We see in the first reading a great prophecy of the day of God’s intervention in history, where he would display his glory to people, bringing destruction to some and salvation to others. People from all nations would flock to worship God. No distinction is made, and all have access to the house of God, and all have equal rights to worship and serve him.

Jesus is “the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through him” (John 14: 6). When our Lord Jesus lived on this earth he lived in constant loving intimacy with the Father, his heart focused on the will of God, trusting him completely.

In today’s Gospel proclamation we see this portrayed beautifully where it says that his journey was towards Jerusalem and the Cross, even as he ministered on the way. In all he did, his heart was always fixed on the will and the glory of the Father.

This may be a good time to reflect on our own lives through the lens of today’s Gospel proclamation. The Lord Jesus calls us to enter through the narrow gate. Narrowness implies that we cannot carry baggage with us on this journey of faith. What is the unnecessary baggage that keeps us from giving ourselves completely to God?

Does the Master of the house know us? We may be doing many things to serve God; but are we spending time conversing with him in prayer? Are we listening to what he has to say? Are we immersing ourselves in the Word?

If we were invited to meet an important dignitary we would re-arrange our schedule completely making sure we had ample time to spend with this important person, yet the God of all creation wants to spend time with us and many times we fail to give him priority.

It is the Spirit of God who gives us the call to prayer. But we on our part must put in place the discipline of carving out and allocating time to spend in prayer and to reading and meditating on the Word.

Our God is a good Father who loves us, his children, and wants only the very best for us. Like any loving parent he disciplines his children drawing us back to himself when we stray from him, by allowing certain trials to come into our lives.

When calamities enter our lives we are called to trust in the steadfast kindness and faithfulness of God and to accept them from his loving hands, allowing them to teach and train us in the ways of God, that they may draw us ever deeper into loving intimacy with him.

Prayer: Abba Father, teach us your ways and enlighten our hearts with your truth, that we may have life in you. Amen.