Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C - 21st August 2022
Gospel Luke 13: 22–30
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 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 ones!’
“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 those from east and west, from north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.
I enter very gently into this time of prayer. As I read the text a few times, what am I noticing? What is drawing me? Am I struggling with anything? I pause to ponder why.
Like this Sunday's earlier reading, the theme here is of universality. Jesus is revealing a kingdom where status and assumptions are turned on their heads. The Father’s reign is one that is freely open to all, but not one that can be earned or claimed by any.
I ponder the priorities of the Lord. Who are the ones invited by God? Who does God open the door to, to gather in?
Do I feel part of this group?
I pause to talk with the Lord about this.
Then, am I open and invitational in response? As I look over my week, have there been occasions when I have felt excluded ... or excluded someone? What are (or who are) my priorities?
I remain with the Lord, getting to know him more deeply, hearing him say in return, ‘I do know you’.
I end with a slow sign of the cross.
Click here to read or listen to a One-Minute Homily on today's Gospel from the Jesuit Post
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