October 31, 2018

Gospel: Lk 13:22-30
Jesus went through towns and villages teaching, and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, is it true that few people will be saved?” And Jesus answered, “Do your best to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When the master of the house locks the door, you will stand outside. Then you will knock at the door, calling, ‘Lord, open to us!’ But he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know where you come from. Away from me, all you workers of evil.’ You will weep and grind your teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves left outside. Others will sit at table in the kingdom of God, people coming from east and west, from north and south. Some who are among the last, will be first; and some who are among the first, will be last!”

Reflections
Jesus is approached by a man who wants to know if only a few will be saved. One has the feeling that he expects the answer to be ‘Yes‘ and that he regards himself as being among the chosen ones. Jesus does not answer the question directly but he implies that those who are saved are not necessarily those who regard themselves as God‘s chosen ones but rather those who walk the path differently. That path, of course, is precisely what he is proposing through his own life and teaching. It is a narrow door, he says, which many will not be able to enter. When the Master comes at the end to close that door for the last time, some will stand outside knocking and begging for the door to be opened. They will hear very frightening words, “I do not know where you come from.“ They will counter by saying, “We ate and drank in your company. You taught in our streets.“ But he still says he does not know them and tells them to go away. It is clearly not enough to be just in Christ‘s company or to have heard his teaching, for example, being a baptized Catholic or even routinely fulfilling a few religious obligations. To go in the “narrow door“ is to be actively committed to living the Gospel in one‘s behavior. Each day and all day of our lives we have to walk through that narrow door, that door of faith and trust and love for Jesus and our brothers and sisters. Only then will we find ourselves entering the narrow door not as a means of personal salvation but as part of the mission of God to change our world to be marked by justice, peace, and mercy. We need to care for everyone and not just our own salvation.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2018