A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 39)
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time – August 22, 2004
“They Will Share in the Feast of the Kingdom”
Is 66:18-21 / Heb 12:5-7, 11-13 // Lk 13:22-30
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
In the Poverello News (February 2004), I read this beautiful story, which illustrates the reality of a personal, total response to God’s offer of salvation presented in today’s Gospel reading.
On May 10, 1748, a ship was being violently buffeted by a brutal storm. The captain of the vessel, thinking that death was imminent, prayed in desperation. The captain, John Newton, was not the praying kind. Nicknamed “The Great Blasphemer”, he was a debauched, profane seaman who plied the most despicable trade imaginable: he was a slave trafficker. After his fervent prayer, the storm ceased and the sea calmed. Newton’s deliverance from death had a profound effect on him. He contemplated his life and saw, perhaps for the first time, the full extent of his misery, corruption, and moral ruin. That day was a turning point in his life, a day that ultimately led him to reject his loathsome profession, enter Christian ministry, and later become a key influence in the life of William Wilberforce, a man who had a major role in abolishing slavery in England. However, Newton is not known for his biography. He is best remembered for a hymn he composed. That hymn is today sung all over the world, heard mournfully played by bagpipes at funerals, and is still powerful enough to bring tears to many who hear it. The hymn is “Amazing Grace”. Perhaps it has so much force because it is Newton’s heart-felt confession:
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
John Newton’s conversion beautifully depicts the realization of Jesus’ words: “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 who are first who will be last” (Lk 13: 29-30). His wholehearted response to God’s “amazing grace”, which saved a “wretch” like him, enabled him to participate in the feast of God’s kingdom.
Today’s Gospel reading (Lk 13:22-30) continues to exploit the rich significance of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and his rendezvous with God’s divine will of universal salvation. This Sunday’s proclamation begins with the following words: “Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem” (Lk 13:22). The evangelist Luke reminds us that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem where he would fulfill the saving plan by undergoing the passion and death that led to glory. It was in the context of his paschal journey to Jerusalem that someone asked Jesus the common enough question: “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” (Lk 13:23). Jesus did not answer him directly, but prodded him with an astounding challenge: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough” (Lk 13:24). The speculative, almost irrelevant question addressed to the Divine Master as he was making his way to Jerusalem gave him the opportunity to underline the necessity of responding to the call of God’s kingdom, which is offered to all.
Regarding the challenge “strive to enter through the narrow gate”, Aelred Rosser comments: “The implication of the narrow gate is that the passage is not built to accommodate throngs indiscriminately, as a wider entrance would. The narrow gate is open to all, but only those who seek it (rather than the easier wider gate) are admitted … The kingdom of God is a choice to be made.” Indeed, the gift of salvation is not an indiscriminate prerogative. Salvation is for all and God wills to save all, yes, but the divine saving love demands a response. The gift of salvation must be willingly and fully embraced. The biblical scholar, Samuel Oyin Abogunrin explains that the term “strive” (in Greek, agonizesthe) is the word from which the English “agony” is derived. According to him: “The struggle to enter must be so singularly motivated and focused as to be described as agony that involves the whole person: body, soul, and spirit. Christian life is a daily struggle to rise to a higher spiritual plain. It is wrong to sit back and relax after we have made a personal commitment to Christ. We cannot remain stagnant in our loyalty to God’s kingdom; unless we move forward we shall move backward.”
This Sunday’s Gospel passage also contains the sad case of those who had been under the illusion that they were following Jesus but had maintained only a loose relationship with him. Jerome Kodell remarks on the unfortunate situation of the rejected ones: “They ate and drank with him, indeed, but with no intimate relationship; they heard his teaching but did not accept it as the word of God to be put into practice (8:21). Jesus’ harsh words to you evildoers are meant as a challenge to the readers of Luke’s Gospel to redirect their steps toward Jerusalem with Jesus while there is still time.
Indeed, the invitation to God’s kingdom contains a sense of urgency. Aelred Rosser asserts: “We have a taste of carpe diem literature here. Seize the day! The mini-parable makes the point that we must acknowledge Jesus as master when the opportunity, call, or challenge comes. It’s possible that we will no longer recognize them when they come. God will never stop offering moments of grace, and the Spirit will prompt us all our lives with impulses to reform and do the right thing. The danger is not that grace will dry up and the opportunity for eternal happiness will be withdrawn. No, God is faithful. The danger is that we will dry up and will develop such a thick crust of insensitivity that grace will have difficulty soaking in. And yet, in the end, it is God’s will to save us. This is the good news. It is never too late.”
The Gospel reading that contains the speculative question whether salvation was for the few concludes with a statement on universal salvation. According to the authors of Days of the Lord, vol. 6: “God wants all to be saved, every nation and tongue to gather around to share in his glory. The prophetic oracle read at the beginning of this Sunday’s liturgy insistently reaffirms that such is the plan of God. This divine project has had its realization in Jesus Christ, who died in Jerusalem in order to reunite all the scattered children of God and to welcome them to the banquet table in the kingdom … The mystery of salvation: what is impossible for us is actually done by God. The mystery celebrated in the Eucharist frees us from sin and leads us toward the banquet hall in the kingdom, while we even now share in the Lord’s Supper.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. Do I submit to the discipline of the narrow gate that leads to the feast of God’s kingdom?
B. Do I acknowledge the opportunity, call and challenge that come my way in accordance with God’s saving plan? Do I respond to the “amazing grace” that comes from his forgiving love?
C. Do I believe that God wants all to be saved, every nation and tongue gather around him to share in his glory? What do I do personally and concretely to contribute to the mystery of universal salvation? Do I participate in the feast of God’s kingdom with joy and gratitude?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
your beloved Son Jesus Christ challenged us
to enter through the narrow gate that leads to salvation.
We choose to enter through the life-giving discipline of his paschal sacrifice
that we may have a share
in the feast of your kingdom.
Help us to be sensitive to your amazing grace
and respond to it wholeheartedly.
May we commit our entire being
to promote your plan of universal salvation in the here and now
so that we may truly experience the reality of the messianic pronouncement:
“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” (Lk 13:29).
Assembly: With joy we come to the feast of your kingdom.
May the saving mystery we celebrate in the Eucharist
free us from sin,
lead us toward the banquet hall in your kingdom
and enable us to satisfy the world’s hunger
for the bread of life and the cup of salvation.
Leader: You are the Lord of the banquet
and you preside at the table in your kingdom forever and ever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“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” (Lk 13:29).
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray that all those called to salvation may have the grace to respond to the paschal discipline that leads to the banquet of God’s kingdom.
B. ACTION PLAN: Study the text of John Newton’s “Amazing Grace” and sing it in a spirit of prayer.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US