Scripture Reflection, August 26: A Faithfully Present Christ

Scripture Readings:
Isaiah 66: 18-21
Psalm 117
Hebrews 12: 5-7, 11-13
Luke 13: 22-30

There are intriguing dynamics that are part of being in the company of other people. Sometimes we can spend long hours in the company of others and yet never really be present to them or feel that they are present to us. We can simply exist alongside of them without making much of a personal connection. At the same time, all of us know people whom we do not see very often, yet our experience of their presence is quite real and enduring. When we see them again, it is as if we were never apart – as if we just saw them yesterday.

Earlier this summer I spent a week at Cape Cod with some family members. I always enjoy watching families on vacation, especially at the beach. I guess that vacations can bring out the best in families, as some of the stresses and burdens of everyday life are lessened. I watched fathers teaching their kids the fine art of passing a football, and I saw mothers supervising the careful construction of elaborate sand castles. It struck me that at least for some of these families the days of vacation offered an opportunity for a closer, more personal presence to one another.

In the Gospel reading for this Sunday, Jesus confronts those who have ready access to his physical presence. As he so often does, he speaks to them by way of a parable. It is a story that is meant to rouse their intention. And it certainly must have caught their attention! This time it is a story of a master (“Lord”) who is asked to open the door of his home. As he introduces this scene, Luke reminds us that Jesus is “making his way to Jerusalem.” He is determined to fulfill the mission given to him by the Father. It is becoming ever clearer that Jerusalem will be a place of confrontation and of testing.

In the midst of that fateful journey, Jesus addresses a challenge to those who hear his teaching and share meals with him. He exhorts them to respond to him and his message with openness and a willingness to be changed. He is painfully aware that many of those right around him, those who have easiest access to him, are not really present to him. They are closed to him; no real, personal connection is being made. This is true even among the most religious people of his day. And so Jesus announces, as the prophet Isaiah had announced centuries earlier, that it will be many from afar, many who do not have access to his physical presence, who will come to believe in him and in his Gospel. It will be these people, many of whom are not the religiously privileged of his day, who will respond with openness to conversion in their lives. They will experience his presence in a deeper and more enduring way than some who walked alongside him in his earthly life.

This Gospel is a challenging one for us. It can be quite discomforting, especially for those of us who are regular churchgoers, who come to the table of the Lord and eat and drink with him regularly. It serves as an important reminder to us that the Christian life is meant to be a journey of ongoing response to the Lord, a response that has a real effect in our lives. You and I are meant to live in intimate fellowship with Christ. We are called to be open to the process of ongoing conversion that each one of us needs. All of us face the temptation of walking alongside the Lord but not being truly present to him. Even in our celebration of the Eucharist, we can find ourselves simply going through the motions and keeping the doors of our minds and hearts closed to Christ.

There is a beautiful line in the Opening Prayer for this Sunday’s liturgy. We will pray, “Lord our God … give your people the joy of hearing your word in every sound and of longing for your presence more than for life itself.” These Scripture readings are an invitation to each one of us to deepen our presence to the Lord Jesus in our lives. We are invited to listen for his word and to long for his presence. We are summoned to strengthen our communication with the Risen Lord in prayer – to make our lives an ongoing conversation with Christ. And we are called to allow God’s word to have a real, practical effect in our choices and decisions. We must allow the Gospel to make an indelible impression on our family lives, on the ways we approach our work and profession, as well as all of our other relationships. The Gospel is also a call to make our celebration of the Eucharist, our listening to the word of the Lord and eating and drinking with him in this sacrament, a vital celebration – a real expression of our faith in the Risen Christ.

Perhaps these Scripture readings invite us to something else as well. Maybe they call us to think about our presence to one another, to those people with whom we live and rub shoulders every day. Are there ways in which you and I are being invited to become more present to those whom we walk alongside of at home or work, in the neighborhood or parish community? Do we take the time to ask these people about themselves and their lives and manifest a genuine interest in listening to them? Do we ask them, not just what they are doing, but how they are?

Today’s Gospel likens access to salvation to entry through a narrow gate. The abundant life that Christ offers us demands a genuine response on our part. Yet, even in our sometimes weak and half-hearted response, we still remain hopeful, trusting in God’s bountiful grace. It is God’s grace at work in our lives that enables any response on our part in the first place. We can move ahead with hope and trust because the gate is in fact a person. The gate to salvation is Christ himself. Christ never gives up on any of us. He remains faithfully present to us, inviting us to share his life more deeply.

Robin Ryan, CP