Lk. 13:22-30
“Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.”(St. Catherine of Siena) In today’s gospel, we see Jesus being posed a question: “Lord, will only a few be saved?” (Lk. 13:23) The answer that Jesus gives is that many will attempt, but very few can. Many people claim to have met Jesus.They say that they have shared tables with him, witnessed his teaching on the streets, etc. However, it was not at all sufficient reason to ensure eternity. We need to seek the Lord with all our hearts to become part of eternity. When we seek the Lord relentlessly, we will come to know the heart of the Lord and we will find a place in his heart. Jesus exhorts his disciple to possess eternity and enter through the narrow door, implying that the journey to eternity will be neither easy nor pleasant.It also demands personal effort; we cannot take eternal life for granted.
The second reading, taken from the letters to the Hebrews, exhorts us to accept God’s discipline in our lives. When these interventions happen, we may feel discouraged and abandoned by the Lord. We need to gradually grow into the awareness that God has a plan for our wellbeing. If he allows a particular experience in our lives, it is meant to mould us according to his will. All these narrow door experiences appear to be painful, but when we allow ourselves to be prepared and moulded, we will be graced to be part of His eternity.
We are privileged to be partakers of this heavenly banquet. The Eucharistic celebration is the foretaste of this heavenly banquet. There are millions who are not aware of this banquet. God’s mercy may grab all these people who enter into this banquet in his time. whereas we, those who are blessed with the invitation, have to make themselves worthy to be part of this banquet. If we don’t thrive for it, we may have to listen to the voice of Jesus telling us: “I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!” (Lk.13:27) If we receive this comment from Jesus instead of his welcome: “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” (Mt. 25:23) then that could be the greatest tragedy of our lives. When we witness all the patriarchs, prophets, and all those who lived a virtuous life, sharing this eternal happiness, whereas, those who do not take this eternal life seriously and deny it by their choice, have no other option other than to lose this eternal happiness of being separated from the presence of the Lord.
When we encounter certain difficulties in our faith journey or in our day to-day life, it should become a means for us to grow closer to the Lord. Instead, some of us tend to accuse God and to the extent of abandoning faith because they are not able to reconcile with the fact that being a believer does not mean that there will be struggles in our life. According to them, being a believer means there should not be any problems in life. God should make sure that everything is fine for them. All of the difficulties we face in our lives and faith journeys, Jesus says, will pave the way to eternity. These struggles that we encounter sanctify and purify our love for the Lord and one another. In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, as well as in Jesus’ instruction on beatitudes, he assures us that these struggles are presented as not an end in itself but a means to the glory that awaits each one of us. Therefore, let us earnestly and wholeheartedly seek God, grow in our personal relationship with God so that we may pass through the narrow door and share his everlasting happiness.