16-Aug-2016 Dear Friend, In life we often like to consider ourselves as special, as elite, as people who are better than others, more knowledgeable, as God’s favoured ones. Conversely, we tend to look down on people different from us and exclude them from our relationships. God has different criteria from ours for entry into his kingdom. All are welcome to his kingdom! Have a weekend relishing his open invitation to his kingdom! -Fr. Jude Sun Ref. XXI Sunday: “Strive to enter the narrow way! The last shall be first!” 21-Aug-2016Isaiah 66: 18-21; Heb. 12: 5-7, 11-13; Luke 13: 22-30;
The first reading from the Book of Isaiah is a prophecy of consolation for the community of Israel gathered again after the exile, but who were still experiencing uncertainty about their future. The prophet proclaims a glorious future in which mankind’s covenant with God is opened to the whole human family. Returnees from every part of the then known world, who had been scattered would return to Jerusalem. Nations of every culture and race will lead the Israelites home. Salvation is extended to all the ends of the earth. For it is through holiness that one will enter the city of God. All invited!A man newly admitted into heaven was being shown around by St. Peter, who pointed out to the many groups residing there. “They’re the Jews….. and those there are the Protestants…. and those are Hindus…and there are the Muslims.” After a while they arrived at an enclave surrounded by a high wall. From inside came sounds of laughter and singing “Who are they?” asked the new arrival. “Hush!” said St. Peter, “They are the Catholics –and they think they are the only ones in heaven!” – In today’s readings we are reminded that ‘Men and women from East and West, from North and South, will come to take their place at the feast in the Kingdom of God.’Francis Gonsalves in ‘Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds’ Today’s gospel reminds us that we are on a pilgrimage to our heavenly home. But we must make sure that we are on the right path moving in the right direction! Will everyone reach their final destination? Will everyone be saved? Jesus never answers the question about the number to be saved. He stresses rather the effort to be made on the journey and that the way is narrow and not easy. Secondly, Jesus speaks about the closed door, namely people cannot take for granted that just because they are along the way, just because of set rituals and practices they will be saved. There is nothing that definitely guarantees automatic salvation. There are no reserved places, nor favoured people whose salvation is guaranteed. Yet on the other hand there are no people who are excluded from heaven. God has no favourites yet everyone is a favourite of God. Heaven will be full of surprises. Many who are despised will find themselves in heaven and many who considered themselves holy and better than others may not find themselves in heaven. The Jews had considered themselves as the chosen ones and that God was only the God of Israel. Jesus reminds them that many pagans and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God, while many who rejected the Messiah would be excluded from God’s kingdom. “Those who are now last will be the first, and those who are now first will be the last.” The last shall be first!Barbara Hutton, the Woolworth heiress, was known as the ‘Poor little rich girl.’ Since her mother died when she was five, Barbara Hutton described her childhood as an unhappy one. She said, “Though I had millions of dollars, I had no mother and no home.” Nor was her adult life a happy one. She was married seven times and was a princess three of those times. A virtual recluse, she died in 1979 at age 66. A newspaper article summed up her life with the words: “Barbara Hutton died unmarried and alone, a symbol of the cliché that money does not buy happiness.” By way of contrast, consider the life of Dorothy Day. She was known as “the mother of the faceless poor of the city’s off scouring.” She always felt she existed for a special purpose. She discovered that purpose when she became a Catholic at age 30 and dedicated her life to help the poor. Dorothy Day founded and edited the Catholic Worker newspaper, went to prison as a suffragist, and established farm communes and hospices for the dispossessed. When she died in 1980 at age 83, Time Magazine called her a “secular saint”. Barbara Hutton and Dorothy Day illustrate somewhat the proverb cited by our Lord today: “There are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.”Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’ The narrow wayI think of what happens on the freeway or expressway when there is a bad accident. The police close off three lanes; only one single lane is open, which is like the narrow door. All the traffic slows down and at times comes to a complete stop because of the bottleneck. As I think of the narrow door Jesus refers to, I see people all bunched up like cars on the freeway, moving very slowly, trying to squeeze through the one open lane. Drivers are upset. They are fussing and fuming and making obscene gestures at each other. Cars and tempers are overheating. The bottleneck is a pain in the neck. Sin is like the accident on the freeway which causes all the trouble. This is not an inviting scene but is an image of what it means to get to heaven. I realize that only one person has to get to that door. That person is Jesus Christ. And through that door he has passed in the paschal mystery of the death and resurrection. We do not have to force our way through that door. All we have to do is make sure we are united with Jesus, who is the door to heaven.Charles Miller C.M. in ‘Sunday Preaching’ All yours! Inheriting the Kingdom!A wealthy man lost his wife when his only child was very young. A housekeeper came to work in the house, and take care of the boy. The boy died tragically at twenty years of age. The old man was without kith or kin, and he died of a broken heart some years later. He had no heir to his enormous estate, nor could one be found. In due course there was an auction to dispose off the personal effects of the mansion. The old housekeeper attended the auction, not because she could buy anything, but because her grief was too strong to keep her away. There was only one thing in the whole collection that attracted her attention. It was the photo of the son. She had loved him as her own. No one wanted the photo, so her few pence were enough to buy it. She brought it home and proceeded to take it from the frame. When she opened the back of the frame some papers fell out. They looked important, so she brought them to a lawyer. The lawyer looked at her and laughed saying “You have landed on your feet this time. The old gentleman has left all his estate and all his money to the person who loved his son enough to buy this picture.” Whoever gets the son gets everything!Jack McArdle in ‘And that’s the Gospel truth’ Which way shall I go?“To every person there opens a way;A high way, a middle way, and a low way.And the high soul takes the high way;And the low soul takes the low way;And in between on the misty flats,The rest drift to and fro.But to every person there opens a wayA high way, a middle way and a low way.And every person decidesWhich way his soul shall go.”Paraphrase of the poem by John Oxenham May we discover daily the narrow way that leads to God! Fr. Jude Botelho botelhoj...@gmail.com PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in these reflections. These reflections are also available on my Web site www.NetForLife.net Thank you.
