"For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able."

“Lord, are only a few men to be saved?”

Away from me all you workers of evil.'

Strive to enter in at the strait gate.

With joy we recall his words to the repentant thief:

“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

 Isaiah 66:18-21

Now I am going to gather

The nations of every tongue, and they will witness my glory, for I will perform a wonderful thing among them.

Then I will send some of their survivors to the nations Tarshish, Put, Lud, Moscheck, Rosh, Tubal,

and Javan to the distant islands where no one has ever heard of me or seen my glory.

They will proclaim my glory among the nations. They will bring your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord on horses,

in chariots, in litters, on mules, on camels to my holy mountain in Jerusalem, says the Lord,

just as the Israelites bring oblations in clean vessels to the house of the Lord. Then I will choose priests and Levites even from them, says the Lord.

 

Ps 117:1, 2

Go out to all the world and tell the good news.

 

Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13

Do not forget the comforting words that Wisdom addresses to you as children:

My son, pay attention when the Lord corrects you and do not be discouraged when he punishes you.

For the Lord corrects those he loves and chastises everyone he accepts as a son.

 

What you endure, is in order to correct you. God treats you like sons, and what son is not corrected by his father?

All correction is painful at the moment, rather than pleasant; later, it brings the fruit of peace, that is, holiness,

to those who have been trained by it. Lift up, then, your drooping hands, and strengthen your trembling knees;

make level the ways for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but healed.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Luke 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 once the master of the house has gone inside and locked 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!"

 

Gospel Reflection ：

“ Do your best to enter by the narrow door. “

Read: Isaiah prophesies the gathering of the nations in praise of the Lord.

The Letter to the Hebrews teaches us the importance of correction in our Christian life and Jesus preaches

that those of the nations who will gather in heaven will enter by the narrow door.

 

Reflect: When I was a toddler, one of my favourite toys was a globe into which you had to fit different shapes.

No matter how hard you tried, the round shape wouldn't go into the square hole and the yellow triangle wouldn't go into the oval space.

We might think of today's Gospel in a similar fashion, "Do your best to enter by the narrow door."

Jesus wants us to take on the right shape for heaven, and that shape is Christ's.

 

Our lives are to be configured to that of Christ so that our will is united to his.

This means that we have to accept correction and be willing to change so that we can grow more like Christ in our thoughts,

words and deeds. To accept that you were wrong takes the strength of humility.

 

Pray: Let's pray for the willingness to be refashioned by Christ and the patience needed to undergo the process.

 

Act: Resolve to take on a simple penance as an expression of your self-offering to Christ.