"Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough."

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

As we get closer to the end of the liturgical year, the gospel readings are focusing more so on the end-times. Today we hear people asking, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" (Luke 13:23) They seem to me to be more worried about other people entering heaven rather than their own relationship with God. The Lord then teaches to enter through the "narrow gate." (Luke 13:24) This, I believe, teaches us to remain focused on the Lord, and to be sincere in our love for God and for others. We're not to worry about other people's relationship with God, but rather our own motivation in following Jesus. It's not always easy to do, but it's what the Lord is calling us to do.

Jesus would go on to mention about the hypocrites who claimed to be his followers but were not sincere in their love for God. They claimed to have eaten and drank in his company. The Lord's response? "‘I do not know where [you] are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’" (Luke 13:27)

The Lord in today's gospel is teaching us to check our motivation in being His followers. Are we doing so just because we're trying to buy our way into heaven? Or are we doing so out of true love of God and neighbor. Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not easy. In order to follow the Lord, we need to pick up our crosses and follow him. It's not easy, like going through a wide gate, but rather, we are to walk carefully through the narrow gate. We need to remain focused on the Lord and our love for Him and following his commands of always loving God and loving our neighbors. It is in this way that others may see our sincere love of God, and then they themselves may feel drawn to act in a way pleasing to God. Is it easy? No! But certainly, it'll have great rewards. 

You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our Gospel for today the Lord is encouraging us to live out our lives in readiness for His eventual 2^nd coming. This could be either the end times when the Lord comes at the end of the world, or the day when we eventually meat the Lord at the end of our lives. Jesus is calling us to live a live a life with Him as the center of who we are, always doing His Holy Will by how we follow Him and the Commandments of God and the precepts of the Church. He’s calling us to follow Him joyfully, always knowing that he’s present to us in all we do. He’s not attempting to scare us into doing the right thing in how we live our lives. He’s just reminding us to continue to love God with our whole being.

We are called to be faithful and prudent servants, living out our lives knowing that God is ever present to us. We, as faithful and prudent servants, are called to have God as the center of who we are. We are to love God always and to love those in our lives.

In our lives we are called to the regular use of the Sacraments, by receiving Holy Communion often, and by the regular use of confession for the times when we may have fallen short. In the gospel, the Lord points out the way of life of those who have turned away from the ways of God. They mistreat other people; they eat and drink to the point of excess and being drunk. These are ways of living the Lord is encouraging us to avoid. But if we do fall short, the Lord is there for us in the Sacrament of Confession to receive his forgiveness and love.

So, as we approach the end of the year 2024, let us always remember to keep the Lord ever in the center of our Lives, and remember that even though we may not know when we will meet the Lord face-to-face, we will be ready to face Him with Love and gratitude for the love he has for us.

The Kingdom of God is at hand for you!

 

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Feast of Saint Luke, evangelist | USCCB

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Luke. He was born of a pagan family and after meeting St. Paul and hearing his preaching on the Lord Jesus Christ, he converted to the Christian faith. Paul was very much influential in the life of St. Luke. As a result, St. Luke would go on to compose one the gospels and would go on to describe the early activity of the church in the Acts of the Apostles.

Paul himself was a convert to the Christian faith due to his encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul was an early persecutor of the faith in Jesus Christ but after the vision of Christ on that Damascus Road, he would preach about salvation in Jesus Christ, and as a result, St. Luke came to faith, and we now have his works in scripture.

It is through St. Luke and St. Paul that we, too, have come to our Christian faith. Christ worked through them and all the early apostles and disciples to spread the good news to the whole world. We, too, are disciples of Jesus Christ and the Lord is asking us to share with those in our life and with all we meet, “The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.” We may not be called to go from town to town as the early disciples were called to do to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, but we are called to bring Christ into the world by how we live out our Christian calling of Loving God and loving neighbor. This is how people will encounter the Lord Jesus Christ.

By seeing us and how we live out our Christian faith, they may feel called to find out more about our faith. It is then that we can share the good news of the Kingdom of God. We don’t need to hang out on street corners with bibles in hand asking people to turn from their sinful ways. We just need to be the visible signs of people who are followers of Jesus Christ, called to love God as he loves us, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. It will be then that they will encounter Jesus Christ.