Tuesday, October 30, 2007

All Things Work For Good For Those Who Love God

October 31, 2007

Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

By Melanie Rigney

We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8: 28-30)

“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’” (Luke 13:39-40)

Piety

Lord, show me Your purpose for me, and let me always keep that purpose in the front of my heart, soul, and mind. Help me be strong and continually vigilant in honoring you.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/103107.shtml

It’s easy to get caught up in the technicalities and specifics of today’s Gospel. Just how many will be allowed to enter through the narrow gate? Will they all be Christians? Does this mean doom for those who are Christians, who eat and drink in Jesus’s company? How can that be?

We discussed this warning against a sense of entitlement earlier this year in group reunion. Simply getting our Catholic cards punched—Sunday Mass, check; Holy Days of Obligation, check; reconciliation one a year, check—will not do it, any more than being rich or politically or socially connected will.

Conversely, we also can spend too much time here on earth wondering whether the Lord will open the door rather than doing His work. If we love God with all our heart and love our neighbors as ourselves, need we really worry? And would we even have time to worry? Should it really concern us today, in the here and now, whether the number is one, 1 million, 1 billion, or 1 trillion who will enter through the narrow gate when the time is at hand? Do we have control over anything but our own receptivity to the Word? Do we need control over anything but our own receptivity to the Word?

Take comfort and find strength in Paul’s words to the Romans: We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

Action

Answer God’s call today. Show Him you love Him by living your faith today in actions, not just words. Take the child of a sick neighbor trick or treating. Arrange to drive a fellow parishioner to church for All Saints Day tomorrow. Do more than eat and drink in Christ’s presence.

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