Reading I
Is 66:18-21
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
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.
Responsorial
Psalm
Ps 117:1, 2
R. (Mk 16:15) Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading II
Heb
12:5-7, 11-13
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.
Gospel
Lk 13:22-30
Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to
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
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
For behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last."
Today’s First Reading is from
the conclusion of the Book of Isaiah. The exiles will return from their captive
nations back to their own land. Some of these will eventually serve as priests
and Levites. From those who have returned, some will be commissioned to spread
God’s word to foreign nations and all of humanity will come to worship in
Paul reminds us about the demands of discipleship in the Second Reading. The opening verses quote a well-known passage from the book of Proverbs (3:11-12). The writer address the readers as sons of the Father, an infrequent but important designation in Hebrews, because it stands to reason that if Christians share in Christ’s saving work, and Christ is the son, then Christians rightly share in Christ’s sonship as well. In this sense, all children of God we must all learn from our suffering just as Christ learned from his. We must therefore persevere and not give in.
The “narrow door” that Jesus speaks about in today’s Gospel Reading describes the seriousness of the challenge to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. Following Jesus should not be taken lightly for it is a path full of difficulties. Jesus does not answer the question “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” instead he asserts that many will not be saved. According to Jesus, there are many who live under the illusion that they were followers when in fact they only had a distant relationship with him; they ate and drank with him but never established an intimate relationship. In other words, they heard his teachings about the kingdom and its demands but never put it into practice. Their consequence is to be left out of the banquet while others who may not have known him will be allowed to enter.
On a certain occasion many years ago, my wife Zeny and I were at a gathering of one of the ministries in our parish that dedicated itself to learning more about the faith and evangelizing through weekend retreats. We were asked to introduce ourselves and to give a little background on our service to the Church. We explained that for many years we had been very active in a ministry dedicated to helping married couples strengthen their marriage and that we enjoyed this ministry very much since it also helped strengthen ours. One of the leaders of the group blurted out that although that was a good ministry, theirs was better because it offered people a greater chance for spiritual growth. Since we were guests, we tried hard to brush off the comment and tried to enjoy the rest of the evening. In the end we never became a part of that particular ministry.
Today’s Gospel reading speaks precisely about the type of attitude exhibited by the host from my story. It’s the same old “mine is better than yours” type of attitude and that just does not fly with Jesus. The path to the kingdom that Jesus so fervently preached runs right through a door through which many may not enter. It’s a narrow door, and the metaphor is not that difficult to understand. Just think of that person who is so full of himself or herself that when people speak of them they usually say that their head is so big it won’t fit through the door. That sounds an awful lot like Jesus’ narrow door. It’s unfortunate though that such people exist within the Church. Many believe that because they are baptized Catholics or because they come to Mass every Sunday or because the receive communion frequently they have a right to enter into heaven – their space is secure. Well, Jesus assures us that entering his kingdom is not based on these things but rather an intimate relationship with him and true discipleship.
This is where we as Catholics differ with the protestant belief that just confessing that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior is enough for salvation. It does us absolutely no good to have these words roll off our lips and then just turn around and act contrary to the Gospel. It also does no good to profess this statement, receive communion and then beat our breasts and gloat in front of others. To act in this way is to fall into the group of those who “ate and drank” with Jesus. It’s one thing to call yourself a Christian but another thing altogether to be a Christian.
New American Bible; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Seitz, C. (ed.) “Reading and Preaching the Book of Isaiah”; Whybray, R.N., “Isaiah 40-66”; Attridge, H. W., “Hebrews”; Bruce, F. F., “The Epistle to the Hebrews”; Fitzmyer, J. A., “TheGospel According to Luke”; LaVerdiere, E., “Luke”; Maddox, R., “The Purpose of Luke-Acts”; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., “Introduction to the New Testament”; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) “The New Jerome Biblical Commentary".
Deacon Lazaro J. Ulloa