This Sermon is prepared by
Rev.Fr.Peter Jayakanthan sss
Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
Corpus Christi Catholic Church,
Houston, Texas, US
21st Sunday of Ordinary YearYes to Narrow path of Challenges and crisis…….!Is 66: 18-21, Heb 12: 5-7, 11-13; Lk 13: 22-30Dear Sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, We shall welcome one another to this Eucharistic Celebration. It is our faith and our love for Church gathers us around the altar of God. We shall thank the Almighty for His constant call to praise and worship as a community of brothers and sisters. When we break bread together it is our responsibility to remember the scattered people in our Church, community and family. Our thoughtfulness of them in the presence of the Lord may brighten their hope to walk in the path of Good shepherd. Ayana an Ethiopian Athlete, who won the gold medal in Rio Olympics, said that breaking the world record never even crossed her mind as she only planned on winning the race. "I hope we have come through those dark days and we have a brighter future for the sport," I did my hard work of training second I praise the Lord, He does everything, yes everything is from Him. Jamaican Bolt raises his eyes to heaven with the sign of the cross before his performance. He is a devout catholic. He is described as bible believing, God honoring and Jesus worshiping Christian. Thea La Fond representing Dominica expresses that it is God who made this possible for her. Swimmer Ledecky said boldly that her catholic school education challenged by broadening her perspective. My rigorous school days facilitated my interest to serve others. I pray Hail Mary before jumping into pool, it is a powerful prayer. These sports persons witness to their faith, hard work and trust in God made them as stars in Olympics. They chose the path of challenges and crisis. This is the narrow path. We have prophet Isaiah announces in the first reading that people who chose the wider path of easy, lazy and crazy life are scattered. They failed to stand by the narrow path of Yahweh. Now here is a call again to restore from Babylonian exile. He also assures that God is ready to ordain from any tribe, earlier as the descendants Aaron’s as Levi were ordained to offer Sacrifice and perform worship. Now Persons who are willing to face and walk through this narrow path of challenges and crisis, trusting in God will be ordained to lead all humankind to Jerusalem. In the gospel, Jesus’ invitation is clear that is one has to strive to walk through the narrow path. It is a choice of one day rather everyday option to face, walk and go through. The Greek word for striving is agony, facing the narrow path whole heartedly, willingly and religiously. It is daily challenge and daily yes to take up the cross of narrow path to follow HIM closely. We know that it is in Antioch the first community of faith was called or baptized as Christians. But they were called with few other names earlier believers, witnesses and as followers of The Way. That is people who walked, lived and worshipped in the narrow path of challenges. What are our choices? Do we really strive to live in the narrow path or just satisfied with the wider path! It is not enough to know and to have all knowledge of Jesus rather to experience His call and giving that richness to others is our call. We are part of God’s covenant family; this privilege is assured through our baptism. It is renewed every time we break bread together at the Eucharistic celebration. Thus we have a greater responsibility in keeping ourselves in the narrow path of goodness, blessings, charity, sharing, crisis, challenges and support. Olympic stars shine with medals and participation because their daily choice is to walk in the narrow path of discipline, hard work, facing challenges and crisis, trust in God, positive thought and common good. August 9th, we remember St. Teresa Benedicta of the cross, she was a Jewish woman, Edith Stein, who loved the cross and embraced its contradiction and mystery throughout her own life. There is a very striking, life-size, bronze sculpture of Edith Stein in the center of the German city of Cologne, close to the archdiocesan seminary. The sculpture depicts three Edith Steins at the three critical moments of her life. The first moment presents Edith as the young Jewish philosopher and professor, a student of Edmund Husserl. Edith is presented deep in meditation and a Star of David leans against her knee. The second depiction of the young woman shows Edith split in two. The artist shows her face and head almost divided. She moved from Judaism to agnosticism and even atheism. Hers was a painful search for the truth. The third representation is Edith as Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, and she holds in her arms the crucified Christ: “Teresa blessed by the Cross” as her name indicates. She moved from Judaism, through atheism, to Christianity. “Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross says to us all: Don’t accept anything as truth if it is without love. And don’t accept anything as love if it is without truth! One without the other is a harmful lie.” “Many of our contemporaries would want the Cross to be silenced. However, nothing is more eloquent than the Cross made silent! The true message of pain is a lesson of love. Love makes pain bear fruit and pain deepens love.” On October 11, 1998 in St. Peter’s Square, Saint John Paul II celebrated Mass during which he canonized Blessed Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, discalced Carmelite and martyr. In his homily, he asked that her witness might “reinforce even more the bridge of mutual understanding between Jews and Christians.” John Paul II called her “an eminent daughter of Israel and a faithful daughter of the Church.” Her constant yes to narrow path in the midst of Auschwitz facing trails, suffering, crisis and challenges may inspire us to choose and say YES every day, every time to narrow path of challenges and crisis, because we have cross of liberation-Amen. 
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