SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2022
TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING: ISAIAH 66:18-21
RESPONSORIAL PSALM: PSALMS 117:1-2
SECOND READING: HEBREWS 12:5-7, 11-13
GOSPEL: LUKE 13:22-30
How often do you ask yourself about the condition of your soul and the likelihood of your eternal salvation. We are too often overly concerned with the accumulation of material goods and less concerned about the imperishable goods that lead to eternal life.
Jesus invites us to enter the kingdom through the narrow gate. The question of how many will be saved has bothered Christians down through the ages. Jesus was also confronted with this question. That is one of the questions that Jesus dislikes. And Our Lord’s response to the question is very instructive. The first reading tells us that the Lord comes to save everyone. It is an eschatological vision of Isaiah concerning the coming age of salvation, the messianic age – all nations of the earth will repent and convert to the worship of the one true God. They will turn away from their pagan beliefs and accept Him as their only God. The responsorial Psalms invites all the nations to praise the Lord. It implies an acknowledgement that Yahweh is the God of all peoples and not just the God of Israel. No one is to be excluded from the kingdom for all peoples are called to proclaim the praises of the Lord.
But we know that not everyone will be saved. Yet the question about who will be saved or how many will be saved misses the mark because it misses what the concern of Jesus is. Jesus is concerned about you and me following him with perseverance. He uses the simile of the narrow gate to teach us it will be a struggle, and that our struggle must be unceasing. A serious and persistent effort is the key. There is a wide way and there is a narrow way. The wide way is easy and offers a life without crosses and a lot of pleasure, but a transitory pleasure. It is the attractive way and many follow it to their perdition. But the narrow way is not easy. It does not offer worldly pleasures but crosses. Yet, the narrow way is not without its joys. Jesus himself is the goal and the way and the joy of those who follow him.
We must be like athletes preparing for a race and not like onlookers eating ice cream and pop corn. If instead of striving and preparing, we are eating ice cream and popcorn then we are going to find ourselves locked out. Our modern society boasts of enticing doors according to which everything is permitted. It ignores the narrow gate of discernment and renunciation. We must know that life is not an endless series of open doors. Jesus is the only door that leads to life. He Himself followed the narrow door to Calvary.
The second reading today tells us that as sons and daughters, suffering is part of our training. The author reminds us that God loves us. Even when we suffer chastisement because of our sins, these corrections are signs of fatherly love and concern for his children. Our loving Heavenly Father is not a permissive parent; He is a righteous Father who expects the best from His children. Just as sailors become suspicious and wary when the sea is completely calm without the least wave, a Christian must be wary of life without trials because it could be a sign that God has given up on you. Let us strive to enter the narrow way, let us accept with joy, the trials, disappointments, frustrations and difficulties of our daily lives and offer them up to God for our salvation.
Happy Sunday
Rev Fr Chidi Onwuka M,Ss.Cc