TwentyFirst Sunday in Ordinary Time--Liturgical Cycle C

Lectionary Readings

Reading I Isaiah 66:18-21
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 117:1-2
Reading II Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
Gospel Luke 13:22-30

Homily
Jesus went through the cities and towns teaching, all the while making his way toward Jerusalem.

Once again we are reminded that Luke is presenting Jesus “on the road” up to Jerusalem where the events of our salvation occur. We (you and I) are to be numbered among those on the journey to the heavenly Jerusalem, to our eternal salvation. It is a continuation of the commentary on the Lord’s Prayer, as Jesus teaches about the Kingdom come, the Kingdom of God, all those values we hold dear for our own life and for the lives of those most dear to us: family, friends, coworkers – indeed for the world, the Kingdom of God.

As so often happens on the journey in Luke’s presentation, one from the company will ask a question which Jesus reinterprets and answers the question which should have been asked. Remember the lawyer who asked “Who is my neighbor?” and Jesus rather answers how we can be neighborly? “Who among the three was neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

The question asked in today’s gospel, “Are there few in number who are to be saved?” is reinterpreted and Jesus rather answers the question which should have been asked, namely “How can I be numbered among those who are saved?” How can I be numbered among those in the Kingdom of God?

Jesus proposes two images to address the question which should have been asked. The first is that all those on the road with Jesus must strive to enter by the narrow door; the second image is of the would-be disciple who stands outside the little company of travelers knocking on the door “once the master has risen to lock the door.”

We are familiar with the first image. In Matthew’s gospel, we will recall the door (the narrow door) is given its Jewish name, “the eye of the needle.” It’s that little door beside the large double doors of the walled, fortified city. Once the big double doors had been closed and bolted for the night, a desert caravan arriving late would have to unload the camels, pass the merchandise through the small door, the “eye of the needle,” then make the camels get down on their knees and push and shove them through. Jesus said, it was as difficult for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God.

The point of that image and the point of this image in today’s gospel are the same. The Kingdom comes to those who detach themselves (including parishes) from accumulated money and stuff, and enter by the narrow door, “the eye of the needle.” The spirit of detachment, of complete trust in God’s providence when our world crumbles around us, is a requirement for the Kingdom – how we can be numbered among those who are saved.

There is a bit of oddity in the second image, did you happen to notice? One would have thought that it should have read, “once the master has locked the door and gone to bed,” instead of “once the master has risen to lock the door.” This is post-resurrection language and as such the meaning is clear. If we have not walked the road with Jesus to Jerusalem, to the Kingdom come, living his values – being detached from this world’s stuff – we will not rise with him. And so we will be outside knocking “once the master has risen to lock the door.”

“Are there few in number who are to be saved?” Rather, how can I be numbered among those who are to be saved, among those of the Kingdom? Paul writes today, speaking of God’s holy people as “sons” and “daughters,” those who are disciplined to bring forth peace and justice. All those who detach, who discipline themselves from the “stuff” of this world and who walk the Way of Jesus (the values of the new age) will rise to live in the Kingdom of God, here and forever.

--Fr. Pat

Excerpt from "A Catholic's Companion: Liturgical Cycle C" (c)2000 C. Patrick Creed
Published by Watchmaker Press. Maggie Hettinger, editor