Walking with Jesus: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

For Sunday, August 24, 2025

Isaiah 66:18-21; Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13; Luke 13:22-30


How do I view myself in God’s eyes? God considers all of us as His friends. “This is my commandment: Love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” [John 15:12-14] This is God’s vision. Is it mine? Some points to ponder:

• The vision of a disciple must be the vision of God.
• My vision cannot be small-minded — I must see with wide-angle lenses.
• God offers the grace of salvation to ALL, including people I don’t know, don’t like, or are mean to me — and all others.
• God’s saving grace is unbounded — limitless. It reaches out to those whom the People of God not only distrust but even sometimes despise.
• Do I feel that only those in the right groups, who believe the correct religious doctrines and follow an approved way of life, should be in the company of the saved? God doesn’t.

There is something dangerous about being smugly convinced of our own salvation because we have followed the rules, making us feel confident in the moral failure of another. The Gospel warns us against such judgment. Isaiah shows clearly that salvation comes from God and not from anything we might have done. The Hebrews feel that the misfortune they experience is the consequence of their sinful behavior — but isn’t God loving? Forgiving?

Our entrance into the banquet is a free gift from God, and anyone who receives it as freely given will be welcomed. (That's you and me, along with those I love and those I hate!)

Near the end of his book, Isaiah depicts a great gathering of peoples of every language witnessing God’s glory. He imagines all people united under the one sovereign Lord when God’s reign over all will be fully manifested. These people have been called together by God and will become a sign to others of the glory they have seen. So many have never seen or been aware of Israel’s faith or God Himself. They wonder about the desire to worship this God and the stringent laws that seem to separate and not unite. God has called them all together and God will also call both priests and Levites (teachers) as a group to show How God has touched them. I think of how God has touched me to proclaim and not hide … that I am loved ... to explain and give examples of how this God has touched me. Do I? Why not?

It seems that Paul’s community is undergoing some tough times and can’t put their finger on why. So we personalize what they are thinking: Why does it seem that everything is going wrong? Why can’t I seem to get people to support me? Why am I feeling like “POOR ME” all the time? Paul shares an old proverb to soften the view that suffering is discipline from God by appealing to the relationship of parent and child. It is out of love that they train and discipline — this is going to hurt me more than it does you — and it does, especially when the child reacts: “You don’t love me anymore.” The axiom encourages creatively that suffering is not always the consequence of foolishness or sinful living, but will earn a reward for those who suffer. It seems, unfortunately, that we learn this years later.

Luke is affirming Jesus’ teaching on salvation by answering the question, “Will all be saved?” Jesus introduces His story with an exhortation: STRIVE. He calls upon the strength of an athlete using all his energy and struggling for the prize: genuine commitment. Then we see some surprising reversals the reign of God will bring about: Salvation IS NOT promised exclusively to one group and not another — the contrasts ARE NOT all-inclusive. It will be surprising seeing who will be saved and who will not — insiders kept outside, outsiders brought in, and the biggie — Gentiles will feast and religious elites will not be invited. We — you and me — do not have a safe place. AM I STRIVING to ENTER THE NARROW DOOR? I’ve got to work on loving. I know this, but do I stop? Do I play favorites? Do I play GOD?

So I reflect on:

• Imagine standing at the “gate of heaven” which opens to perfect union with God and neighbor. What does it look like on the other side? Who’s there? What is happening?
• What does it mean for me to enter through the narrow gate? If the narrow gate is less about knowing things about Jesus and more about loving Him, how can I express that love in tangible ways to honor that relationship?

Sacred Space 2025 states:

“All people are invited to the heavenly banquet, and to come to know the Lord, but we are free to refuse. In Hosea 6 we read, ‘For I desire ... the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings.’ No one can ever force us to pray. We must want it ourselves and take the means to grow in it. ‘Prayer is a gift given to those who pray.’ [St. John Climacus]”