20190825
GROWING
IN HOLINESS
25 AUGUST, 2019,
Sunday, 21st, Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Isaiah 66:18-21 ©
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They will bring all your brothers from
all the nations
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The Lord says this: I am coming to gather
the nations of every language. They shall come to witness my glory. I will give
them a sign and send some of their survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Put,
Lud, Moshech, Rosh, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant islands that have never
heard of me or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory to the nations. As an
offering to the Lord they will bring all your brothers, on horses, in chariots,
in litters, on mules, on dromedaries, from all the nations to my holy mountain
in Jerusalem, says the Lord, like Israelites bringing oblations in clean
vessels to the Temple of the Lord. And of some of them I will make priests and
Levites, says the Lord.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 116(117) ©
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Go out to the whole
world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
O praise the Lord, all you nations,
acclaim him all you peoples!
Go out to the whole
world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
Strong is his love for us;
he is faithful for ever.
Go out to the whole
world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
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Second reading
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Hebrews 12:5-7,11-13 ©
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The Lord trains the one he loves
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Have you forgotten that encouraging text
in which you are addressed as sons? My son, when the Lord corrects you,
do not treat it lightly; but do not get discouraged when he reprimands you. For
the Lord trains the ones that he loves and he punishes all those that he
acknowledges as his sons. Suffering is part of your training; God is
treating you as his sons. Has there ever been any son whose father did not
train him? Of course, any punishment is most painful at the time, and far from
pleasant; but later, in those on whom it has been used, it bears fruit in peace
and goodness. So hold up your limp arms and steady your trembling knees and smooth
out the path you tread; then the injured limb will not be wrenched, it
will grow strong again.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn14:23
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Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Jn14:6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus said: ‘I am the Way, the Truth and
the Life.
No one can come to the Father except
through me.’
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 13:22-30 ©
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The last shall be first and the first
last
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Through towns and villages Jesus went
teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him, ‘Sir, will there be
only a few saved?’ He said to them, ‘Try your best to enter by the narrow door,
because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.
‘Once
the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself
knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not
know where you come from.” Then you will find yourself saying, “We once ate and
drank in your company; you taught in our streets” but he will reply, “I do not
know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!”
‘Then
there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned
outside. And men from east and west, from north and south, will come to take
their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.
‘Yes,
there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be
last.’
GROWING IN
HOLINESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ISA 66:18-21; HEB 12:5-7, 11-13; LUKE 13:22-3 ]
“Through towns and villages Jesus went
teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him, ‘Sir, will there
be only a few saved?‘” Of course, such speculative questions appeal to
the populace as it remains mere academic discussion. No one is changed or
converted at the end of the process.
Jesus was never
interested or distracted by such vain speculations about the future. He was
concerned about the existential situation. We remember that when the
apostles asked Jesus about the coming of God’s kingdom after His resurrection,
He said, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has
set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:6-8). And His reply was equally
evasive, or rather He went to the heart of the matter by saying, “Try your best
to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and
will not succeed.”
The truth remains that it is God’s
desire that all will be saved. Today’s first reading from Isaiah
gives us this vision when all of humanity will come to glorify God. “The
Lord says this: I am coming to gather the nations of every language. They shall
come to witness my glory. I will give them a sign and send some of their
survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Put, Lud, Moshech, Rosh, Tubal, and
Javan, to the distant islands that have never heard of me or seen my glory.
They will proclaim my glory to the nations.” The prophet envisaged that
from the remnants, the survivors of the exile, God would use them to bring the
whole of humanity back to Him and become God’s people like the
Israelites. Clearly, God’s salvation goes beyond the Israelites but is
always expansive and meant for the whole human race. So no one is
privileged. The scripture lessons of today is clear that everyone has an
equal chance of entering the Kingdom of God, provided they are ready to walk
the narrow gate.
The crux of the matter is not how
many will be saved, or who will be saved, but how to be saved. Hence,
Jesus responded by saying, “Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because,
I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.” What is
this door? This door is not a ‘what’ but a ‘who’! Jesus in St John’s
gospel proclaimed Himself to be the Way, the Truth and the Life. So the
door is Jesus Himself. He is the door to the sheepfold, the gate.
“I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved” (Jn 10:9).
What does it mean to
enter through this door if not the way of the cross? We must be careful of those who
preach the prosperity gospel and deny the reality of the cross. It is
through His passion, death and resurrection that salvation is won for us. This
is what we proclaim as the mystery of faith at every Eucharistic celebration.
There is no other way to enter the kingdom except via Crucis. The
condition for entry is therefore the same for all.
What does the way of the
Cross entail? Firstly, it means to be stripped of our sins. If the way is called narrow it is because
the way of evil is often easy and enticing. The temptations that come
from the world, the flesh and the Evil One appeal to us because we are sensual
beings. Yet, often we delude ourselves. At the beginning, the way
is wide but the end is always narrow. We might get pleasure indulging in
sex, food and drinks, but often the price we have to pay is greater than we can
bear as it often leads to sin, suffering and even death.
To enter the Narrow Gate
means that we must exercise self-discipline, self-denial and mortification. As Jesus says, “The Spirit is willing but
the flesh is weak.” To overcome the temptation of the flesh, we need to
struggle through this narrow door. In the striving agony is
implied. Every struggle requires effort, commitment and sacrifices.
It calls for the giving up of selfishness. We need to die to our self and
give our life like Jesus for the service of our brothers and sisters in total
selflessness. The call to die to our egoism precisely makes the gate
narrow as it is very demanding.
Thirdly, friendship with Jesus
implies living His way of life. It is not enough to be friends of
Jesus as He warns us in the gospel that on that day, we might claim that “We
once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets” but He will
reply, “I do not know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked
men!” Simply attending mass on Sundays and attending prayer meetings will
not save us unless we express our faith in actions, in love, charity, selfless
and humble service for justice and truth. Only a life with Christ and in
Christ is the surety of eternal life. Indeed, “Once the master of the
house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself knocking on the
door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not know where you
come from.” It is not enough to be contented with a ritualistic
life of faith without good works. Faith without good works as St James
says is dead.
Neither can we claim
privilege based on the fact that we are baptized Catholics. We will be judged according to our
actions and not in terms of membership. This, precisely, was the false
hope of the Israelites. They thought that simply because they were
members of the Chosen People of God, they were entitled to be received into the
Kingdom of God. Far from it, Jesus said in no uncertain terms, “Then
there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned
outside. And men from east and west, from north and south, will come to take
their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Yes, there are those now last
who will be first, and those now first who will be last.” We are saved not just
through baptism and being a member of the Catholic Church but when we show our
commitment to the Lord by walking in the path of Christ through entering the narrow
gate.
Fourthly, we are called
to up one one’s cross and follow Jesus by accepting the sufferings that come
our way as a result of
giving ourselves to the service of others, especially when we meet trials and
injustices and suffering. We must allow the cross to purify us of our
sins and our egoism. The second reading speaks of the purpose and meaning
of suffering. The author says, “Have you forgotten that encouraging text
in which you are addressed as sons? My son, when the Lord corrects you, do not
treat it lightly; but do not get discouraged when he reprimands you. For the
Lord trains the ones that he loves and he punishes all those that he
acknowledges as his sons.”
Through suffering like
Jesus, we learn obedience and
to trust in the vindication that can only come from the Lord Himself.
Suffering can only make us stronger, not weaker, better, not bitter. To
suffer is to be purified and be tested like gold in the furnace. Through
the fire, our sins and imperfections are burned away so that we arrive at
perfect freedom from fear, pain and pride. As Jesus tells us in the
gospel last Sunday, He has a baptism to be baptized with and how He wished it
were a blazing fire already. So through the sufferings of life, we are
sanctified in our motives for service, purified in our thoughts and freed from
attachment and the sins that cling on to us. The author says, “Suffering
is part of your training; God is treating you as his sons. Has there ever been
any son whose father did not train him? Of course, any punishment is most
painful at the time, and far from pleasant; but later, in those on whom it has
been used, it bears fruit in peace and goodness.”
We need to have faith in
the Lord, especially in times of trials. Being perfected in love is what holiness is
all about and what eternal life is. Only those who are perfected in love
are capable of forgiveness, humility and free from resentment and
revenge. In this way, we will continue to proclaim His glory as the
psalmist says to all the nations.
Most of all, in carrying our cross, we do
not carry it alone. God is with us in Christ Jesus. Our
Lord who has shown us the way and walked before us will send us His Holy Spirit
to help us fight the battle against sin. We are guaranteed of a final
victory, of course, not by our efforts but by His grace at work in and through
us. Indeed, in the final analysis, what does the proclamation of the Good
News consist of? The psalmist says, “Go out to all the world and tell the
Good News. For steadfast is his kindness toward us, and the fidelity of the
Lord endures forever.” This is the Good News. God is with us and will
assure us of final victory.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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