ĐÀO TẠO MÔN ĐỆ - REFLECTIONS 21ST SUNDAY -C
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- Category: 9. Đào Tạo Môn Đệ
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Mo NguyenAug 24 at 7:29 AM
THE NARROW GATE
SUNDAY 25 AUGUST 2019
TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME / C
REFLECTIONS ON THE GOSPEL (Luke 13: 22-30)
THE NARROW GATE
Someone questions Jesus about the number who will be saved. He will not respond in quantitative terms (‘ How many …?’). Rather, he turns the question back into a warning. Don’t miss the opportunity while it is still available.
To make the point Jesus takes images from everyday life (without necessarily commending the behaviour involved!).
When an entrance or gateway is narrow and many are trying to get through, it pays to struggle and get to the front right away. We cannot just ‘coast’ into salvation; effort is required.
Travellers arriving late at a large household might hope for special consideration on the grounds of being known to the owner. But the lodging is full up with others who have got in before them. Imagine how they would then feel – out on the street for the night in a strange city, the door barred against them.
In the preaching of Jesus, we are all invited to the banquet of the Kingdom. But we can exclude ourselves from the banquet by not being prepared to accept that divine hospitality at the time – and in the company – of God’s choosing.
The Gospel summons us to go in by ‘the narrow gate’, the gate that strips us o the various kinds of ‘baggage’ that selfishness loads upon us.
Those who daily take the message to heart can leave the question of salvation safely in the hands of the all-generous God, whose only desire in our regard is to have us as honoured guests at the banquet of eternal life.
Brendan Byrne, SJ
The Narrow Gate (Robin Calamaio: Original Christian Song):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPgKhDSi-CQ
The Narrow Gate
Narrow Gate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlZsE3PcBIU