21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 66: 18-21, Heb 12: 5-7, 11-13, Luke 13: 22-30
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Our first reading today comes from the time when the Jews were recovering from their long exile and enslavement in Babylon. It was a difficult time. Their cities, homes, and farms had lain in ruins for 50 years. The prophet who speaks is not a pessimist though. He sees great things for Jerusalem. He tells God’s discouraged people some day people from all nations would come to worship the same God they worshipped. Even the Jewish priesthood would be opened up to foreigners. There are two lessons here for us: 1. Spiritually the Jews are our ancestors and 2. God wants all people to be saved. The gate of heaven is open to everyone, a wonderful image. But Jesus, who always wishes to keep us in touch with reality, reminds us that, sadly, not everyone is headed that way.
Jesus is asked a question we would all like to know the answer to. “Will only a few people be saved?” From the gospel, it sounds as if there are going to be lots of people in heaven, people coming from north and south, east and west. However, we would have liked a few more details, numbers, percentages perhaps, but I guess Jesus figures we can answer the question for ourselves by seeing how people live according to his teachings. If we live by his teachings, we are on our way to eternal happiness; if not, we will lose out. After all he told us, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
Although the kingdom is a gift from God to us, we must respond appropriately to this gift with generous service to others. The gift is free, but the response requires much effort. To encourage this effort Jesus says that many will struggle to enter through the narrow door that leads to the kingdom of God but be unable to do so (Lk 13: 24).
The kind of effort that is required is implicit in the way that Jesus describes those who will not be able to gain entrance. Matthew writes that this group is made up of those who will say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?” (Mt 7: 22). Luke writes, however, that this group will say, “We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.” Lk 13: 26). Luke’s wording is instructive. The last time Luke wrote about eating and drinking was when Jesus taught that the “faithful and wise steward” was the one who gave the household “the food allowance at the proper time. “The unfaithful steward was the one who began to “beat the menservants and maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk” (12: 42). The eating and drinking connection suggest both that many who will not be able to enter the kingdom are those who have not focused on service of others rather than on service to self, and that those who have continued to live their lives by the principle of serving others are the few who will be able to enter through the narrow door.
The reason that the unfaithful servant began to eat, get drunk, and beat the servants was because of the delay in the Lord’s return. To encourage prompt service Luke presents an image of contest to see who will win and be allowed access to the kingdom. The verb agonisomai (“to strive”) in verse 24 is used in contests in the sense of a struggling against other competitors. The image in Luke 13: 24 is of people struggling through their service to others to reach the “narrow door” and enter the kingdom before the throng comes and clogs the entrance.
Peace and all good!
Fr. Valery Burusu
Parochial Administrator