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From: Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13

Perseverance in Affliction

[5] And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons?—”My
son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you
are punished by him. [6] For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and
chastises every son whom he receives.” [7] It is for discipline that you have to
endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does
not discipline?

[11] For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it
yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Striving for Peace; Purity; Reverent Worship

[12] Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, [13] and
make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint
but rather be healed.

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Commentary:

4-13. Following Christ’s example, Christians should struggle to avoid sin; they
should put up with tribulation and persecution because if such adversity arises
it means that the Lord permits it for our good. The letter’s tone of encouragement
seems to change here to one of reproach. It is as if the writer were saying,
“Christ gave his life for your sins, contending even to the point of dying for you;
how is it that you do not put up with suffering, out of love for him? It is true that
you are being persecuted: God is disciplining you as a Father disciplines his
children. But you are children of God and therefore your attitude should be one
of abandonment to his will even when it seems hard. That is the way a Father
brings up his children.”

The main point is that the only important thing is fidelity to God, and that the sin
of apostasy is the greatest of all misfortunes. “Don’t forget, my son, that for you
on earth there is but one evil, which you must fear and avoid with the grace of
God: sin” ([St] J. Escriva, “The Way”, 386).

5-11. Suffering, the sacred writer teaches, is a sign of God’s paternal love for us;
it proves that we really are his children.

This teaching is supported by the quotation from Proverbs 3: 12, taken from a
long discourse in which a father exhorts his son to acquire true wisdom. In the
present passage the father is identified with God and we with the sons whom
he is addressing.

By being incorporated into Christ through Baptism a person becomes a child
of God: this is the very basis of the Christian life and it should be a source of
serenity and peace in every difficulty we meet in the course of life. The term
“discipline” which appears so much in this passage does not convey the full
richness of the original Greek word, “paideia”, which has to do with the
educational upbringing of child by parent, of pupil by teacher, and also the
punishment meted out in this context. Here the focus is largely on the second
aspect. However, it should be remembered that in ancient times education
and instruction always involved the idea of punishment. God, therefore, should
not be seen as a cruel or pitiless father, but as a good father who brings up
his children in an affectionate yet firm way. Adversity and suffering are a sign
that this divine teaching method is at work: God uses them to educate us and
discipline us. “You suffer in this present life, which is a dream, a short dream.
Rejoice, because your Father-God loves you so much, and if you put no
obstacles in his way, after this bad dream he will give you a good awakening”
([St] J. Escriva, “The Way”, 692). If we were illegitimate children he would not
bother to educate us; but because we are true sons he disciplines us, to make
us worthy of bearing his name. “Everything that comes to us from God,” an
ancient ecclesiastical writer reminds us, “and that we initially see as beneficial
or disadvantageous, is sent to us by a father who is full of tenderness and by
the wisest of physicians, with our good in mind” (Cassian, “Collationes”, VII, 28).

When the soul has this kind of attitude, that is, when the trials the Lords sends
are willingly accepted, “with peaceful fruit of righteousness” and it yields fruit of
holiness which fills it with peace: “Jesus prays in the garden: “Pater mi”
(Mt 26:39), “Abba, Pater!” (Mk 14:36). God is my Father, even though he may
send mesuffering. He loves me tenderly, even while wounding me. Jesus suffers,
to fulfill the Will of the Father.... And I, who also wish to fulfill the most holy Will
of God, following in the footsteps of the Master, can I complain if I too meet
suffering as my traveling companion?

“It will be a sure sign of my sonship, because God is treating me as he treated
his own divine Son. Then I, as he did, will be able to groan and weep alone in
my Gethsemani; but, as I lie prostrate on the ground, acknowledging my
nothingness, there will rise up to the Lord a cry from the depths of my soul:
“Pater mi, Abba, Pater,... fiat!” ([St] J. Escriva, “The Way of the Cross”, I, 1).

12-13. This exhortation follows logically from the previous one. It seems to evoke
the world of athletic competition referred to at the beginning of the chapter. Verse
12 is like a shout of encouragement to a runner who is beginning to flag in the
middle of a race.

The author uses a quotation from Isaiah (Is 35:3) in which drooping hands and
weak knees indicate moral decline (cf. 2 Sam 2:7; 4:1; Jer 47:3). He then goes
on to use words from Proverbs 4:26 to encourage right living: “make straight steps
with your feet”: if the Christian perseveres in his efforts even if he is somewhat
“lame”, that is, even if he is someone whose faith is weak and is in danger of
apostasy, he will be able to return to fitness in spite of everything.

However, this exhortation can be taken as addressed not only to those who need
to mend their ways but also to Christians in general, who should be exemplary
and never in any way be a stumbling-block to their weaker brethren.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Luke 13:22-30

The Narrow Gate

[22] He (Jesus) went on his way through towns and villages, teaching,
and journeying toward Jerusalem. [23] And some one said to him, “Lord,
will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, [24] “Strive to
enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and
will not be able. [25] When once the householder has risen up and shut
the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock at the door,
saying, ‘Lord, open to us.’ He will answer you, ‘I do not know where
you are from.’ [26] Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in
your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ [27] But he will say, ‘I
tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me, all you
workers of iniquity!” [28] There you will weep and gnash your teeth,
when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the
kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. [29] And men will come
from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the
kingdom of God. [30] And behold, some are last who will be first, and
some are first who will be last.”

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23-24. Everyone is called to form part of the Kingdom of God, for he
“desires all men to be saved” (1 Tim 2:4). “Those who, through no fault
of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who
nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart and, moved by grace, try in
their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of
their conscience: those too may achieve eternal salvation. Nor shall
divine providence deny the assistance necessary for salvation to those
who, without any fault of theirs, have not yet arrived at an explicit
knowledge of God, and who, not without grace, strive to lead a good
life. Whatever good or truth is found among them is considered by the
Church to be a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who
enlightens all men that they may at length have life” (Vatican II,
“Lumen Gentium”, 16).

Certainly, only those who make a serious effort can reach the goal of
salvation (cf. Lk 16:16; Mt 11:12). Our Lord tells us so by using the
simile of the narrow gate. “A Christian’s struggle must be unceasing,
for interior life consists in beginning and beginning again. This
prevents us from proudly thinking that we are perfect already. It is
inevitable that we should meet difficulties on our way. If we did not
come up against obstacles, we would not be creatures of flesh and
blood. We will always have passions that pull us downwards; we will
always have to defend ourselves against more or less self-defeating
urges” ([St] J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 75).

25-28. As at other times, Jesus describes eternal life by using the
example of a banquet (cf., e.g., Lk 12:35ff; 14:15). Knowing the Lord
and listening to his preaching is not enough for getting to heaven;
what God judges is how we respond to the grace he gives us: “Not
everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt
7:21).

29-30. Generally speaking, the Jewish people regarded themselves as the
sole beneficiaries of the messianic promises made by the prophets; but
Jesus proclaims that salvation is open to everyone. The only condition
he lays down is that men freely respond to God’s merciful call. When
Christ died on the cross the veil of the temple was torn in two (Lk
23:45 and par.), a sign of the end of the distinction between Jews and
Gentiles. St Paul teaches: “For he [Christ] is our peace, who has made
us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall [...] that he might
create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and
might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby
bringing the hostility to an end” (Eph 2:14-16). Therefore, “all men
are called to belong to the new people of God. This people therefore,
whilst remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole
world and to all ages in order that the design of God’s will may be
fulfilled: he made human nature one in the beginning and has decreed
that all his children who were scattered should be finally gathered
together as one” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 13).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.