THE TWO WAYS

June 22, Tuesday

TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

      Lot takes the rich, fertile plain that will be destroyed, Abraham the stony hills that his people will possess.

      The moralizing theme of the two ways, familiar to Jewish thought and also to Christian thinking from the early Church to the present – for example, Ignatian spirituality – underlies the readings today. Jesus says that there is an easy and spacious road that leads to perdition and a narrow, arduous road leading to life. Today’s wealthy countries have created themselves a life of comfort that is on the way of becoming self-destructive of nature, resources, and humankind itself. Would greater restraint not allow everyone on earth to live a life worthy of people, of the sons and daughters of God? Which way is ours?

 

First Reading: Genesis 13:2,5-18

By now Abram was very rich, loaded with cattle and silver and gold.

Lot, who was traveling with Abram, was also rich in sheep and cattle and tents. But the land couldn’t support both of them; they had too many possessions. They couldn’t both live there—quarrels broke out between Abram’s shepherds and Lot’s shepherds. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living on the land at the time.

Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we’re family. Look around. Isn’t there plenty of land out there? Let’s separate. If you go left, I’ll go right; if you go right, I’ll go left.”

Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well-watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God’s garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east.

That’s how they came to part company, uncle and nephew. Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom.

The people of Sodom were evil—flagrant sinners against God.

After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, “Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west. Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever. I’ll make your descendants like dust—counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth. So—on your feet, get moving! Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I’m giving it all to you.”

Abram moved his tent. He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to God.

 

Gospel: Matthew 7:6,12-14

“Don’t be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you’re only being cute and inviting sacrilege.

“Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get.

 “Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.

 

Prayer

Lord our God,
you ask us through your Son Jesus Christ:
which road do you want to take:
the one that is undemanding and effortless,
or the road and the gate
that are narrow and difficult
and full of obstacles?
Lord, whatever road or gate it is,
let it be that of your Son,
for he is our Lord for ever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

The Narrow Gate
Jesus’ sermon on the mount is coming towards its conclusion with a series of warnings. Matthew was consistent in underlining Jesus’ emphasis on the dignity of every person – men and women, Pharisees as well as tax collectors, the healthy as well as the lepers, the blind, the lame. All lives matter – because life comes from God.
Each of us is created by God, and thus we believe that all human life is sacred; holy. We are created in God’s image and likeness. Each person is thus a reflection of the Divine. In fact, each person is more than a reflection of God, we carry a spark of the Divine within us.

The Roman way boasted of its triumphal gates and well-paved roads. Yet, the Roman way led ultimately to destruction. But, the choice for the Kingdom of God was difficult. Only a minority of people choose this, and their way of life would be opposed. They would know bitter criticism, opposition and even persecution.

It is easy to see how Jesus moves from the simple instruction regarding holiness, to give us the well-known ‘golden rule’: “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.” If we believe each human person is holy, each person deserves our respect and acknowledgement of their dignity.

Society is failing today on so many levels to treat every human person, from conception to natural death, with dignity and respect. Sadly, ‘throwing what is holy to swine is becoming a culture today. Abortion takes the lives of millions of unborn children each year. Wars and violence take too many lives. Every possible form of ‘entertainment’ is available today, from abuse of drugs and alcohol to various addictions; all of which diminish the dignity of the human person – and we carelessly throw what is holy to the swine.

The dignity and sanctity of the human person is rooted in the Creator. He invites us today to
“Enter through the narrow gate.” And that gate is Jesus himself. Remember him telling us: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

 

Video available on Youtube: The Narrow Gate