Homily for Thursday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time

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Thinking about Jephthah’s daughter and her willingness to be offered up as a sacrifice reminds me of the courage of the great saint Maria Goretti. Maria gave her life in order to preserve her virginity; but even more importantly, she gave her life out of love for her persecutor; she did not want him to fall into sin by having his way with her. The same courage is shown by the daughter of Jephthah; she, a virgin like Maria Goretti, found herself in an unfortunate circumstance, and yet had the courage and the faith to offer her life in honor of God. The difference, of course, is that the daughter of Jephthah was sacrificed by her own father; here also we are reminded of the sacrifice of his only son almost required of Abraham and of course, of the sacrifice of Jesus, the only son of the Father, in obedience to his Father’s will.
In the Gospel from Matthew, it is clear that nothing unclean can enter the kingdom of heaven. The man found at the wedding feast without a white garment is thrown out unmercifully. The Church continues to teach, as She always has, that baptism is necessary for salvation. Through baptism our robes are washed clean in the blood of the Lamb; we are baptized into the death of Christ and freed from original sin. We are taken off the path that leads to lasting death and put on a path that leads to eternal life. The Catholic Church continues to recognize the Trinitarian baptism, with water, of most Christian ecclesial communities; furthermore, there is the possibility of baptism by blood or by desire, the latter of which may take place outside the visible Church. Pope Benedict recently encouraged all to stop discussing the theory of limbo for those good people who were not baptized in the ordinary way by water in the Church; rather, He recommends that we trust the mercy and love of our Father, who desires not one of his children to be lost, and who has the power to baptize whomever He wishes.