Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Deacon's Bench

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Walking the balance beam: Homily for August 21, 2016, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Walking the balance beam: Homily for August 21, 2016, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Last updated on: August 20, 2016 at 11:53 am by Deacon Greg Kandra

Walking the balance beam: Homily for August 21, 2016, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time 2016-08-20T11:53:46-04:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

If you’ve been watching the Olympics down in Rio this year, and the endless television coverage on NBC, you may have caught some of the gymnastics competition.

A highlight is the balance beam.

I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but I am not a champion gymnast. So I had to look up some of the background on the balance beam.

The rules are pretty strict.

A beam routine must consist of two dance elements, one a leap, jump or hop with legs in 180 degree split…a full turn on one foot…one series of two acrobatic skills…acrobatic elements in different directions…and a dismount. The whole thing has to be done in less than 90 seconds. All this happens while standing on a beam that is only 3.9 inches wide. Less than four inches.

That women even attempt to do this is remarkable.

That they do it with such style and precision is nothing less than amazing.

And I think it gives us an interesting context to consider today’s Gospel. Jesus advises his followers to be saved by entering through “the narrow gate.”

Considered another way: it’s not unlike the Olympics. Our life as Catholic Christians is a little like a performance on the balance beam. It calls for dedication. And practice. And focus.

And it only succeeds with generous amounts of grace.

Grace which comes to us from the sacraments. Grace which enobles us and enables us. Grace which makes the difficult do-able, the impossible possible.

Grace which helps us, like Olympic gymnasts, take flight.

We are reminded at the beginning of this Gospel just what Jesus is thinking about, what’s on his mind. It’s something that has been recurring again and again this summer, as we walk with Christ in the Gospel of St. Luke through the Sundays of Ordinary Time: he is headed to Jerusalem, to suffer and die. His lessons these weeks have been especially powerful and surprising, with an urgency that seems to say: “Listen! This is the last chance I will have to tell you this.” He has told us to be good Samaritans…to gird our loins and light our lamps…to be ready for a world set on fire.

And this Sunday, he is telling us to walk the narrow path, to choose the more difficult way, as a means for our salvation.

That way, of course, is Christ himself—”the way, the truth and the life.” He is our narrow gate. He is our balance beam.

The question we need to ask: how do we stay on balance?

It goes back to what I mentioned earlier: grace.

The grace of Baptism made each of us a child of God. That is just the beginning.

The grace of Confession, of Reconciliation, reaffirms and renews us on those times when we fall off the beam—when we slip and stumble and sin—and gives us the courage to get back on and begin again.

The grace of the Eucharist nourishes and sustains us to live out our call as Christians—as followers of what the first Christians called “The Way,” that narrow path, that slender beam, of sacrifice and prayer, of mercy and love.

Grace, the grace given to us by God through his Son, makes it possible for us to make leaps of faith—and, as they say in gymnastics, “stick the landing.”

Every gymnast will tell you that you that the balance beam demands time, practice, sacrifice. The narrow gate, the narrow beam, asks more. The narrow way of the Catholic Christian calls us to stand straighter and try harder. With this Gospel before us, this Sunday is a good time to take stock.

Do we make prayer a priority?

Do we listen for the voice of God?

Do we trust in God’s will for our lives?

Do we care for those who are forgotten, neglected, abused, marginalized?

Do we defend the defenseless—the unborn, the sick, the bullied, the elderly?

Do we strive, day by day, to be holy people?

In a few days, Mother Teresa of Calcutta will be declared a saint. When people would ask her for some words of wisdom, she would take their hand and remind them that the Gospel was with them, right there in their hand. And she’d touch each finger and say, “You did this to me.” Remember that, she’d say, quoting scripture: “Whatever you did to the least of these, you did to me.”

Do we remember the Gospel in our hand? Do we live that?

This is how we enter through the narrow gate, the gate that is Jesus Christ.

And this—enlivened and enriched by the grace of the sacraments—is how we stay on that 3.9 inch-wide balance beam of the Christian life.

As we approach the Eucharist this morning, and extend our hands and our hearts to welcome Christ, let us pray for the grace to live as Christ taught us—to take leaps of faith with courage and with poise, so that we can do what every gymnast aims to do…and really “stick the landing.”

Photo: YouTube

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 20, 2016

What is the Oath of Fidelity?

Next Post

August 20, 2016 What did the Fiji Olympic team do after winning its first gold medal? They sang to God!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Mad Men" 9/11 advent All Things New Amazing video amazing videos amazon america Anglicans Anti-Catholicism art ascension thursday ash wednesday Atheists baltimore Bible Bishops Blogging bonnie engstrom Books bridgeport Brooklyn Chaplains children christian art christmas Church Churches CNEWA Converts criticism Deacons Death Penalty easter eastern christian Eastern Christians Ecumenism Education education Eucharist Europe euthanasia Evangelization Exorcism Family Feasts Gay rights Good Friday Great links Great Moments in Journalism Hanging with the saints heather renshaw Hispanic Catholics Hispanics History homelies Homilies Humor Hymn of the Week Immigration indianapolis Inspiration Interfaith news ireland Jesus Jews Journalism Judaism lent Liturgy logos Marriage Mary Media Medical news Mental health Middle East Monks Movies Music Muslims My world and welcome to it New Evangelization new york News Nuns Parenting Parish life peoria Persecution politics Politics Pope pope francis pope john paul Prayer Preaching Priests Pro-life Quote of the day radio rebecca frech ripp Ripped from the headlines rippred from the headlines Sacraments saints Scripture sex abuse Sex abuse crisis SEX ABUSE CRISIS TAGGED WITH: SEX ABUSE CRISIS The people in the pews the visitation project theatre This & that Thomas Merton Trappists TV Uncategorized uncategorized Vatican VATICAN vocation Vocations Voices & Views Women Worth a thousand words Writing Year of Faith year of mercy young people

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How lonely sits the city once full of people! How like a widow has she become! Which destroyed city does this mourn?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jerusalem Babylon Nineveh Samaria

Books by This Author Books by Deacon Greg Kandra

See All Titles »