Glory be to Jesus Christ!
In 1969 Frank Sinatra released “My Way” a song which would become immensely popular. Not only would it be a hit for Sinatra himself, but for Elvis Presley amoung others. It would spend 75 weeks on the UK Top 40, a record still to this day! This should hardly surprise us. The song in many ways is the anthem of our modern times, enshrining our most cherished values: choice, rights, self-determination, my views, my ideas, my goals, my reality- My way. Ironically, we can see where this mentality leads us. “My Way” is apparently the most popular song played at funerals in Britain. Perhaps next it will be used on tombstones as well: “Here lies X…he did it his way.” To understand our reading today all we need to do is contrast “My Way” with the Church’s funeral song: “Eternal memory grant him O Lord, and place his soul where all the just repose.”
What is the image that Our Lord uses to describe who will enter the kingdom of heaven? Children. Often times we assume this has to do with being innocent (anyone who is under the impression that children are innocent are invited to visit my children) but this isn’t what the image is getting at. In our Lord’s time children were the lowest of the low. They were vulnerable, needy, dependent and expendable. Nothing was expected of them because they had nothing to give. They couldn’t earn their way anywhere. And this, brothers and sisters, is who heaven is reserved for. People who know they are hungry. People who know where “their way” leads. People who know they need the Lord.
What song are we singing? Do we go about finding every occasion to do it our own way, or do we strive to put our way to death in favour of His way?
As we prepare for the coming of our Lord at Christmas, let us continue to ensure we are on the Lord’s narrow road and not our own, and continue along that road with hopeful perseverance!
Glory be to Jesus Christ!
