“‘Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.’ … ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate’ … ‘… I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see My Glory.'”
MASS READINGS 8.21.16 – FIRST READING: Isaiah 66:18-21 – PSALM 117:1, 2 – SECOND READING: Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 – GOSPEL: Luke 13:22-30
FIND A MASS: MassTimes.org – FIND A MASS: TheCatholicDirectory.com
SUNDAY TV MASS: Heart of the Nation (Wisconsin)
LINKS & RESOURCES
- FAITHLINK DailyGospel.org; Saint Caesarius of Arles Gospel commentary: “Jesus passed through towns and villages teaching”- Sermons 7; CCL 103, 37f
- FAITHLINK St. Anselm’s Abbey/Father Boniface O.S.B.: Homily, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug. 11, 2013
- FAITHLINK St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology: “Gateway to Life: Scott Hahn Reflects on the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time”
FIRST READING
FIRST READING: Isaiah 66:18-21
The Holy Prophet Isaiah proclaims God’s Will to proclaim His Glory to all nations, and to bring all nations to Him as an offering.
Thus says the LORD:
… 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:
… 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,
… to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the LORD …
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
SECOND READING
SECOND READING: Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
We are reminded to welcome God’s Guidance and Intervention in our lives, including when God Disciplines us as a father disciplines his children.
‘… do not disdain the Discipline of the Lord
or lose heart …
for whom the Lord loves, He disciplines;
* * *
Endure your trials as ‘discipline’;
… later [discipline] brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who are trained by it.… strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.
Make straight paths ….
We are exhorted to take heart and forge ahead with resolve to follow God and carry out what He calls us to.
At the same time, this is not a formula for submissiveness or quietism, but rather heroic perseverance.
GOSPEL
Jesus cautions that not all will enter into Eternal Life, including some who felt they knew Him, even though they truly did not.
At the same time, even as some are excluded, among those who will be included will be those who come to Christ later.
‘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,
… will you stand outside knocking and saying,
‘Lord, open the door ….’
… 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.
… people … from the east and the west
… the north and the south
… will recline at table in the Kingdom of God. …
Those excluded are addressed as evildoers.
We also see that Christ exhorts us to strive; Jesus tells us, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.”
So the message from Christ is not passive acceptance of evil, but a rejection of evil. And Christ does not heartlessly reject us for our sinfulness, but rather calls us to strive to follow His Law of Love, to show we love God by keeping His Commands.
There is a great Divine Inclusiveness that welcomes persons from wide-ranging geographic origins, and implicitly from wide-ranging origins in other respects.
Yet the defining framework is to exclude evildoers, and the defining action for us is to strive, to strive to enter the narrow gate. Doing so means persevering to follow God’s Will, including following His Commands, and His Law of Love.
More Resources
- Find a Mass: MassTimes.org
- Find a Mass: TheCatholicDirectory.com
- VIDEO: Sunday Mass – Basilica in Washington, D.C.
- VIDEO: Sunday Mass – Passionists (New York)
- VIDEO: Diocese of Sioux Falls, including Sunday Masses
- VIDEO: Sunday Mass – University of Notre Dame
- VIDEO: Daily Mass – Toronto
- VIDEO: Daily Mass – Boston/Catholic TV
[Scripture passages excerpted or adapted from the NABRE, available online from the USCCB, which provides the following rights statement:
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.]
[featured image is file photo]
