Word Wide Open: The Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (C) - 8/21/22

First Reading (Isaiah 66:18-21)

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.

Thus says the LORD:

I know their works and their thoughts,

and I come to gather nations of every language;

they shall come and see my glory. 

I will set a sign among them;

from them I will send fugitives to the nations:

to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan,

to the distant coastlands

that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory;

and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations. 

They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations

as an offering to the LORD,

on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries,

to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the LORD,

just as the Israelites bring their offering

to the house of the LORD in clean vessels. 

Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? What are signs that God sends us?

Second Reading (Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13)

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews.

Brothers and sisters,

You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children:

"My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord

or lose heart when reproved by him;

for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;

he scourges every son he acknowledges."

Endure your trials as "discipline";

God treats you as sons. 

For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline?

At the time,

all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,

yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness

to those who are trained by it.

So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. 

Make straight paths for your feet,

that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? Why is discipline important in our faith lives? How does God "discipline" us?

Gospel (Luke 13:22-30)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

Jesus passed through towns and villages,

teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. 

Someone asked him,

"Lord, will only a few people be saved?" 

He answered them,

"Strive to enter through the narrow gate,

for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter

but will not be strong enough. 

After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,

then will you stand outside knocking and saying,

'Lord, open the door for us.'

He will say to you in reply,

'I do not know where you are from.

And you will say,

'We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.'

Then he will say to you,

'I do not know where you are from. 

Depart from me, all you evildoers!'

And 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.

And people will come from the east and the west

and from the north and the south

and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. 

For behold, some are last who will be first,

and some are first who will be last."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this Gospel reading? What does it mean to enter through the narrow gate? How can we make sure the Lord knows us? Why are the last first?