21ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME C

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THE LESSON WE RESIST

LK 13: 22-30

 


I was patiently waiting for my turn to vote and I was at the end of a long line when a person approached me and said: “Sir, why don’t you take the senior citizen’s line? It will be faster for you.” Instantly, I replied: “Thanks, but I am not yet a senior!” Embarrassed, the man apologized. Later I found out I was in the wrong precinct so I transferred to my correct precinct. I positioned myself at the end of another long line there, when a woman approached me and led me to the front of the line saying: “You don’t have to wait back there sir. Senior citizens go first!”

 

At that moment, I decided I was indeed a senior citizen! I voted swiftly and left earlier than the rest.

 

There are lessons in the gospel that takes time for us to understand, conform and receive. And many in fact oppose and resist these lessons. The Lord Jesus says: “Take the narrow road…” Why should I take that? Isn’t that inconvenient and troublesome? There are wide highways available to travel on. The Lord says: “The first shall be the last, and the last shall be the first.” And we think we have no liking for the last; only for the first. We are here to compete and to win the race!

 

We disagree and we resist the message, until life tells us that indeed there is wisdom in falling down. There is wisdom in the saying that “the only way up is down” and “the only way down is up.” But unless we go through an experience when we verify this truth, we do not put trust in these words. Our ego prefers anything, except the going down, choosing the narrow path, standing last in line, changing our ways, and dying in any aspect of life.

 

Even though we are Christians and are familiar with the teaching of Christ in the Bible and in the church, in our practical lives, we opt for chosen ignorance, soft religion, prosperity Gospel, and easy consolations. We fear the sacrifice, the sufferings, the discipline and the self-control that the Word of God proclaims to us. We follow the suggestions of the world… until sometimes it is the hard, painful experience that teaches us where true wisdom lies.

 

Jesus holds the secret for the progress of the soul. The saints learned from him to value spiritual success over material wealth, peace of mind over pride and arrogance, and humility over position and power. St. Therese found her “little way,” and St. Francis his “way of poverty.” They discovered the spirituality of imperfection, the way of the wound. And in the end, their lives manifested the wisdom of today’s Gospel.

 

Let us not be afraid to take the narrow road that leads to life… let us not shun to be last if this will bring us closest to the Lord in the end.

 

 

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