2019년 8월 25일 연중 제21주일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
이사야서. 66,18-21
주님께서 이렇게 말씀하신다. 18 “나는 모든 민족들과 언어가 다른 모든 사람들을 모으러 오리니, 그들이 와서 나의 영광을 보리라.
19 나는 그들 가운데에 표징을 세우고, 그들 가운데 살아남은 자들을 타르시스와 풋, 활 잘 쏘는 루드, 투발과 야완 등 뭇 민족들에게 보내고, 나에 대하여 아무것도 듣지 못하고 내 영광을 본 적도 없는 먼 섬들에 보내리니, 그들은 민족들에게 나의 영광을 알리리라.
20 마치 이스라엘 자손들이 깨끗한 그릇에 제물을 담아 주님의 집으로 가져오듯이, 그들도 모든 민족들에게서 너희 동포들을 주님에게 올리는 제물로 말과 수레와 마차와 노새와 낙타에 태워, 나의 거룩한 산 예루살렘으로 데려오리라. ─ 주님께서 말씀하신다. ─
21 그러면 나는 그들 가운데에서 더러는 사제로, 더러는 레위인으로 삼으리라. ─ 주님께서 말씀하신다. ─”
제2독서
히브리서 12,5-7.11-13
형 제 여러분, 5 여러분은 하느님께서 여러분을 자녀로 대하시면서 내리시는 권고를 잊어버렸습니다. “내 아들아, 주님의 훈육을 하찮게 여기지 말고, 그분께 책망을 받아도 낙심하지 마라. 6 주님께서는 사랑하시는 이를 훈육하시고, 아들로 인정하시는 모든 이를 채찍질하신다.”
7 여러분의 시련을 훈육으로 여겨 견디어 내십시오. 하느님께서는 여러분을 자녀로 대하십니다. 아버지에게서 훈육을 받지 않는 아들이 어디 있습니까?
11 모든 훈육이 당장은 기쁨이 아니라 슬픔으로 여겨집니다. 그러나 나중에는 그것으로 훈련된 이들에게 평화와 의로움의 열매를 가져다줍니다.
12 그러므로 맥 풀린 손과 힘 빠진 무릎을 바로 세워, 13 바른길을 달려가십시오. 그리하여 절름거리는 다리가 접질리지 않고 오히려 낫게 하십시오.
복음
루카 13,22-30
그때에 22 예수님께서는 예루살렘으로 여행을 하시는 동안, 여러 고을과 마을을 지나며 가르치셨다.
23 그런데 어떤 사람이 예수님께 “주님, 구원받을 사람은 적습니까?” 하고 물었다.
예수님께서 그들에게 이르셨다. 24 “너희는 좁은 문으로 들어가도록 힘써라. 내가 너희에게 말한다. 많은 사람이 그곳으로 들어가려고 하겠지만, 들어가지 못할 것이다.
25 집주인이 일어나 문을 닫아 버리면, 너희가 밖에 서서 ‘주님, 문을 열어 주십시오.’ 하며 문을 두드리기 시작하여도, 그는 ‘너희가 어디에서 온 사람들인지 나는 모른다.’ 하고 대답할 것이다.
26 그러면 너희는 이렇게 말하기 시작할 것이다. ‘저희는 주님 앞에서 먹고 마셨고, 주님께서는 저희가 사는 길거리에서 가르치셨습니다.’ 27 그러나 집주인은 ‘너희가 어디에서 온 사람들인지 나는 모른다. 모두 내게서 물러가라, 불의를 일삼는 자들아!’ 하고 너희에게 말할 것이다.
28 너희는 아브라함과 이사악과 야곱과 모든 예언자가 하느님의 나라 안에 있는데 너희만 밖으로 쫓겨나 있는 것을 보게 되면, 거기에서 울며 이를 갈 것이다.
29 그러나 동쪽과 서쪽, 북쪽과 남쪽에서 사람들이 와, 하느님 나라의 잔칫상에 자리 잡을 것이다.
30 보라, 지금은 꼴찌지만 첫째가 되는 이들이 있고, 지금은 첫째지만 꼴찌가 되는 이들이 있을 것이다.”
August 25, 2019
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
Thus says the LORD:
I know their works and their thoughts,
and I come to gather nations of every language;
they shall come and see my glory.
I will set a sign among them;
from them I will send fugitives to the nations:
to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan,
to the distant coastlands
that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory;
and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations.
They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations
as an offering to the LORD,
on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries,
to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the LORD,
just as the Israelites bring their offering
to the house of the LORD in clean vessels.
Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (Mk 16:15) Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading 2
Brothers and sisters,
You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children:
“My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord
or lose heart when reproved by him;
for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;
he scourges every son he acknowledges.”
Endure your trials as “discipline”;
God treats you as sons.
For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline?
At the time,
all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,
yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who are trained by it.
So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.
Make straight paths for your feet,
that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.
Gospel
Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply,
‘I do not know where you are from.
And you will say,
‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
Then he will say to you,
‘I do not know where you are from.
Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God
and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.
For behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last.”
http://evangeli.net/gospel/tomorrow
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
I see today’s readings focusing on the spread of the message beyond its initial audience. In the passage from Isaiah, God calls his people together, promises them a sign, and then expects individuals to go out and share the message of His glory. The Psalm refrain is a call to tell the Good News of the Lord. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews encourages one to view suffering and challenges as personal development. The Gospel implies that salvation is not guaranteed and is not limited to first to receive an invitation.
I read this collection of passages as emphasizing the breadth of God’s welcoming call. Salvation History is not limited to the people of Zion. The problems that Paul encounters frequently grow out of the lack of Jesus’ acceptance within his own people and their institutions. The Gospel seems to make the point that the first (Jesus’ own people) may fail to get what the last invited (the Gentiles) may receive.
A loving God who is eager to expand the fold may not have been the easiest message which a prophet might bring. I think that many of us enjoy being special. I am ashamed to say that I have caught myself feeling better because I have things that others do not. Opening up the God’s kingdom to outsiders may not have been something that was welcome in the first century and my sense is that it is not universally welcome now. I often wonder how I would have reacted as a Jew during Jesus’ lifetime. Religious leaders had a certain amount of autonomy under the Roman prefect. I can see both Jesus and Paul running up against the institutional authorities. Their message called for change and reform. I can imagine how Jesus and Paul were characterized. I think that I can safely assume that varying narratives are not unique to today’s point in time. My prayer today is for openness and wise discernment.
Dear Lord,
Heal me from desires to have what some do not.
Help me to want what is good for all people.
Open my ears and my heart
so that I might be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Give me the strength and courage to live the life to which I am called.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
"THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD" AND THE LORD OF THE DISCIPLINE | ||
| "Someone asked Him, 'Lord, are they few in number who are to be saved?' " �Luke 13:23 | ||
To be saved, we must confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord (Rm 10:9). However, we human beings have trouble saying "Yes" when we mean "Yes" and "No" when we mean "No" (Mt 5:37). We have trouble telling the truth because we speak from our hearts' abundance (Lk 6:45) and our hearts are twisted and deceitful (Jer 17:9). We must find a way to straighten out our twisted hearts so we can truly acknowledge Jesus as Lord. The Lord has given His beloved sons and daughters the gift of discipline. By God's grace, discipline makes "straight the paths you walk on" (Heb 12:13). The Lord works through discipline to make straight even our twisted, deceitful hearts. Therefore, we must "not disdain the discipline of the Lord" (Heb 12:5). At first, "all discipline seems a cause for grief and not for joy, but later it brings forth the fruit of peace and justice" (Heb 12:11). By accepting the discipline of discipleship, we can truthfully accept Jesus as our Lord and our Justice (see 1 Cor 1:30). Thank the Lord for the discipline of our daily crosses (see Lk 9:23), of our vocations, of our call to almsgiving, prayer, and fasting (see Mt 6:16-18), and for our responsibility to forgive and love even our enemies (Mt 5:44). | ||
| Prayer: Father, send the Holy Spirit to teach me how Your discipline fits into Your plan of salvation. | ||
| Promise: "So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight the paths you walk on, that your halting limbs may not be dislocated but healed." —Heb 12:12-13 | ||
| Praise: Risen Lord Jesus, You are our Hope and our Salvation. All praise and glory to You. |
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
Do not risk being shut out
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.
Who will be invited to enter God's kingdom?
Jesus told this story in response to the question of who will make it to heaven - to God's kingdom of everlasting peace and eternal life. Many rabbis held that all Israel would be saved and gain entry into God's kingdom, except for a few blatant sinners who excluded themselves! After all, they were specially chosen by God when he established a covenant relationship with them.
Jesus surprised his listeners by saying that one's membership as a people who have entered into a covenant relationship with God does not automatically mean entry into the everlasting kingdom of God. Second, Jesus asserts that many from the Gentile (non-Jewish) nations would enter God's kingdom. God's invitation is open to Jew and Gentile alike.
Jesus is the door to the kingdom of heaven
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 any one enters by me, he will be saved (John 10:9). God sent his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to open the way for us to have full access to the throne of God's grace (favor and blessing) and mercy (pardon for our sins). Through Jesus' victory on the cross he has freed us from slavery to sin and hurtful desires and addictions, and he has made us sons and daughters of God and citizens of his heavenly kingdom. We are free now to choose which kingdom we will serve - the kingdom of truth and light ruled by God's wisdom or the kingdom of falsehood and darkness ruled by Satan and the world system or society of people who are opposed to God and his laws.
Following the Lord requires effort and commitment on our part
If we want to enter God's kingdom and receive our full inheritance which is stored up for us in heaven, then we must follow the Lord Jesus in his way of the cross through a willing renunciation of our own will for his will - our own life for his life - our own way for his way.
Why did Jesus say we must strive to enter his kingdom of righteousness and peace? The word strive can also be translated as agony. To enter the kingdom of God we must struggle against every force or power of opposition - even the temptation to remain indifferent, apathetic, or compromising in our faith and personal trust in Jesus, our hope in holding firm to the promises of Jesus, and our uncompromising love for God above all else. Paul the Apostle reminds us that our hope in God does not disappoint us because "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Romans 5:5).
The Lord is with us to strengthen us in our trials and struggles
The Lord reminds us that when we face difficulties, trials, temptations, and even failures, we do not struggle alone. He knows our weaknesses even better than we know them, and he is always ready to help us in our struggle to overcome sin and wrong-doing. God's grace is sufficient! As we strive side by side for the faith of the Gospel (Philippians 1:27) Jesus assures us of complete victory! Do you trust in God's grace and help, especially in times of testing and temptation?
"Lord Jesus, may I never doubt your guiding presence and your tender love and mercy towards me. Through the gift of your Spirit fill me with persevering faith and courage to trust you always in all things and in every circumstance I find myself in. May your love set my heart aflame with love for You who are my All."
Psalm 117:1-2
1 Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!
2 For great is his steadfast love toward us; and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever. Praise the LORD!
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: To enter the narrow door, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)
"'Wide is the door, and broad the way that brings down many to destruction.' What are we to understand by its broadness? ...A stubborn mind will not bow to the yoke of the law [the commandments of God]. This life is cursed and relaxed in all carelessness. Thrusting from it the divine law and completely unmindful of the sacred commandments, wealth, vices, scorn, pride and the empty imagination of earthly pride spring from it. Those who would enter in by the narrow door must withdraw from all these things, be with Christ and keep the festival with him." (excerpt from COMMENTARY on LUKE, HOMILY 99)
http://www.homilies.net/
21 Ordinary Time
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C
Luke 13, 22-30
Arthur Tonne tells an interesting tale. Most people have seen the famous photo of Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. It pictures United States Marines raising the American flag on a hill in bloody Iwo Jima during World War II. Many of us too have stood mesmerized by the equally famous heroic size bronze likeness of the scene sculpted in Washington DC.
What is little known is that the photographer Mr Rosenthal was a convert to the Church from Judaism. For his conversion, he was shunned by fellow Jews for abandoning the faith of his people. But Rosenthal was not intimidated.
He wrote, "The day before we went ashore on Iwo Jima, I attended Mass and received Holy Communion. If a man is genuinely convinced of the truth and still neglects it, he is a traitor and that goes not only for my Jewish friends who do not attend synagogue each Saturday but also for my friends who miss Mass each Sunday."
The Teacher was pulling himself through the towns and villages of Palestine. Busily He was teaching all the time. His destination was Jerusalem. There He would keep His long-planned rendezvous with death. He was asked by someone, "Lord, are those to be saved few in number?"
The exhausted Christ, desperately needing a shower and a cold drink, ignored the query. Oftentimes the question put to Him did not touch on His syllabus. But He took advantage of the well-intentioned question to say in effect, "The door to the kingdom is unlocked. Keep in mind it is not wide, but it freely swings open on well-oiled hinges. Those willing to exert themselves will walk right in. No people at any time need stand outside with their noses pressed against the glass door wistfully looking in."
All of us need a re-introduction to the real Christ. Many of us live in a fantasy world in relation to Him. Today's Gospel is as good a teaching tool as any. He is not the naive individual many of us imagine. He is neither a patsy nor an easy touch. Rather, He is a no-nonsense Man who tells it like it is. This Gospel reveals that His favorite sport is not softball but hard ball. Solemnly I apologize to writers of insipid greeting cards verses for sharing the real Jesus with you.
In very blunt language today, the Nazarene informs us that no one has a lock on Heaven. Rather, it is the payoff for a lifetime of hard labor. What our parents or grandparents may have done for the Christ matters not. Everyone must pay his or her own dues. Why should anyone of us have the bonus without the onus? Even in the spiritual life there is no such thing as a free lunch. We belong to what someone has aptly called the Church of the Narrow Door. Given these ground rules, one can see why the Joe Rosenthals of our culture travel first class with the Teacher.
That dog-eared certificate of Baptism in the tin box under the bed is not necessarily a passport into the next life. At best, it is only the first few pages in a six hundred page autobiography everyone of us is writing each day. After all, almost all of us here did not consciously choose Baptism like Mr Rosenthal. Why then should it give us a guaranteed leg-up on everyone else in the neighborhood?
Those who think, an author suggests, that they have the heavenly seating chart arranged, are in for quite a shock.
one does not need to be a genetic scientist to identify the DNA of today's Gospel. As we are advised, the Christian life is forever a task of putting one foot in front of the other and one hand on top of another. As Will Rogers puts the case, even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if all you do is just sit there.
Some years ago I said a weekday Mass in Rhode Island. Among the worshipers was Felix de Welden. He is the celebrated sculptor responsible for the bronze image of Rosenthal's Iwo Jima picture in Washington, DC. He, like Mr Rosenthal, was just paying his dues. He attends Mass daily.
However, do not grow discouraged as you attempt often with little success to put on Christ. "The only way to fail," says St Teresa of Avila, "is to stop."
Frjoeshomilies.net
21 Ordinary Time
Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time: Embracing Our Christianity
"Oh, poor us, poor us," they moaned. "This is all so hard," they complained. "We are questioned for our beliefs, and we are often outright persecuted for our faith. Oh, poor us, poor us. We go to the market place and can't buy the best meat because it was part of a pagan sacrifice. Oh, poor us, poor us. Our parents and grandparents were so excited by this new faith, this Christianity, but we are not all that excited. We put up with it though, just in case it is right. But it is such a struggle to be Christians. Oh, poor us, poor us."
The people doing the complaining were those to whom today's second reading was addressed. These were Christians of Hebrew background living throughout the Roman Empire. Their fellow Jews had ostracized them. The pagan Romans were sporadically persecuting them. The original apostles were all dead, most of them killed by the Romans. And it seemed that each new leader of a Church in this or that city, particularly in Rome, were given a death sentence by being made bishop. Eleven of the original twelve were martyred. Ignatius from the second largest city in the Empire, Antioch, would be fed to the beasts in the Coliseum. The first thirty-one Bishops of Rome, the first thirty-one popes, would be put to death. Now there were rumors that Christians were to be persecuted throughout the empire.
The people to whom the Letter to the Hebrews was addressed also complained that they couldn't join in with the festivals of the people of their country. They were told that they couldn't be Christians and live like pagans. So these Hebrews complained.
"Knock it off," says the author of the Letter to the Hebrews. "Shore up your drooping arms and firm up your knocking knees." Their body language showed how they felt. "Stop moping around," Hebrews says. "Instead, trust in God. If you are called to be a witness to God with your life, it will unite you closer to Him than you could ever imagine." only a relative few would become martyrs in that way. Most of them were called to give witness to Christ by the way they lived their lives.
So, would this living of the Christian life be easy? No, nothing worthwhile is easy. Everything of value has its price. In today's Gospel, Jesus called the price the narrow gate. The narrow gate is not the popular gate, but it is the only one that leads to God. Many people choose the wide gate, the way that everyone seems to be going. These are the people who justify their immorality with the "everyone's doing it," mentality. Many people think that they can ignore God throughout their lives, that they can avoid sacrificing for others, that they can live in their selfishness. Simply put, they choose to live like pagans. They assume that God will not reject them when their lives come to an end, but they forget, they have already rejected God. They are not on the inside of the Banquet Hall because they have chosen to be outside the Kingdom of God.
We cannot be the people of the wide gate. We have been given the call, the grace, to enter into God's presence. But the way to get there is not easy. The gate is narrow. It demands sacrifice. It demands saying "No" to our own lower instincts. It demands saying, "No", to the popular but immoral crowd.
It is sad how we recognize the work necessary for the physical necessities of life, but we refuse to recognize the work that is necessary to attain the reason why we were created. We think that the goal of our lives, union with God, should be easy. We recognize the hard work that is necessary for a person to become a lawyer or a doctor. We know that there is no easy button to push in med school or law school. We know that even the most intelligent of our young people have to work extremely hard to receive an academic scholarship. Even in the area of sports we recognize that what might appear easy on the football field during an NFL game on Sunday is the result of months of work in the classroom, in the weight room and on the practice field. What we see on the athletic field is a culmination of lives of hard work. We tell our young athletes, "No pain, no gain." But we think that the maxim only applies to athletes, or scholars. It's deepest application is to Christianity.
We need to embrace our Christianity with enthusiasm. We need to stop complaining about our sacrifices and look to the Cross of Jesus Christ. The book of the cross is the wisdom of the Christian.
We are Catholics. We are Christians in Christianity's purest form. We have purpose and meaning and beauty in our lives. We have Jesus Christ. And He has us. Our arms cannot be drooping. They need to be raised high in praising the one who calls us. Our knees should not be knocking. They need to be high stepping, marching through that narrow gate to our God.
Then, when it comes time for the final Banquet of the Lord, when our lives come to an end, we will find ourselves inside, united to Jesus at the feast of Love that is the Eternal Union with God.
Stmaryvalleybloom.org
* Available in Spanish - see Spanish Homilies
21 Ordinary Time
To Serve As Christ
Bottom line: To serve as Christ means not just imitating Christ, but that Christ himself is serving through us.
This weekend I am showing the video for the Called to Serve as Christ campaign. It's a major campaign to meet the needs of elderly priests and sisters. As you will hear Archbishop Bishop Sartain explain, the phrase "as Christ" means something more than imitating Christ. It refers to the fact that through faithful Christians Christ serves others.
Last week I asked some parishioners to make phone calls on my behalf. In a sense they phoned as Father Bloom. I was acting through them. How much more does Christ act through us. Christ worked - and continues to work - through our elderly priests and sisters. With that in mind I ask you to give your attention to this video about the Called to Serve as Christ campaign.
That young man, Andrew Scott, explained it well: Just like we take care of our parents so we care for our spiritual mothers and fathers. In coming weeks you will hear more about how you can help. For today I ask you take home this message: Our elderly priests and sisters did God's work when they followed the call to serve as Christ. It's what we heard today in the prophet Isaiah: "I come to gather people of every language; they shall come and see my glory". Amen.
Alexmcallister.co.uk
21 Ordinary Time
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
The readings today seem to be about salvation and the question of the villager is as relevant today as when it was first posed: Will only a few be saved? And then there is the question behind the question: Will I be saved? Jesus' reply is paradoxical, but we expect no less from him. He says that many will try to enter the door of heaven but will not succeed.
Yet hundreds upon hundreds will come from the four corners of the globe and take their places at the heavenly banquet. His message is that salvation is meant for all; because, as we know, Jesus came to open up the way to salvation for all people, for each and every person he created. But in the parable there is a warning, a severe warning that we cannot presume to be saved.
When we arrive at the gate of heaven the master of the house might say to us: I do not know you. And we might find ourselves pleading that we were good Catholics and did everything prescribed and yet still the master might say: I do not know you. And people from the east and the west and from the north and the south will take their places in the Kingdom ahead of us.
The message is that it is easy to delude ourselves, easy to think that, because we have followed the rules, we have earned our place in heaven. We know intellectually that this could never be the case because we realise that salvation is entirely in the free gift of God. It can never be earned; it can never be presumed.
The key, of course, is in the simple words: I do not know you. It is all about our relationship with God, he wants to know us, he wants to love us. He does know us and he does love us, the life and death of Jesus proves that this is so. But in turn God wants us to know him and love him freely and without compulsion.
Unfortunately, we are poor creatures, we are easily deluded and we are world experts at deluding ourselves. We can convince ourselves that we are doing all the right things; we can convince ourselves that hours spent in prayer and in doing good to others has earned us great credit in heaven and that our place in heaven is already assured.
We completely forget that in comparison to the love God has for us anything we do is a mere nothing. We completely forget that in the great plan of God our piffling plans and projects are of no significance. We completely forget that we cannot earn or bribe our way into heaven by novenas and prayers and penances. What God wants from us is love and for this we need hearts. We need hearts large enough to praise and glorify and bless his holy name.
Hearts full of compassion for others; hearts that beat with passionate love for those nearest to us; hearts that will make enormous sacrifices without a second thought. Hearts that are filled with sorrow for the many sins we have committed, hearts that pour out appeals to God imploring him for mercy.
We can count ourselves among the privileged few. We are so fortunate to have come to knowledge of and believe in Christ and in his Church and to have heard the message of the Gospel in all its fullness.
As members of the Catholic Church we can feel proud to be in direct line with the Church of the Apostles. We know that the Holy Spirit keeps the Church faithful to the Gospel in matters of faith and morals and we feel privileged to be the inheritors of this the richest of all the Christian traditions.
We know that this greatest of all gifts brings with it heavy responsibilities. We know that we must keep faith with Christ and follow the teaching and prescriptions of the Church. We know that we have a duty to bear witness to his name in the world. We know that we have the obligation and the duty to remain faithful to all that has been handed down to us.
But being the recipients of these advantages guarantees us nothing in relation to heaven. Whether we be laity, religious, priests, bishops or popes we have no built-in advantage over anyone else. The biggest sinner could get into heaven far ahead of us if he truly repents.
They way in is to be found only in Christ: I am the way, the truth and the life. He is the way, and it is only through him and with him and in him that we will be saved. And he wants us to be saved. This is why he took the form of a slave and emptied himself and made peace by the blood of his cross. He has poured out his life for us and the invitation to us is to pour out our lives for him and our brothers and sisters in the human family.
We live our lives in imitation of him. We learn from the words and actions of Jesus how to speak and act ourselves. We put his words on our lips, we walk in his footsteps, we touch with his hands. We become so like him that when at that most significant moment of our lives the master opens the door to our knock he does not see us, instead he sees his Son.
We have emptied ourselves of all our egoism, all our pride, all our superiority, all our arrogance and have become humble as Jesus was humble, patient as Jesus was patient, loving as Jesus was loving, compassionate as Jesus was compassionate. But doing what he does we have become like him, become his true witnesses and ambassadors on earth.
Although we cannot earn salvation, although we cannot presume it; we can certainly, and indeed ought to, hope and pray for salvation. Indeed we ought to pray for it every day of our lives for ourselves and for those around us.
We have received already so many wonderful gifts from God, let us pray that he will grant us that one, final and best of all possible gifts—the gift of salvation itself.
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