"Hail, Thou boat lovers escape, Hail, thou who sailed to the port Life '"(from Akathistos) Luke 13.22-30: [22] passing through cities and villages, teaching as he walked toward Jerusalem. [23] said to him: "Sir, there are few who are saved?". He replied: [24] "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter, but they will not. [25] When the master of the house will rise and shut the door, stand outside and knocking at the door, saying, Lord, open to us. But he will answer: I do not know you, I do not know where you are. [26] Then you will say, 'We ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets. [27] But he declares: I tell you I do not know where you are. Get away from me all ye workers of iniquity! [28] There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. [29] from east and west, from north and south and sit at table in the kingdom of God [30] And, behold, there are some among the last who will be first and some are first who will be last. "
Dear friends, dear friends, welcome back!
With next Sunday's Gospel (XXI Ordinary Time, August 26, 2007, Luke 13.22-30) we see the scene where Jesus "passed through towns and villages, while walking toward Jerusalem. " If you stop preaching Jesus ends up where people live, your goal is still Jerusalem (Lk 9:51). And it is here that a "said to him, 'Lord, there are few who are saved?"'. There is some pessimism calculated - if only a few are saved, how many will? - Interest and hidden: I'll be counted among these "few" chosen ones?
Questions can also be found in the return of the sacred and religious in Western culture, which also remains shrouded in indifference and theological relativism of values \u200b\u200b(Benedict XVI). Indeed, the focus of the question as quantity e betrays an unavoidable self-reference. The very weakness of the Christian faith today is rooted in a heightened concern for self (including the obsession for the destination 'post mortem'), unable to commit to a sincere relationship with the God of Jesus Christ, that only love is in charge the salvation of every man, wishing "that all men be saved and come to know the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4).
Jesus' answer in profonditài tip. It is not concerned to know 'who' will be saved (and also: I save?), Rather, what does the fact that Jesus himself ("God saves") is the Savior. For this he begins to tell using images and parables.
The first is the famous metaphor: "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter, but they will not succeed." Even if Jesus does not seem to despise a quantitative reading of salvation, the question becomes crucial: if, in fact, the door is narrow, then only one at a time can pass through. No further knock-on effect: the group membership in an ethnic culture, a religion or a church is no longer a guarantee.
But if the focus of the metaphor falls exactly on the measures of the goal, then the Christian faith is the "door stretta” che chiede continuamente serietà e coraggio: “porta stretta è la Parola di Dio quando appare povera e indifesa, senza sostegni di ordine razionale, e richiede pertanto il rischio della fede. Porta stretta è l’amore evangelico che deve raggiungere anche chi non è amabile. Porta stretta è Gesù che oggi vediamo camminare in direzione di Gerusalemme dove dovrà affrontare la sofferenza e la morte” (L. Pozzoli, L’acqua che io vi darò, Paoline, 2006. p 219). Così dirà, infatti, Gesù di Se stesso: “Io sono la porta: se uno entra per me, sarà salvato, entrerà e uscirà, e troverà pastura” (Gv 10,9).
E a noi, che siamo invited to cross it, do not ask a generic weight loss, a moralistic self-simplification. But rather to exercise the same humility that characterized Jesus when he continually relates to His Father. This trusting in His mercy, as Jesus always trusted in the Father, is the ultimate meaning of our salvation. Up to agree to stay even in complex situations (hell), Who never in despair, love, cuddle us forever (Silvano del Monte Athos),
If, then, is the reason why the virgins of the parable , who, not having him with the oil lamps are the wedding room door barred, and an assumed ignorance (25.1 to 13 Mt), the other story is best understood in the response of Jesus: "when the landlord will rise (will awaken) and shut the door, stand outside and knocking at the door, saying 'Lord, Lord, open'. But he will answer: 'Do not you know, I do not know where you are'. " On the one hand, there is an explicit allusion to his awakening that led to his resurrection after his sleep of death to another, the recovery of the metaphor of the door, just applied to his own death and resurrection to be the end impassable limit, beyond which it can no longer be sought in any other forma di salvezza. Prescindere presuntuosamente da ciò che Lui è stato e ha fatto per amore nostro, con la Sua morte e risurrezione, significa autoescludersi dall’amore e dalla salvezza che Dio stesso, in Gesù, ha inteso donare a tutti gli uomini.
Così l’inferno è fatto da tutti coloro che, avendo rifiutato le conseguenze del estremo gesto d’amore di Gesù, ora stanno “fuori” dalla porta: “Allora comincerete a dire: Abbiamo mangiato e bevuto in tua presenza e tu hai insegnato nelle nostre piazze. Ma egli dichiarerà: Vi dico che non so di dove siete. Allontanatevi da me voi tutti operatori d’iniquità! Là ci sarà pianto e stridore di denti quando vedrete Abramo, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. " Even Paul, after all, had noted the negative consequences that a superficial participation in the Eucharistic banquet inevitably means "one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks his own condemnation" (I Cor 11:27).
Thus, the metaphor of the door and go through the parable of the door finally closed following the image of a door completely wide open, "from east and west, from north and south and sit at table in the kingdom of God." The fact is that if salvation is offered to all, not all accept it. For this reason Jesus concludes by saying: "Also, there are some among the last to be first and some are first who will be last." It is a play on words. In the struggle to enter freely and individually through the door of the Kingdom, the first in line becomes the last and the last first. In fact, those who are already existentially last becomes first why this was the condition desired by Jesus, "who being rich became poor for you" (2 Corinthians 8:9, but also Phil 2:6), while those who claimed to be first, or it should ever be found to be, learn to stay in last place, as Jesus "came not to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many "(Matt. 20:28).
his gesture Eucharist will continue to teach us the beauty and grandeur of humility and His merciful eyes watch over us in peace.
Don Walter Magni
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