29th October 2014 Daily Reading & Meditation Reading : Eph 6:1-9; Luke 13:22-30. How many will be Saved? Gospel : Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And some one said to him, Lord, will those who are saved be few? And he said to them, 24 Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, `Lord, open to us. He will answer you, `I do not know where you come from. 26 Then you will begin to say, `We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets. 27 But he will say, `I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity! 28 There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. 29 And men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. Meditation: Luke 13:22-30 The Gospel today speaks in terms of predestination, of those who will ultimately be saved. Everybody dies. The door to heaven is narrow. It is a narrow door, which many will not be able to enter. Jesus is asked a very to-the-point question while he is traveling to his death in Jerusalem- will those who are saved be few? Jesus responds to this question by teaching us that we must strive to enter through the narrow door to be saved. Jesus does not show us the door, or point to the door, or open a door; Jesus is the door (John 10:9). He is the only way back into the presence of our holy creator- God. J Jesus points out that there will be many who think they are saved because their profession of Jesus as Lord or the fact that they were familiar with Jesus. In the end the only way anyone will be saved is by entering through the narrow door- by turning from our sin to faith in Jesus and all that he is and has done. No one is saved by knowing about Jesus, by being good enough for Jesus, by being enlightened enough, or even by proclaiming that they are a Christian or that Jesus is their Lord. We are called to repent of sin and trust in Jesus- in the gospel- and to urge others to run through the narrow door in the same way. Hell is real, heaven is real, sin is a real problem, and Jesus is a real savior. 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 baptised Catholic or even routinely fulfilling a few religious obligations like being physically present at Sunday Mass but not really part of what is going on. To go in the “narrow door” is to be actively committed to living the Gospel in one’s daily life. Jesus’ next words are directed to some of the Jews but to Christians also. They will see the great patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets enter the kingdom, not because of their status but because of their commitment to serving God. On the other hand, many of Jesus’ hearers will be rejected because they relied only on their ethnic and religious origins. But that is not enough. In the meantime, they will see people, Gentile outsiders from the four corners of the earth, people they rejected and despised, going ahead of them into the Kingdom, again because these people heard the call of God and entered by the narrow door that leads to life. Indeed, as Jesus says at the end of today’s reading, those who were considered last are first and those who saw themselves as first are destined to be last. 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 joining the patriarchs, the prophets and all the saints in that life of unending happiness and union with our God for which we were made. Lord Jesus, may I never doubt your guiding presence and mercy towards me. Through the gift of your Spirit fill me with courage and persevering faith to trust you in all things and every circumstance I find myself in. Give me the strength to cling to your promises when the world around me begins to shake or crumble. And when my love and zeal begin to waver, fan it into a flame of consuming love and dedication for you who are my All. 1st Reading. Eph 6:1-9 Children and Parents 6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Bondservants and Masters 5 Bondservants,[a] obey your earthly masters[b] with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant[c] or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master[d] and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. Psalm 13:3-6 3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; lighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; 4 lest my enemy say, I have prevailed over him; lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. 5 But I have trusted in thy steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 16:10:36 +0000
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