21ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME C
THE MYSTERIOUS NARROW GATE
LK 13: 22-30
MESSAGE
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate.” Did not the Lord construct the highway to heaven? Why would he make the gate to salvation narrow and small? Isn’t it unfair? If he wanted all to be saved, he could have made that gate wide enough for all!
Aren’t these the questions we sometimes entertain in our hearts? Why did God give us sexual and relational energy and then tell us that we must limit its use? Why did God give us drive and motivation for progress and then tell us that material wealth is not the key to peace and happiness? Why endow us with beauty and attractiveness and tell us not be vain and frivolous? Did he create our natural inclinations as pathways to hell?
Certainly not! God made all his children good and beautiful and provided opportunities for us to be happy and holy. And even if we make mistakes in our use of these opportunities, he loves us even more. The road to perfection is not narrow because in all roads of life, in all areas of every day, even in the darkest and farthest, it is possible to unite our hearts with God. The path is wide… only the gate is narrow.
We cannot pass the narrow gate when our pride becomes so bloated that it is beyond the size of the gate. We cannot enter the gate when our selfishness becomes so heavy that we cannot drag our feet across the threshold. Hell is not God’s plan but it is real because our own pride and selfishness block our approach to the Lord who we failed to love above all and to our neighbors who we neglected to serve and forgive.
REFLECT
Do not be afraid to enter the narrow gate. Jesus did not say that sinners cannot make it. Remember that he is standing at the gate, waiting with total and infinite love. But we need to surrender our selfishness and promise to be kind and just to our neighbors. We need to lay down our pride and humbly seek forgiveness and healing.
