22/08/2010 - 21ST. SUNDAY IN ORDINARY SEASON - C
1Reading Is 66,18-21 Psalm 116 2Reading Heb 12,5-7.11-13 Gospel Lk 13,22-30
"Father, I want that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world". Jesus has full trust in the Father, up the point that he does not only ask but demands to be heard. It's very strong that "I want" to God. He, who in the garden of olives, renounced for the sour chalice of the passion, here he wants to be listened. He wants his disciples to be with him, he does not say it to them, because they are proud and unable to vigil, they don't have the capacity to remain with him. He says it to the Father: he, to whom nothing is impossible, can give back the disciples to Jesus, who were to run away and leave him alone. "I want them to be with me wherever I am": where is he? We can give different answers to this question: Jesus is in the heart of the Father, Jesus is in the pain of agony, in the rejection from men, Jesus is on the cross, Jesus is in a new life further away from time here on earth, Jesus is on his throne to judge the peoples. He wants that his disciples are with him: therefore we are open to be placed by God in situations of sufferings and situations of a new life, different than that of the world and from the one we might have lived up to now. In these situations we can "contemplate" the glory of Jesus. This, as we know, is the condition that he lives the fullness of the love of the Father. It's in suffering situations that we too can live a great love, a true love. It's living the faith that we can give a free love, even if we get back lack of gratitude. It is by looking at the world with the light of the Word of Jesus, therefore with discernment and spiritual judgment, that we get to enjoy the beauty and the glorification of the Lord. Our contemplation of glory is not only by physical eyes, but the experience of life: we see it from within, by living the same love dimension that he lives. We would enjoy the eternity of God!
The prophets proclaim the Messiah. This is their ministry for the people of Israel.
The same people, according to God's plan, was to be the place where the Messiah
is born, brought up to manifest himself to all peoples and hence be a blessing and
salvation to all men. At the end of the Book of Isaiah echo this beautiful promise:
"all peoples and all languages" will be gathered to enjoy the glory of
God, that is his love that wants to reach all. If the people of Israel won't be
ready to cooperate to his will of saving all, God is free to choose other messengers
even among pagans, and from among them he shall even pick "priests and levites".
These words from Isaiah want to prepare us to listen to the warning of Jesus. There
were those among his people who were happy to belong to but without committing themselves
to listen to God and to do his will; they didn't even want to accept him as the
one who was sent as his Messiah, his spoke man and light. We too understand what
this means, because we too are tempted to think: "I'm a Christian, my grandparents
and my parents are faithful, I have learnt something too and I have been to church,
and this is enough". Today Jesus tells us straight forward that it's not enough
that our parents were faithful and that we might know something about him, that
we have heard something about his miracles or that we have decorated our necks and
the walls of our homes with some image of the cross. These things will not convince
him to open for us the way to his reign. He won't open it for us, not even if we
pray, in fact he can say: "I don't know from where you come"! He shall
recognize us only if we too commit ourselves "to enter through the narrow gate",
that is if we walk with him saying no to ourselves, to our passions, to be solely
his. Jesus answers the curios question about how many were to be saved, by putting
each and everyone in face of his responsibility. He is saying that if I don't cling
to him, I won't be saved, whatever the cost! And I know that to cling to Jesus is
going to cost me to be on the cross: the door is truly narrow. I need to be corrected,
and the Lord won't leave me without it. Corrections make one suffer, but they make
the narrow door more possible because they untie many ties that hinder the way.
The Lord, as a true Father, is worried for our eternal salvation, and makes everything
to work out for us so that we decide and trust ourselves to be helped. He uses the
good and the bad: a word from a friend, a failure, sickness, humiliation, an injustice,
a pain. How many times these things got to make proud men bend low their heads,
and make them humble and acceptable by the Lord Jesus! Then we would thank him even
for the pain and sorrow because they have helped to enter into the joy of the peace
of Jesus and his look on us.
"Give your people the love to obey what you command and the desire for what
you promise, so that in the midst of all the happenings in the world, our hearts
are fixed on the true joy, our Lord, Jesus Christ"!