Twenty-First Sunday In Ordinary Time Year C 21 August, 2022.
Theme: God’s Salvation Is For All.
My Brothers, Sisters and Friends, last Sunday, we reflected on the theme: Acceptance Of Correction: A Way Of Spiritual And Physical Growth. Then, I reminded you that we were relational people who need to promote relational relationships for spiritual and physical strength. Really, nobody knows everything. Nobody, either a leader or a follower, is above correction. Honest correction and humble acceptance improve a person’s lifestyle and productivity. Nobody knows it all. All of us, without any exception, including me, need to accept correction humbly. Today, the theme of our Reflection is: God’s Salvation Is For All.
‘Salvation is deliverance from sin through Jesus Christ.’ This is why Jesus Christ is our Saviour and Redeemer. He is the One sent by God, our loving Father and Creator, to save humankind. Christ, having been sent by God, His Father, he won salvation for us by his life, his death on the cross and his resurrection. ‘Salvation comes from God alone …’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 169). Salvation is God’s free gift to all. God wants all His children to be saved. God wants all His children to be with Him at the end of our sojourn here on earth. This is God’s plan for us. All of us are called to co-operate with God’s designed plan for our salvation.
However, unfortunately, not all the people work for and walk towards the path of salvation. My Brothers, Sisters and Friends, we hear or read such statements as: ‘Safety first’, ‘Better be safe than sorry’. Nowadays, safety is almost an obsession, a preoccupation. People have their savings. They insure their vehicles, their homes, their lives, and people buckle their safety belts faithfully. But what about their ultimate safety, their eternal salvation? It gives you an unpleasant feeling if you miss the bus, train or airplane when you have a planned travel, a planned journey.
Your feeling is even more miserable if you know that it was your own fault because you wasted time doing unnecessary things which could have been done later. Should we not then seriously consider the possibility that we might come too late for the Kingdom of God? Could it happen that though we have been paying our church dues and taking part in the Eucharistic Banquet, we will not be saved? Shall all be saved and you yourselves be rejected? This is what today’s First Reading is telling us. My Brothers, Sisters and Friends, in this sense, we are reminded here that we need to be approaching the Sacrament of Penance, Reconciliation, regularly. Penance is conversion, a realistic and humble look, search, at oneself. Penance is an integral part of the Biblical message and we are to avail ourselves of it, whatever the situation.
Today’s First Reading, the Book of Isaiah 66:18-21, explains to us salvation for all. Here, Isaiah foretells the universality of God’s saving desires. This Reading from Third Isaiah rejects all clannishness, inclusiveness, on the part of the Jewish people. Although they are God’s chosen people, this does not mean that other people cannot be saved. We are to note here that when Jesus Christ, the Messiah, will establish God’s Kingdom on earth, people from all over the world will come to Jerusalem to worship. The early Christians saw this vision fulfilled when the Gentiles joined the Church.
And it will be fully realised when the Son of Man, Jesus, will gather all nations into his own. From observations, oftentimes, we see most people who joined the Catholic Church make those born and raised in the family, the Church, ashamed by being more serious than they are. In the same vein, there are Catholics who leave the Church, but when they return, they are stronger in their faith after their ‘experiences’ where they are coming from. My Brothers, Sisters and Friends, this is a challenge to the members of the Church who are passive in their faith. Thus, those concerned must reflect deeply and have a positive and radical change in their path to salvation.
We should be appreciative to God, ‘For his merciful love has prevailed over us; and the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever’. (Today’s Responsorial Psalm) The Second Reading – Letter to the Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13, tells us about well-accepted suffering. We are urged not to lose heart because of trials, for they are the Lord’s way of disciplining us. ‘My son, do not scorn correction from the Lord, do not resent his training, for the Lord trains those he loves, and chastises every son he accepts.’ (Hebrews 12:6) Suffering and pain are part of human condition. Guided by God, the Hebrew sages, wise people, searched for some insight into the mystery of both mental and physical pain. ‘The discipline of God’ might be one. ‘Whoever spurns a father’s discipline is a fool, whoever accepts correction is discreet.’ (Proverbs 15: 5) Therefore, let us remove our toga of pride and decide totally for humility. It is then we will be able to take to correction and live a positive and concrete life. My Brothers, Sisters and Friends, it is better to be punished now than later. Suffering, if well accepted, may open our eyes to the real values of life as pointed out in the First Reading. We have to be patient with God as He is patient with us. Faith results in a living relationship with Jesus. Let us always remember that in our sufferings, in our pains, we are never alone. The Lord is ever present with us to help and strengthen us. Really, the Lord is our Shepherd (Psalm 23). To be a Christian is to follow Christ while ‘journeying towards Jerusalem’ where he would be crucified. My Brothers, Sisters and Friends, may we never forget Christ’s words, ‘Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me’ (Matthew 10:38). Jesus states categorically: ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life, … no one comes to the Father, but by me’. According to Fr J.J. Hughes, today’s Second Reading, Hebrews, tells us that life’s trials and troubles are signs not of God’s absence, but of his presence.
‘Everything that threatens our peace of mind, or even life itself, is a challenge, an opportunity to grow. Our trials and sufferings are the homework we are assigned in the school of life.’ In today’s Gospel, Luke 13:22-30, Jesus gives a vivid answer to the question he was asked. ‘Lord, will those who are saved be few?’ He answers by placing three parables. The first parable is the one about the narrow door. There are a few conditions if we want to be saved. Consistency in one’s faith is very essential to gaining eternal salvation. The second parable is directed to those who are late. They have not repented in time and miss the boat by their own fault. Such people will be told: ‘depart from me, all you workers of iniquity’. God calls us to constant conversion. The third parable warns Israel not to have pretensions, claims, as God’s chosen people without being sincere and concrete in their followership of God. Only those who repent, both Jews and Gentiles, will be saved. Obviously, once again, constant conversion is part of a Christian lifestyle. Salvation is not automatic. Jesus tells us that salvation depends on God’s saving will rather than on membership in the chosen people and mere external obedience of the law. We have to be positively active in our faith and be open to God always. God’s Salvation Is For All. Salvation is not automatic. We must work for it in Faith, Hope and Love without wavering. Psalm 117 (Responsorial Psalm) Go into the world and preach the Gospel. O praise the LORD, all you nations;acclaim him, all you peoples! Go into the world and preach the Gospel. For his merciful love has prevailed over us;and the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever.Go into the world and preach the Gospel.My Brothers, Sisters and Friends, Rev. Fr Raphael Olabode Aborisade, aged, 63, a Priest of the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti, was called to Eternal Home on Thursday, 18 August, 2022. He was born on 2 May, 1959, and he was ordained a Priest on 8 August, 1987. To God be all the glory for Fr Aborisade’s service to the Church and humanity. May God forgive him his sins and grant him eternal life. Kindly keep praying for Fr Aborisade and all the faithful departed. By God’s grace, there will be Evening Mass and Prayers at 6.00 pm on Tuesday, 23 August, 2022, while the Funeral Mass is on Wednesday, 24 August, 2022, at 10.00 am, at St Patrick Catholic Cathedral, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State. May God continue to bless, sustain, strengthen, protect and guide the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti, Fr Aborisade’s nuclear and extended families, friends and well-wishers. Amen. With confidence in God and Christ being our strength, wherever God leads us, we FOLLOW with joy, commitment and happiness.
Most Rev. Felix Femi Ajakaye
Bishop of Ekiti.