The narrow gate opens wide his arms - Sunday's reading reflection

"For steadfast is his kindness toward us."

What does the image of a door say to us about the kingdom of God? Jesus' story about the door being shut to those who come too late suggests they had offended their host and deserved to be excluded. It was customary for teachers in Jesus' time to close the door on tardy students and not allow them back for a whole week in order to teach them a lesson in discipline and faithfulness. Jesus told this story in response to the question of who will make it to heaven. Many rabbis held that all Israel would be saved, except for a few blatant sinners who excluded themselves! After all, they were specially chosen by God when he established a covenant with them.

Jesus doesn't directly answer the question, however; but his response is nonetheless unsettling on two counts. First, Jesus surprised his listeners by saying that one's membership as a covenanted people does not automatically mean entry into the kingdom of God. Second, Jesus asserts that many from the gentile nations would enter God's kingdom. God's invitation is open to Jew and Gentile alike. But Jesus warns that we can be excluded if we do not strive to enter by the narrow door.  

What did Jesus mean by this expression? The door which Jesus had in mind was himself. I am the door; if anyone enters by me, he will be saved (John 10:9).  Jesus opens the way for us to enter into God's kingdom through the cross where he has laid down his life as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. If we want to enter and remain citizens of God's kingdom, then we must follow Jesus in the way of the cross. The word strive can also be translated agony. To enter the kingdom of God one must struggle against the forces of temptation to sin and whatever would hinder us from doing the will of God (even apathy, indifference, and compromise).

The good news is that we do not struggle alone. God is with us and his grace is sufficient! And why is his grace sufficient?  Because it needs to be.  Our efforts and striving will never be sufficient enough.  Thus, his grace and our cooperation will be sufficient unto salvation.  

As we strive side by side  for the faith of the gospel (Philippians 1:27) Jesus assures us of complete victory! 

(adapted from Don Schwager)

Christian Shemá - Tomorrow's reading reflection

 There are things that evoke an identity, such as the national anthem or the colors of the national flag. Israel’s national identity was, at its core, a religious identity clearly evoked in the Shemá Israel –hear, O Israel [Dt. 6:4-5] quoted by Jesus, himself a Jew, in today’s gospel reading. It remains today an identity quite engraved in the heart of a devout Jewish person.

The Shemá is truly a call to wholeheartedness –with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind– and as such it should also be engraved in our own hearts.

Yet, there is in God’s calling a diversity that corresponds to the diversity of persons, indeed to the uniqueness of each person. 

Unfortunately this diversity of callings/vocations is at times misread as a diversity in the expected degree of wholeheartedness in the response, as if priests/brothers/sisters were called to a wholehearted response, while the rest of the baptized were called to “muddle through” as best they can.

Baptism is the seed of a calling that will develop as the person grows up and to the extent that such a calling is owned and embraced –not automatically. As through prayerful reflection on our lives we recognize both our giftedness and how it fits in our life's context- which is invariably changing at all times, so also we try to see in that the path the Lord is inviting us to follow, and in many cases, the path back to the main path.  

All of this is precisely in order that you love our neighbor as yourself, the second commandment the Lord says is like it (like the Shemá). Then our response, which we already desire to be wholehearted, becomes concretized in marriage, priesthood, religious life, medicine, law, nursing, teaching... The difference among vocations lies not on the side of the expected response, but on the side of the diverse calling we are expected to respond to wholeheartedly.

(Adapted from Luis Rodriguez, S.J.)

Queenship of Mary, Wedding dresses, Baptism, & Wedding feast have in common? - Tomorrow's reading reflection

Did you ever know that a white wedding dress has less to do with the bride's own purity and more to do with linking the Sacrament of Matrimony to the Sacrament of Baptism?  See how this all ties together with the Queenship of Mary that we celebrate today as well as the Gospel of the guests and the wedding feast.

Today’s Gospel text, the one assigned to the day in Ordinary time, rather than a special Gospel of the memorial, is in an interesting way very appropriate to the memorial.  Jesus tells the parable of the King’s wedding feast to presumably challenge the leaders of Israel who cannot see that Jesus is the fulfillment of the messianic promise. The wedding is the “marriage” of God Son and God’s people in such a way that the people are divinized or transformed through the Son into His very being.  The symbol of the wedding garment has long been understood as taking on the life of the Spirit through Baptism (thus the traditional wedding dress is an “echo” of the baptismal gown, as is the alb, and even the pall on the coffin of the deceased).  The symbol of the garment is the symbol for a transformed body (new skin) – so in this case the clothing DOES make the person.  At least it is understood to make the person fully what he or she was created to be – a member of Christ’s body within the Trinitarian life. 

This is the wedding feast!  To show up at the feast without accepting the garment of divine life  (the fellow didn't have to come up with his own garment – it would have been given at the door) is not possible.   In other words, we aren't automatically divinized, there is some action on the part of our own freedom that accepts what God is offering.  One has to embrace the life of God’s reign with Jesus and through the Holy Spirit.  Mary, symbol for the Church, is the “bride” who is crowned queen of God’s reign – and all of us are invited to be as Mary is, perfectly docile to the desire of God for us – which ultimately is our perfect joy in participation at the Banquet of God. 

(Adapted from Eileen Burke-Sullivan)

Medjugorje visionary in Nazareth shares message

Medjugorje visionary, Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic, is on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  But this pilgrimage is different.  For the first time, she is publically sharing her visions because she says the time is now for the people to know what Our Lady is saying to her.  The public was, in fact, very public; 2500 people to be more exact.  And that public included Auxiliary Bishop of Jerusalem, Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo and Archbishop André Leonard of Brussels, Belgium. Mass was concelebrated by 25 priests at the Basilica of the Annunciation where the daily vision is reported to have taken place.  Click here for full text.

I was born poor, I have lived poor, and I wish to die poor - Tomorrow's reading reflection

In Matthew’s gospel, this king is the landowner seeking laborers for his vineyard.  Notice that the landowner is actively seeking workers.  He persistently goes to the market at dawn, then at nine, noon, three, and five o’clock.  He must care a great deal about the vineyard; the work must be important to justify those recruiting efforts!  All of the workers got what they bargained for – and some got more.  Perhaps the landowner was joyful over the harvest and he chose to share it – it’s his to share, after all.  This troubled the earlier laborers because they had envy in their hearts – they did not respect his prerogative for generosity and demanded more for themselves. 

It was St. Pius X, whom we celebrate today, that said, "I was born poor, I have lived poor, and I wish to die poor."  In this statement and attitude, there is no room for envy because Pius X not only does not care that others receive more than expected, but he desired less than expected.  That's the stuff of saints.

It is easy to fall into this trap of envy.  Envy of his brothers seems to have led Abimelech to murder them.  Envy of other lands led Israel to want a king and eventually other gods instead of the Lord.  And envy can even prevent us from the simple satisfaction of enjoying the reward from our own honest work. Envy produces nothing valuable; a desire to take from others makes us poorer.  Let us ask the Lord to renew our souls by delivering us from envy and by opening our eyes and hearts to gratitude and generosity.  And let us be His imitators, too, in persistence for seeking fellow laborers in the vineyard.  

(adapted from Edward Morse)

"The true measure of loving God is to love Him without measure" - Tomorrow's reading reflection

“We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?”

The Gospel reminds us today that we are to love God without measure.  Jesus calls for it.  Peter, in his humanity questions the return on the investment, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Even the first reading shows us that Gideon was questioning his ability to follow God's commands as he says his family is one of the lowliest. “Please, my lord, how can I save Israel?  My family is the lowliest in Manasseh, and I am the most insignificant in my father’s house.” "I shall be with you,” the LORD said to him, “and you will cut down Midian to the last man.”  God will multiply whatever we give him.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, whose feast day we celebrate, gives the perfect answer to these investment questions that Peter and Gideo seem to have. "The true measure of loving God is to love Him without measure."