8/25/19: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time: Our Salvation Depends on It

Today's difficult Gospel is illuminated by our first reading from the prophet Isaiah. There we find a message that would have confused and troubled God's people: The foreigners whom they have always regarded with suspicion will join them in offering sacrifice at the Temple in Jerusalem. In other words, God wants to save all of the nations through Israel. This prophecy is finally fulfilled in Christ's Church, which brings peoples of every race and language and culture to the altar to worship and offer sacrifice. Our mission, then, is not to rest on our haunches, satisfied to be counted among God's "saved" but rather to be working tirelessly in order to evangelize our family and friends -- their salvation may depend on it -- but certainly our salvation does depend on it!