Lord, open the door for us

The Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

Collect

O God, who cause the minds of the faithful to unite in a single purpose, grant your people to love what you command and to desire what you promise, that, amid the uncertainties of this world, our hearts may be fixed on that place where true gladness is found. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.Amen.

First Reading
Is 66:18-21

They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations.

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah

Thus says the LORD:
   I know their works and their thoughts,
and I come to gather nations of every language;
   they shall come and see my glory.
I will set a sign among them;
   from them I will send fugitives to the nations:
   to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan,
   to the distant coastlands
   that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory;
   and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations.
They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations
   as an offering to the LORD,
   on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries,
   to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the LORD,
   just as the Israelites bring their offering
   to the house of the LORD in clean vessels.
Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps. 117:1, 2

R. :

℟. (Mk 16:15) Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

Praise the LORD all you nations;
   glorify him, all you peoples!

℟. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
   and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.

℟. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

Second Reading
Heb 12:5-7, 11-13

Those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines.

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews

Brothers and sisters,
You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children:
   “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord
      or lose heart when reproved by him;
   for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;
      he scourges every son he acknowledges.”
Endure your trials as “discipline”;
   God treats you as sons.
For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline?
At the time,
   all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,
   yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness
   to those who are trained by it.

So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.
Make straight paths for your feet,
   that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.

The word of the Lord.

Acclamation before the Gospel
Jn 14:6

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the way, the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father, except through me.

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.


Gospel
Lk 13:22-30

They will come from east and west and recline in the kingdom of God.

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

Jesus passed through towns and villages,
   teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him,
   “Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them,
   “Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
   for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
   but will not be strong enough.
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
   then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
   ‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply,
   ‘I do not know where you are from.
And you will say,
   ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
Then he will say to you,
   ‘I do not know where you are from.
Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
   when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
   and all the prophets in the kingdom of God
   and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west
   and from the north and the south
   and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.
For behold, some are last who will be first,
   and some are first who will be last.”

At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:

The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Reflection

“Lord, will only a few be saved?” This was a question that baffled the Jews in the time of Christ. The question concerning salvation is one that theologians of our time are still debating. Today’s reading provides us with three points to ponder on about salvation.

The first word is ‘strive’: we must strive for salvation. We must not believe that just because we are baptised, go to Church, or maybe pray daily, then we can rest assured of our salvation. Our salvation does not depend solely upon how well we know Jesus or how much we understand our faith, but upon how much we truly live our faith to the fullest and how hard we strive for justice and righteousness. As the author of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us in the Second Reading, we must lift our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees, to make straight paths for our feet. 

The second point focuses on the straight path. In the Gospel, we find the imagery of the narrow door. During his Sunday Angelus message on 21 August 2016, Pope Francis explained that the door is narrow not because it is restrictive, but because it requires humility. If we are full of ourselves, we cannot pass through the narrow door. Humility and trust help us to open up to God with a heart full of confidence, acknowledging that we are sinners and that we are in need of the forgiveness, love, and salvation of God.

The third point found in both the First Reading and in the Gospel, is that the call to salvation is open to all people. At times, we may find ourselves judging and excluding others—from our inner circle, the Church—and deciding that they are not disposed to receive salvation. Yet Jesus warns us not to judge, but to believe that everyone is invited into the love of God. We are called to share this invitation with love, freedom, and without stifling the lives of others.

Prayer

Lord, help us strive to love everyone as you love us: with a freedom that gives life, but which also requires sacrifice and humility. Amen.

 

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