Towards Jerusalem
Today’s Gospel reading consists of a few short and pithy sayings from Jesus, as he continues on the road to Jerusalem. At the beginning of his tenth chapter, Luke had already told us that Jesus ‘resolutely’ turned towards Jerusalem, and the journey to Jerusalem occupies a large part of Luke’s account. Today we are reminded that Jesus made his way through the towns and villages, teaching and healing as he went. So it was a very purposeful journey.
Not for the first time, Jesus is asked about salvation or eternal reward. As so often his response is a little indirect: he doesn’t quite say yes or no, but talks about narrow doors which many will not be able to enter. He talks about the master of the house having locked the door. Perhaps here the point is that a response to the gospel is urgently required. Jesus also says – again, this is a common theme – some now last will be first, and some now first will be last.
This theme of reversing the world’s priorities or values occurs again and again in the gospels. Don’t strive for the best seat, you might be humiliated. Don’t look for public acclaim, that’s shallow. Don’t obsess about wealth, but trust your loving God. Don’t try to enhance your position by lording it over others, but be a servant of everyone.
There is a powerful statement of the theme of reversal at the beginning of Luke’s gospel, read at Mass for the Assumption several days ago. That statement, of course, is the Magnificat, Mary’s praise of God. Mary’s song is not just about what God has done for her, but what God has done for all people – scattering the proud, feeding the hungry, relieving others of their dubiously acquired wealth.
How do we live with these ideas of reversal? Our parish’s pastoral plan includes servant leadership and evangelisation. Fifty years ago, Pope Paul wrote that evangelisation meant, among other things, ‘Christians who, in the midst of their own community, show their capacity for understanding and acceptance, their sharing of life and destiny with other people, their solidarity with the efforts of all for whatever is noble and good’. Sometimes that might be quite easy. Other times, it might be difficult or at least inconvenient. But perhaps that’s one way to think of the narrow door that Jesus spoke of – maybe getting through the narrow door means losing a bit of our baggage.
Jim McAloon
