Heaven and Regina George

There are certain phrases that serve as a kind of shibboleth for millennials, a dog whistle that only ears formed between 1981 and 1996 can discern. “You can’t sit with us!” is one of those phrases.

It’s from the movie Mean Girls, (which, I hear from my younger family members, has now become cool with the kids again, so maybe my point about it being niche is incorrect). The character Regina George, merciless ruler of the cool kids, is rejected from the ultra-exclusive lunch table she herself formed when her minions, tired of her cruelty, serve her the most devastating words a teenager can hear in public: “You can’t sit with us.”

So passes earthly glory, as they say.

At first blush, this Gospel gives “Mean Girls” vibes. We have an image of the unlucky masses clamoring for entry into the kingdom of heaven as God locks the door against them, saying, “I do not know where you are from.”

Very “you-can’t-sit-with-us.”

But we need to remember that the people pounding on the door of heaven in today’s Gospel aren’t people who wanted a seat at God’s lunch table — at least, not until it was the only lunch table left, because they had Regina George’d their way out of all the other ones.

Jesus’ whole thing was that you can sit with us, whoever you are, wherever you’re from and whatever you’ve done. But there are a lot of lunch tables in the world, and not everyone wants to be at one with rules like “repent” and “be good to that person you really don’t like.” It’s not always an easy table to sit at, especially when there are so many other options.

We have to choose heaven before heaven becomes our only choice.

©LPi