants all of us to be saved. He desires that we all may be one with him in the glorious and eternal banquet of heaven, as proclaimed by yesterday’s gospel parable. Sad to say, however, many continue to turn their backs to the honoured invitation of the Lord calling them to the ultimate wedding feast. And so, many people actually fail to sit at table with our Lord.
Today the Gospel passage (Lk 14:25-33) reaffirms Jesus’ invitation for us to come to the heavenly banquet prepared by God. However, there are a few requirements that need to be presented at the gate of heaven. First requirement is to travel light. Jesus said: “Everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” We cannot bring everything that we now have, no matter how materially rich or poor we are. Otherwise we will fail to enter through the narrow door.
Even more shockingly, Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. When Jesus said these words, I believe he was referring to those dear to us who might obstinately refuse to follow Him and might even stop us from being faithful to our Lord. This means, if we cannot bring along with us our family, friends and loved ones to the heavenly banquet, then we must take courage to have them also left behind, even to the extent of hating them or simply turning our backs on them. I guess this is the only kind of hatred we can call holy, because it is recommended by Jesus himself. Let us therefore keep this in mind: our home in heaven is incomparably more important and unimaginably more beautiful than our home here on earth.
And the second requirement to be admitted in heaven is to have a blend of determination and perseverance. We need the constant and consistent effort empowered by Holy Spirit to follow Jesus towards the Father’s home despite the difficulties we encounter along the way.
Heaven is the home of the holy. And the good news is this: God is opening heaven’s doors even to us sinners. However, if we don’t seriously give up certain sins and strive to be holy like Him, then we might fail to reach our final destination and lose the privileged opportunity to sit down at table with Him for all eternity.
In line with this, even St Paul in his beautiful letter to the Philippians (chap. 2:12-18) is telling us to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling…” always striving to “be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish.”
We pray, therefore, that the Eucharist we celebrate today may inspire us to live holy lives with the courage to leave behind all excess baggage including unhealthy and unholy PERSONal attachments. May our Holy Communion empower us to persevere with great determination to walk with Jesus every single day in spite of the trials along the way.
May I request you to please include me in your prayerful intentions as I celebrate today the anniversary of my own baptism. Let us pray for each other that one day we all may experience the eternal joy of being one with God in the great company of all the Saints in our true home in heaven. GiGsss!
