Aug. 24, 2025: 'What must I do to be saved?'

First Reading    Isaiah 66.18-21 Thus says the Lord: “For I know their works and their thoughts, and I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them. “From them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put, and Lud — which draw the bow — to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. “They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the children of Israel bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. “And I will also take some of them as priests and as Levites,” says the Lord. Psalm    117 R. Go into all the world and proclaim the good news. or R. Alleluia! Praise the Lord, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples! R. For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. R. Second Reading    Hebrews 12.5-7, 11-13 Brothers and sisters: You have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children — “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; for the Lord disciplines the one whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he accepts.” Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom a father does not discipline? Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Gospel    Luke 13.22-30 Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” Jesus said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. “When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then in reply he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ But the Lord will say, ‘I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!’ “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out. Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”