WE CANNOT ENTER INTO HEAVEN WITHOUT FAITH


OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP 

Isa 7:1-9; Ps 48:2-8; Mt 11:20-24

If you do not stand by Me, you will not stand at all

The Lord Jesus Christ takes up the issue of rejecting or ignoring the Gospel message when it comes to us in the gospel reading today. The word of God contains all the blessings of heaven which God had given us in Christ before the beginning of the world. Hence, a rejection or refusal to accept or listen to the Gospel message is a rejection of all the heavenly blessings we have received in Jesus Christ. These divine blessings have import for our lives here on earth. While still dwelling here on earth, those who believe in the word of God already possess the heavenly inheritance God will fully manifest to us when we exit this mortal tent. By faith, we enter into the eternal kingdom and the promised inheritance. The importance of faith for our reception of the heavenly blessings here on earth is illustrated in the first reading. God directed Isaiah the prophet to remind the king of Judah of this necessity of faith for God’s blessings. King Ahaz and the people of Judah feared the attacks of Aram and Israel. They were afraid for their kingdom, ignorant of the word God spoke to David about the kingdom, which was the foundation of the kingdom. The prophet Isaiah came to remind them that the kingdom rests on the word of God. So, they must believe the word of God, or they will not stand at all.

The kingdom of Judah promised to David forever rests on the word of God. But to remain physically standing, the king and the people of Judah must have faith in the word of God. Without faith, no one can enter into the blessings of God in their physical manifestation and eternal realisation. The Lord dismissed the threat of the two kings against Judah on the condition they believed in him. “The Lord says this: It shall not come true; it shall not be. The capital of Aram is Damascus, the head of Damascus, Razon; the capital of Ephraim, Samaria, the head of Samaria, the son of Remaliah. Six or five years more and a shattered Ephraim shall no longer be a people. But if you do not stand by me, you will not stand at all.” As we noted, we have received heavenly and eternal blessings, just as David received an everlasting dynasty. But the physical manifestations of these blessings depend on our faith in God. God gave us his Son in the beginning to be the container of our blessings and secured the blessings for us when he sent his Son to assume our human nature. Because the Son of Man believed unto death, the heavenly blessings are now secure for us. We must exercise faith in his name to enter into this eternal inheritance.

In the gospel, Jesus expresses what will become of anyone who fails to believe and receive the heavenly blessings that God has freely given to us in his Son. We cannot imagine what will be the curse or the outcome of rejecting these blessings of God. We sense the gravity of this offence in our Lord’s words of rebuke directed to the towns that witnessed his miracles and extraordinary signs and remained adamant in sin. “Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard on Judgement Day with Tyre and Sidon as with you.” For Capernaum, the Lord threatened that she would be thrown down to hell if she refused to believe the Gospel. These are grave words. To protect souls from the danger of falling into the fire of hell, Our Blessed Mother offered us her succour as Our Lady of Mount Carmel. She gave her brown scapula to St. Simon Stock with a promise to come to the aid of all who wear it as a sign of devotion to her through life. She would guide and protect them from falling into the fire of hell at the hour of their death. The wearing of the brown scapula is surely a sign of faith in the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and trust in the infinite mercy of God who freely gave us his Son before we were born. 

Let us pray: May the venerable intercession of the glorious Virgin Mary come to our aid, we pray, O Lord, so that, fortified by her protection, we may reach the mountain which is Jesus Christ our Lord. 

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