GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 26TH OCTOBER 2016
WEDNESDAY OF THE 30TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
1ST READING: Ephesians 6:1-9
PSALM: Psalm 145:10-14
GOSPEL: Luke 13:22-30
THEME: NARROW DOOR
As he sat leisurely sipping a glass of hard liquor and drowned in a stench of cigarette-smoke, his pastor and a church member knocked on his door. For some weeks a fervent church member of theirs had suddenly become lukewarm and consequently, they had come to pay him a visit and to find out what the problem might be. Responding to the quest for an explanation, the half-drunk man said, “Pastor, your sermon last month was very powerful…You authoritatively told us that we are saved by grace alone and that as believers salvation is a done deal. So here am I celebrating my entrance into the Kingdom of God.”
The teaching that we are saved by grace alone and that human cooperation is not needed has wreaked havoc to the faith of many and multiplied the sins of believers. Proponents of this line of argument hold firmly to the text of Ephesians 2:8 (“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”) and interpret it without taking cognisance of other portions of Scripture like Philippians 2:12, where Paul writes, “…Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
Asked by someone whether only few people will be saved, Jesus, in our Gospel text for today, responded, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then in reply he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!’” (Lk 13:24-27).
Jesus compares salvation to a narrow door and tells his audience, “strive to enter…”. Herein lies human cooperation. It is true that no human being can work out a salvation plan for him/herself. Salvation is certainly a gift from God to us. However, St. Augustine writes, “God created us without us: but he did not will to save us without us.”
The image of a narrow door invites us to shed off our self-centered and selfish tendencies in order to embrace the gift of salvation. It is a call to self-denial and selfless living. It challenges us to live no longer for ourselves but for the one who saves us – Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank you for the gift of salvation. As I yield to the demands of your grace, may I be transformed inwardly and may this show forth outwardly in a life pleasing to you. Amen.
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).