I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has gone inside
and locked the door, you will stand outside. Then you will knock at the door, calling, ‘Lord, open
to us!’ But he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.
’Then you will say, ‘We ate and
drank with you, and you taught in our streets!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know where you come from.
Away from me, all you workers of evil.’
You will weep and grind your teeth, when you see Abraham,
Isaac,and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves left outside. Others
will sit at table in the kingdom of God, people coming from east and west, from north and south.
Some who are among the last,will be first; and some who are among the first, will be last!“Do your
best to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.”
Read:
Isaiah prophesies the restoration of all peoples under one God. The letter to the Hebrews urges us
to view trials and sufferings as God’s corrective. Jesus speaks of entering through the narrow gate.
Reflect:
Jesus says: “I do not know where you come from.” Matthew puts it bluntly: “I never knew you:
depart from Me” (cf. Mt 7:21-23). Could these words be directed to us who have celebrated many
Eucharists (dining with Christ) read the Bible regularly (listening to him), preached and attended
many retreats? How frightening would it be when these words come from God Himself, who has
said that He knew us before we were even formed in the womb (cf. Jer 5:1), that He knows us
by our name (cf. Is 43:1), and that our names are written in the palm of His hands (cf. Is 49:16)! If
our words of faith have not become flesh in us, Christ simply does not see his image and likeness
in us. The best way to jog his memory is by walking the narrow way of doing the will of his Father.
It guarantees that we are counted as his family, and who fails to recognize one’s siblings
(cf. Mt 12:50)?
Pray:
“Lord, in Your Will is my peace.”
Act:
Make an act of faith.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2022