Verbum Dei UK

Is 66:18-21; Psalm 117 . Heb 12:5-7 .11-13; Lk 13:22-30

This Sunday we celebrate the fact that salvation is offered to absolutely everyone.

But receiving it isn't a matter of putting on a superficial appearance as we go to Church. It's a matter of genuinely loving well throughout our daily lives. In fact it's precisely by helping as many others as possible to get in, that we will be promoting our own entry! And the ‘door’ through which we can all get into eternal life, is through Christ Himself, incarnated in Jesus.

In the Gospel, Jesus is asking the guy to be careful because many Jews did think that salvation was restricted to their race, as opposed to the gentiles.

He says that they too need training, as a son is trained by his father. In that sense, 'the master of the house' hasn't left the door open for them to enter in whatever way (and at at whatever time) that they themselves choose. In that sense they shouldn't be seeking an entry through a 'wide door'. Linking that with the other two readings, it's telling us that one important part of training is precisely to respect that God calls everyone and longs for everyone. In that sense the word 'gentile' no longer has meaning.

The first reading (Isaiah 66 ) is praising the fact that God intends to gather people from many nations. That may seem like a challenge for us, telling us of the big job that God wants us to do as a missionary Church, but we should read it as a joyful revelation of the way God is going to get the whole family together, and Heaven will be a huge party!

So let's help it to come true. 'The one who created you without you, can't save you without you.' (St Augustine). Those who fail to enter in the Gospel today aren't called 'gentiles' or 'foreigners' or 'strangers', but they're called 'evil-doers'. That includes those who've simply failed to do good, because we've all been given the chance. That's why we begin mass asking humbly for forgiveness for what we've done and for what we've failed to do. It's up to each individual to put in the effort and never to 'sit back' and consider that the job is done. In that sense, the door into Heaven is 'narrow'. Salvation is a great gift, but it's also a big challenge. The second reading (Heb 12 ), says that God puts challenges in our way like the way a father trains his son.

 Saying that the door to salvation is narrow and that entrance won't be easy, may sound like Bad News, but it's also a way of telling us that many, many people are called to enter, and that's very Good News ('Gospel')!

Also, it's not up to us to label anyone as saved or not saved. That's for God to decide. And He may well decide on a huge variety of sons and daughters. In that sense, the door into Heaven is wide!

But 'the ball is in our court' now. Jesus doesn't hand us salvation on a plate, but rather he trains us to make the effort to attain it. He's like a sports-trainer who doesn't simply buy a trophy to give to his lads, but he gets them to train, because their true joy will be when they themselves have won the trophy. And the trophy is Eternal Life in Heaven. Trying to be born to it is the fundamental reason for my becoming a missionary. Trying to get others to be born to it also, is inherent in that. We all go together!

This eternal Life is a gift that God longs to give us, but He can't impose, and there is opposition that we ourselves have to overcome. The opposition is our selfish mundane search for riches, honors and pleasures! Jesus asks us to avoid them, and he says that he came to earthso that we would have life 'to the full' (Jn 10:10 ). He's referring to much more than 'physical' life. We already have that! But let's not forget that this little bunch of flesh and bones won't last for more than a few years - or a few days - or a few hours! It is however the 'door' through which we can enter Eternal Life with God.

The great gift to be given to us, is a heart that will make our lives gifts for others! Therein lies the happiness of Heaven. And the Good News is that we can give much more than we think. But it's up to us to avoid seeking the lazy way in. We should try to help as many as possible to get in. That's when the door gets narrow for us, and that's precisely the best way in. That's why Jesus is proposing the 'narrow door' in the Gospel today, while the first reading (of Isaiah) is praising the fact that many are invited to enter.

Jesus is evangelizing the towns on his way to Jerusalem, and he knows that the cross awaits him there, but that's what gives strength to his words. So let's make the effort to get in the 'narrow door'!

How should we plan our lives? Let's use God's gifts well, but avoid the world's ambition for riches, honors and selfish pleasures. It's challenging, so Jesus says "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. 14 How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life." (Mt 7:13-14). If we're carrying our fifty big luggage bags of worldly riches, then we won't make it through that narrow gate!

Thinking of honors in this world, when a new Pope is chosen and the relevant smoke rises from the chimney in the Vatican, the phrase that is pronounced (by the Pope himself) is 'así transit gloria mundi' - 'such is the way mundane glory passes away'. There's a lesson there for us all as we make plans for life. Is the success we're seeking no more than a transient mundane success? For as hard as you try in life here, all that's left of the world is a box of bones or a bag of ashes! If you like you can have a bag or the box now!

As we receive communion at mass, we can remind ourselves that we're on a journey passing through these few years on Earth. The reason for our Eucharistic hosts at mass being made of unleavened bread, is because that was the kind of bread made by the Jews that could be made quickly enough to bring with them on their flight from slavery in Egypt (Exodus). Thereafter they had what they called a 'feast of unleavened bread' every year during which it was eaten with the sacrificed lamb (wich now for us is Jesus himself). It's good to remember that our physical lives flash by! We honour St Therése of Lisieux as patroness of the missions and she died aged 24 and Francis Xavier, the male patron, died aged 46! Reminding ourselves of this may influence our plans to make good use of our brief lifetime and to avoid mundane things that would impede us from loving well. The final exam in this life 'carreer' won't be in Science or French or Maths, it'll be in 'love'! Have we loved well?

When baptising a child, the parents are asked "What are you looking for for your child?" and the reply should be "Eternal Life". We're all asked it when 'renewing' our baptismal promises. So let's seriously look for it! We're all in gestation for our real Lives. With death comes our true 'baptism'.

A true Christian should be aware that 'death' to life in the world is where our authentic 'baptism' takes place. We all spent nine months in the womb preparing for ninety years or so of physical life, but those years are a preparation for an endless Life with God. As Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3 : "you've got to be born again". Death is really our day of birth! But the big difference between it and a baby in the womb on earth is that we're not simply 'pushed out' but we're asked to put effort in ourselves, and the birth process begins now.

I have problems now with the MS - and we all have problems in life, but so did St. Paul, and he never let them get him down. 'We are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 18 For what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal'. (2 Cor 4:16-18 ).

A friend who learnt to fly small planes said that if you travel up the runway observing every little bump or crack in the cement, you get very nervous and it's much better to keep your vision far ahead to where you'll be taking off. I think that symbolizes our path through life on earth - don't be preoccupied with details without fixing your attention principally on the 'take-off' up ahead! (Jn 4:31-38 Lift up your eyes). I think pilgrimages are a good reflection of our journey through life. The road may sometimes be long and tough, but you keep your heart set on the destination. That keeps you going happily - and arriving at the end-point very happily. Your heart is then prepared for giving thanks to God and for beginning life anew!

Being born to eternal Life with God, isn't something that we ourselves achieve, but it's a gift that Christ has achieved for us. We just have to receive it well. That means humbly realizing who I am, and giving Christ's teaching more importance than my personal opinions. Christ's teachings then become my personal opinions!

The first reading (Is 66) says that people will be drawn from North, South, East and West. I suppose that includes Ireland! It links nicely with the Magi that come to Bethlehem for the Epiphany of Jan 6. It also means that the effort you put into your Christian mission will reach more people than you think. So at mass we won't say the 'My Father' but the 'Our Father'!

...........Dara.

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