21st Sunday C 24 August 2025 Sermon

 21^st Sunday C   24 August 2025 Regrets

Regrets I’ve had a few, says Frank Sinatra. As we reach adult years we can recall probably more than a few regrets.

We regret that we cannot change the past; however, we can ‘change’ the future, insofar as we make better decisions as to how we live. 

So we become unlikely to repeat the same mistakes of the past. This is why there is a constant call to repentance in our faith. And why we have penitential rites, and seasons like Lent; and call for mercy in our prayers (especially the Mass).

A lot of people do not pray, it seems, yet Jesus is so welcoming - like the generous father who welcomed back the prodigal son. The  son did not like his chances of being forgiven, but gave it a try. So should anyone do who feels alienated from God. Approach Him and see what happens  (Lk 15,11-32) 

Yet the Gospel today (Lk 13,22-30) sounds uninviting. To be saved you have to get through a narrow door. Even calling on God may not be enough. Yet God will never ignore a cry of true repentance. Jesus uses this image to stress the need for sincere repentance, not just pretending.

Peace of soul comes with repentance, and we feel put back together, re-integrated - all parts working together.

We can have that peace. One could be a dropout, never making it in the eyes of the world.

But with a sincere act of repentance there is mercy and new life. Lord, have mercy on a sinner (The publican Lk 18,9-13).

We can all do this and converge on Heaven, having been transformed by the love of God.

Jesus is putting things in such urgent terms, to give the Jews of His time a wake-up. He tells them that others will get there before them. There is no pre-determined limit to Heaven. We can all get in. but we must all be busy about it, not growing complacent or cynical.

For those who have not needed a dramatic conversion because they have been living a good and orderly life so far – there is an urgency to pray for others who are not so well placed. And as we learn from sport – don’t declare victory until it is over.

We pray for  others, that they will find the narrow door and the path that leads to it. Our prayer can generate grace, which will make it easier for others to repent.

Whatever we have been or have done, we can call down the mercy of God in the present moment.

Some deal with guilt by trying to deny it. But if the guilt is real it has to be addressed. Like with a disorder in the body, we cannot just talk it away.

Complete repentance requires that we change our behaviour, but once we taste the mercy of God we are glad to do that. There is joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents (Lk 15,7); and that joy can be anticipated on earth too, cf Zacchaeus Lk 19,1-10).

The  door to which Our Lord refers is narrow because there is so much falsehood around it. It is harder to stay on course when there are many alternatives on offer. We make the door wider by our personal choices for good. It is not meant to be so hard as it is to live a good life,

It is just that many make the wrong turn-offs in their particular pathway. Then the destination can seem a long way off. And the whole society can get muddled, as much of ours is now.

Some correct turns will make all the difference.