This description appears in a real estate ad I recently read. The intention is clear and, one assumes, innocent. But, the words do provoke the question: can paradise be gated?
People have different opinions about the existence of paradise, and believers have varying concepts of its nature. The colorful image of St. Peter standing at the ‘pearly gates’ holding the keys is suggested by the biblical verses in Matthew 16:19 and Revelation 21:21. But, for several reasons the imagery of a ‘gated paradise’ can be misleading.
The image suggests a location that is shut off from the outside world and exists independently of it. It may be true that the reality of paradise does not depend on our existence. However, the imagery is nullified by the fact of the Incarnation. God became one of us, dwelled among us and is always with us. Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God is within us (Lk. 17:21). If paradise is the kingdom of God and it is ‘within us’ then paradise cannot be considered a gated community.
The kingdom of God is growing within us, ‘becoming’ within us. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus likens the Kingdom to leaven that causes dough to rise (Mt. 13:33) If the kingdom is growing within those who accept its presence, then paradise cannot be considered a static gated community.
Again in Matthew’s Gospel we read that Jesus instructs his disciples to ‘be perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect’ (Mt. 5:48). The original Greek used here by the Evangelist is the word telos which means ultimate purpose and relates to our word teleology. Jesus is exhorting his followers to grow into the purpose for which God has created them, namely the reestablishment of union with God. The development of this ongoing fulfilment does not occur within a gated community.
The imagery of a gated paradise also suggests a ‘them versus us’ attitude. Why be gated unless there is an intention to exclude? In its English translation the hymn O Salutaris Hostia composed by St. Thomas Aquinas begins with “O, Saving Victim, open wide the gates of heaven to us below”. The picture of Jesus Christ throwing open the entrance to Heaven to all willing to enter dispels the notion of a closed paradise. So too do the words of the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium referring to non-Christians: “Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and moved by grace, in their actions do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – these too may achieve eternal salvation” (LG 16).
While the description ‘gated paradise’ may be effective in marketing real estate, it does imply a contradiction. Paradise – the authentic paradise to which we all aspire – is open to all willing to grow into it. Our donors appreciate this. Through their philanthropy they help others – and in doing so themselves – draw nearer the gate Christ has opened wide.