Fr. Anthony Guiotto, sx
TWENTY FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
This severe warning of Jesus reported by Luke is addressed to the early Christians who after the initial enthusiasms of the first Christian communities now were forgetting that the door into the kingdom of heaven is a continuous struggle against the mentality of this world which wants supremacy and exaltation. For Jesus his Kingdom is for the little ones, the last ones, the ones who turn like little children and not for the powerful , those who aspire to be always the first and the privileged above all the others.
For all those who look for be great in this world not only the gate is narrow, difficult to enter and very often without success, but this very gate most of the times comes to a close and at any request to enter there is only one answer
"I do not know where you are from".
Again the warning of Jesus here is not so much for those who refuse to follow him or for the evildoers, but as Jesus points out, for those who "have shared food and drink with him and have heard his preaching". In other words those who share the Eucharistic banquet and listen to the word of Jesus.
It happens that those Christians who are regular in Church on Sundays and are familiar with the word of the Gospel, they think that they have done everything necessary to enter into the kingdom of heaven without much problem. To these "good Christians" Jesus says
"I do not know you".
This comes to a great surprise for many Christians who think that by taking part on the Sunday Eucharist and by listening the homily, possibly as short as possible, they consider themselves just in front of God and so have all the rights to enter freely that narrow gate.
Really what Jesus is telling us today is that we easily miss what it is most important as follow up of our Sunday liturgies and of our reading his word in the Gospel. That precious food of his body in the Eucharist and in the word of life has to be applied to our everyday life in serving and showing sincere love to all our brothers and sisters in who we love and serve in a concrete way Jesus himself.
By so doing in our humble attitude as the little ones mentioned by Jesus, happy to considered in this world the last ones, we will be the first in the Kingdom of Heaven as Jesus concludes his gospel message today:
"Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those first who will be last"
TWENTY FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
This severe warning of Jesus reported by Luke is addressed to the early Christians who after the initial enthusiasms of the first Christian communities now were forgetting that the door into the kingdom of heaven is a continuous struggle against the mentality of this world which wants supremacy and exaltation. For Jesus his Kingdom is for the little ones, the last ones, the ones who turn like little children and not for the powerful , those who aspire to be always the first and the privileged above all the others.
For all those who look for be great in this world not only the gate is narrow, difficult to enter and very often without success, but this very gate most of the times comes to a close and at any request to enter there is only one answer
"I do not know where you are from".
Again the warning of Jesus here is not so much for those who refuse to follow him or for the evildoers, but as Jesus points out, for those who "have shared food and drink with him and have heard his preaching". In other words those who share the Eucharistic banquet and listen to the word of Jesus.
It happens that those Christians who are regular in Church on Sundays and are familiar with the word of the Gospel, they think that they have done everything necessary to enter into the kingdom of heaven without much problem. To these "good Christians" Jesus says
"I do not know you".
This comes to a great surprise for many Christians who think that by taking part on the Sunday Eucharist and by listening the homily, possibly as short as possible, they consider themselves just in front of God and so have all the rights to enter freely that narrow gate.
Really what Jesus is telling us today is that we easily miss what it is most important as follow up of our Sunday liturgies and of our reading his word in the Gospel. That precious food of his body in the Eucharist and in the word of life has to be applied to our everyday life in serving and showing sincere love to all our brothers and sisters in who we love and serve in a concrete way Jesus himself.
By so doing in our humble attitude as the little ones mentioned by Jesus, happy to considered in this world the last ones, we will be the first in the Kingdom of Heaven as Jesus concludes his gospel message today:
"Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those first who will be last"