Which Road are you On?
Ash Wednesday
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it…. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done…. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.’
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Friends in Christ, Judgment day will lead to two results: those saved – and those thrown into the fire. There are only two ways for us: the road to heaven, or the road to hell. The road to heaven is described as narrow; this is a path that winds through the dark woods, sometimes steep hills along mountains, not always easy.
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Many people however, choose the wide and easy road. It is easy to walk along, with pleasant views, few hills, and places to rest. But this road does not lead to the mountain top. It is sloped downward.
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Jesus says, the road that leads to destruction is wide, and many go that way. Narrow is the road that leads to life, only a few find it.
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We are all here today because we wish to stay on, or else get onto, that narrow road, that leads to life, and that is what Lent is for; a time to reassess: what road are we on? How are we going? Where are we going to?
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In reality, there are two roads that lead to hell. One road is the road of presumption. This is the road in which we say, ‘Everything is fine in life, I do what I want, I follow the crowd. It’s normal to cheat in business or live with my boyfriend or hate my neighbor – hey, everybody does it, at least I haven’t murdered anyone, God will let me into heaven.’
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This is the road of presumption, presuming on God’s mercy, and such persons are many; they will have a shock at the end of their life. As Jesus said, ‘They will knock at the door and say, ‘Lord, Lord! I’m here.’ But he will say to them, I never knew you. Depart from me you evildoers into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
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Many are on that road of presumption. They never pray, happily walking on the wide path, simply following the world, without noticing that the road is always going – downhill.
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The other road to hell, is the road of despair. There are people who say, ‘I know that how I am living is wrong. What I do is sinful; but I can’t seem to stop these sins, I feel that I will probably end in hell. What’s the use?’
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These people are giving up, and have not listened to the Son of God who has come down from heaven. They have not listened to him tell, about the man who wasted his life in many great sins, and who was starving. So he says, ‘I will at least go back to my father’s estate, and see if I can be one of his servants. But actually, the father had been praying for his return. As long as this son was sorry and wanted to try to change, his Father welcomed him with great joy, and even threw a party because he had returned.
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So, the person who is walking that road to hell, who is giving up, has not listened to the Son of God, who came into the world and who has died for your sins and mine.
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As we begin Lent, the Lord is calling us to return to the true path; the path that will lead us to life. As the Lord says to us in the 1st reading: ‘return to me with your whole heart, return to the LORD, your God.’
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Today is a day of fasting and abstinence. We eat no meat, we eat less than 2 meals. On Fridays we eat no meat as a little sacrifice. We will confess our sins this Lent. But all of Lent should have a spirit of self-denial; we give up something, some good deeds, pray more.
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This is what Jesus is asking for; he is asking us to return to the narrow but safe path. It takes discipline to stay on that path. But on the narrow way, let us notice as we walk: it is always going up. That means, that we are going in the right direction.