TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

[cappie]

Back in 2014 in a speech the then treasurer of Australia gave an interview to Australian radio that the age of entitlement is over.  

We have lived at a time where there is a sense of entitlement in our societies. People believe they are entitled to food, housing, education, health care, prescription drugs, a job, retirement income, unemployment benefits, disability payments, connection to the Internet, and more. If people cannot provide those things for themselves, then they expect the government to supply them. While people can debate the wisdom of providing the services and programs just mentioned, there is little doubt that a sense of entitlement has grown over the years.
 
That sense of entitlement has also effected religion. Some years ago those who wished to be numbered among the saved were expected to keep the commandments of God, and the precepts of the church, to follow the teachings of Jesus, to faithfully attend Mass each Sunday and holy day, to receive the sacraments, to say their morning and evening prayers, to see to the religious education of their children, to follow the moral guidance of the Church, to support their local parish, to perform acts of sacrifice during the season of Lent, etc.
 
Today, that sense has certainly diminished. Sunday Mass attendance has dropped dramatically. The number of baptisms and church weddings has decreased. Many parents no longer make certain their children receive the sacraments. Parish membership, support, and involvement have all declined. The values of Catholics have largely become like those of the rest of society.
 
Of course many reasons can be offered to explain these trends, but perhaps the simplest might be this. Many Christians simply feel they are entitled to salvation and a place in the kingdom of heaven. They do not have to do anything. If God loves us, if God is all good, if God is merciful, then God will not condemn anyone. What a person does or does not do ultimately makes little difference.
 
Yet in this Sunday's Gospel (Luke 13:22-30), Jesus makes it clear that those who think that way, who think they are entitled to a place in the kingdom of heaven are deluding themselves.

In Jesus, God has come—as He promises in this week’s First Reading - to gather nations of every language, to reveal to them His glory.

Eating and drinking with them, teaching in their streets, Jesus in the Gospel is slowly making His way to Jerusalem. There, Isaiah's vision will be fulfilled: On the holy mountain He will be lifted up and will draw to Himself people from among all the nations —to worship in the heavenly Jerusalem, to glorify Him for His kindness, as we sing in Sunday’s Psalm.

In God's plan, the kingdom was proclaimed first to the Israelites and last to the Gentiles who in the Church have come from the earth's four corners to make up the new people of God

Many however will lose their place at the heavenly table, Jesus warns. Refusing to accept His narrow way they will weaken, render themselves unknown to the Father 
 
When Jesus is asked, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" he gives no number, but instead he says, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough." Jesus certainly implies that it takes effort and work to enter the kingdom. The gate is not wide open.
 
Jesus then goes on to say that those who only have a casual, passing acquaintance with him - those who call themselves Christians and define for themselves what that means - will find themselves on the other side of door of the kingdom. They will not be recognized by him. "I do not know where you are from. Depart from me you evildoers."
 
Yes, God loves us, but God expects a response from us. God expects us to live as followers of Jesus Christ and faithful members of his Church.
 
If salvation were something to which we were all entitled, why would Jesus have told his disciples, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28: 19-20)

Jesus is eagerly looking at us today, inviting us to break out of our comfort zones and start striving to follow him more closely.

He only asks this of us because he loves us, and love always seeks the very best for the beloved.

We each have to examine our hearts and see where we have been falling into routine - where in our Christian lives we have been getting lazy.
Whatever each of us decides to do, let's make sure we decide to do something - depending not on our own strength, but on grace.

Jesus will never let us strive for the narrow gate all by ourselves.
He always helps and strengthens us, especially through Holy Communion.
But he needs us to decide to put that strength to work. Jesus is eager to help us through the narrow gate, but he can't do his part unless we also strive to do our part.
 
 

[<3 PopeFrancis]

On 8/19/2016 at 8:24 PM, cappie said:

Back in 2014 in a speech the then treasurer of Australia gave an interview to Australian radio that the age of entitlement is over.  

We have lived at a time where there is a sense of entitlement in our societies. People believe they are entitled to food, housing, education, health care, prescription drugs, a job, retirement income, unemployment benefits, disability payments, connection to the Internet, and more. If people cannot provide those things for themselves, then they expect the government to supply them. While people can debate the wisdom of providing the services and programs just mentioned, there is little doubt that a sense of entitlement has grown over the years.
 
That sense of entitlement has also effected religion. Some years ago those who wished to be numbered among the saved were expected to keep the commandments of God, and the precepts of the church, to follow the teachings of Jesus, to faithfully attend Mass each Sunday and holy day, to receive the sacraments, to say their morning and evening prayers, to see to the religious education of their children, to follow the moral guidance of the Church, to support their local parish, to perform acts of sacrifice during the season of Lent, etc.
 
Today, that sense has certainly diminished. Sunday Mass attendance has dropped dramatically. The number of baptisms and church weddings has decreased. Many parents no longer make certain their children receive the sacraments. Parish membership, support, and involvement have all declined. The values of Catholics have largely become like those of the rest of society.
 
Of course many reasons can be offered to explain these trends, but perhaps the simplest might be this. Many Christians simply feel they are entitled to salvation and a place in the kingdom of heaven. They do not have to do anything. If God loves us, if God is all good, if God is merciful, then God will not condemn anyone. What a person does or does not do ultimately makes little difference.
 
Yet in this Sunday's Gospel (Luke 13:22-30), Jesus makes it clear that those who think that way, who think they are entitled to a place in the kingdom of heaven are deluding themselves.

In Jesus, God has come—as He promises in this week’s First Reading - to gather nations of every language, to reveal to them His glory.

Eating and drinking with them, teaching in their streets, Jesus in the Gospel is slowly making His way to Jerusalem. There, Isaiah's vision will be fulfilled: On the holy mountain He will be lifted up and will draw to Himself people from among all the nations —to worship in the heavenly Jerusalem, to glorify Him for His kindness, as we sing in Sunday’s Psalm.

In God's plan, the kingdom was proclaimed first to the Israelites and last to the Gentiles who in the Church have come from the earth's four corners to make up the new people of God

Many however will lose their place at the heavenly table, Jesus warns. Refusing to accept His narrow way they will weaken, render themselves unknown to the Father 
 
When Jesus is asked, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" he gives no number, but instead he says, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough." Jesus certainly implies that it takes effort and work to enter the kingdom. The gate is not wide open.
 
Jesus then goes on to say that those who only have a casual, passing acquaintance with him - those who call themselves Christians and define for themselves what that means - will find themselves on the other side of door of the kingdom. They will not be recognized by him. "I do not know where you are from. Depart from me you evildoers."
 
Yes, God loves us, but God expects a response from us. God expects us to live as followers of Jesus Christ and faithful members of his Church.
 
If salvation were something to which we were all entitled, why would Jesus have told his disciples, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28: 19-20)

Jesus is eagerly looking at us today, inviting us to break out of our comfort zones and start striving to follow him more closely.

He only asks this of us because he loves us, and love always seeks the very best for the beloved.

We each have to examine our hearts and see where we have been falling into routine - where in our Christian lives we have been getting lazy.
Whatever each of us decides to do, let's make sure we decide to do something - depending not on our own strength, but on grace.

Jesus will never let us strive for the narrow gate all by ourselves.
He always helps and strengthens us, especially through Holy Communion.
But he needs us to decide to put that strength to work. Jesus is eager to help us through the narrow gate, but he can't do his part unless we also strive to do our part.
 
 

It seems if this sense of entitlement sets in, there will be a return to communism.