Weekend Reflections for 8/23/19

Jesus’ Conditions 

In Sunday’s Gospel passage Luke puts three different parables together in a row and the result is a little confusing.  Jesus is on the road making his way to Jerusalem and in one town someone asks him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” Jesus answers with the parable of the narrow gate indicating that it won’t be easy and requires dedication and keen focus on our goal.

The second parable is the story of those who knock on the locked door asking to be let in and the master of the house will say that he doesn’t recognize them. They will counter by claiming they have shared a meal and saw him teaching in their streets and he will tell them to go away. I hear Jesus inviting and calling us to do more than eat a meal and watch him walk by. He wants us to hear his words and take them into our hearts and believe that he is God made flesh. He asks us to love him and show that love in how we treat others. That’s how we are saved.

Fr. Ralph Huse, S.J.