by Sister Mary Kabat
Read Sunday's scripture passage from Isaiah (66:18-21) and Luke (13:22-30) and visualize the people coming to God's Kingdom from east and west, from north and south, on horses, in chariots, upon mules and dromedaries (camels). I can hear the sound of feet upon the ground. Surely we are among them!
But wait! What did Jesus say? "There will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out." Are we in or are we out? Is there a crowd in the kingdom or a small group? It is not for us to decide. It is for us to follow the advice we hear in Sunday's Scriptures from Jesus, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate," and from the writer of Hebrews, "Make straight paths for your feet." Jesus will show us the way to the kingdom.
Take comfort if you are a parent worrying about a child finding the way to Jesus or returning to faith once practiced. Tuesday is the Feast of St. Monica who prayed and prayed for the conversion of her wayward son Augustine. Her son would become one of Church's most renowned saints. We celebrate his feast day on Wednesday.
Chapter 28, US Catholic Catechism for Adults
Honor your father and
mother.
Fourth Commandment
by Sister Mary Kabat
The Fourth Commandment focuses our attention on all the aspects of family life. We know the Catholic family is the domestic church, the place where most of us receive the first proclamation of our faith and the first place we see that faith lived out. The family is the "cell" of the broader "body" of the parish, the diocese and the universal Church. Family members help each other live the faith and grow in faith. God's grace works within the family so all the members can grow in holiness.
As parents love and provide for their children, so children are to respect their parents. Parents commit themselves daily to care for the physical, spiritual, educational, emotional and moral needs of their children. As adults, these grown children have an obligation to care for their elderly parents with loving and generous hearts.
Mary, Thank you for the wonderful imagery you painted of the way to God's Kingdom, and the invitation that we not worry about being in or out but simply follow Jesus' Way, Truth, and Light.
Both reflections are great to ponder.