21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
This Sunday Irish Catholics are asked to pray for peace in Gaza. We turn to God praying for the relief of its suffering people. We also pray that those whose hearts have been hardened may turn away from violence and become people of peace. As we Pray for Gaza and the end of the conflict there we also remember the other conflicts that are ongoing at the moment as we rededicate ourselves to pray for peace. On the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, we hear how God gathers people from all corners of the earth. The message is clear. God’s love is not limited to one group. He wants all people to come to Him. We are reminded that following God is not always easy and we see just how hard following god can be when we look at what is going on in our world.
In the first Reading from Isaiah The Lord gathers people from all nations to see his glory and spread it among the people They will bring offerings and some will become priests and Levites. For Isaiah, a faithful band of witnesses will announce the news of God’s restoring love and invite all people to Jerusalem to see the manifestation of God’s power and fidelity. In the Second Reading from Hebrews God disciplines those he loves, just as a father disciplines his children. We endure trials a they will later bring righteousness and healing. In this Sundays Gospel Luke tells us about the door policy of the kingdom of God and how there is no such thing as automatic membership. While Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem, someone asks him about the number of those who will be saved. Rather than speculate about the arithmetic of salvation, Jesus gives practical advice about the present time: “Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.” Those who wait until the door is shut try knocking, the householder will regard them as strangers. Thus, they are distressed because they are being excluded, the people in the story “prove” they are part of the group by saying “We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” Jesus is not impressed with this type of superficial acquaintance: people who eat and drink in the same restaurants and bars, read the same papers, watch the same TV programmes, don’t always share the same commitment to God. Through Jesus we come to know the faithfulness of God. For us, Jesus is the “sign” of God’s faithfulness. The God who raised Jesus from the dead offers us that same new life through him.
Pope Saint Paul VI said in his famous encyclical, “Evangelii Nuntiandi” that people listen more to witnesses than to teachers. Pope Paul was also right when he said that the most convincing messengers of our faith are those who speak from their experience of God they are viable witnesses. Perhaps, they were sick and God healed them, or gave them strength and endurance for the trials of life. Today we are called to be authentic witnesses to the Gospel message. Our lives must be changed by our faith in Jesus. We are given the gift of faith and we are asked to nurture that gift and help it grow. So let us not be afraid to change the things in our lives that we need to change in the light of faith remembering to give thanks for the gift of faith that gives us the hope that we will be able to enter through the Narrow Door.
Fullerton T 