Wednesday- 30th Week "Narrow Gate"

 

In the Gospel today, someone asked Jesus, “Lord will only a few people be saved?” He answered them with an answer that many would not want to hear. He said, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”

We can say, Jesus Himself is the narrow gate. Remember, what He told Thomas, the apostle, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Jesus is the way. But not everyone will follow Jesus, the good Shepherd and His way.

Our Lord says something that would have shocked His listeners. He said, “After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then you stand outside knocking and saying, “Lord, open the door for us.” He will say in reply, “I do not know where you are from,’ and you will say, “We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ Then He will say, “I do not know where are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers! And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out.”

What Jesus is trying to tell His disciples, is that some of them, who eat with Him, who listen to His sermons and perhaps who have even seen Him work miracles, such as healing the sick or expelling demons, are not truly following Him. But rather, they come just to see and hear what He is doing. They were visibly with Him and listened to Him and maybe even liked what He said, but in practice, they were not true followers. They were not following the narrow way.

The Gentiles had to give up their pagan practices, such as burning incense to idols. Perhaps many had the habit of cursing and getting drunk. They were not changing their lives and this would have been true with the Jews too. 

The Jews enjoyed being with Jesus. They liked to hear His sermons, and watch Him heal people, but they were not ready to give up their sinful ways  and to truly believe Jesus is the Messiah. But, He warned them. That it was not good enough to eat and drink with Him, and to be in His company, they must also deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him, wholeheartedly. They heard the fullness of truth about Him, and yet rejected what He asked them to do and therefore placed their souls in danger of going to hell.

Today, priests don't want to preach the fullness of the Gospel. For example, commentaries like Word Among Us, which I, at times, use to help me create homilies, completely skip over the part about what Jesus said about hell in today's Gospel. The whole point of the Gospel today, was that even though they heard His talks and ate with Him, their souls were in danger of going to hell, as Jesus said, they will be told, "I do not know where you are from.  Depart from me, you evil doers. And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth...." Priests and commentators want to sugar coat the Gospel and ignore what Jesus even said.

This is also true for Christians today. Many like to hear about Jesus and they will attend Church and even talk about Him, but they are not giving their whole life to Him. They refuse to do what He asks of them today, such as to not use contraception, to not live together before marriage, to not be in favor of abortion, to truly forgive those who hurt them, some who don't believe in Confession and yet continue to receive Communion after committing a mortal sin. They refuse to do what Jesus asks of them, through His Church.

To be a good Christian, one must do all that Jesus asks of us, for by doing so, we enter the narrow gate, which leads to eternal life. Otherwise, one will risk losing heaven forever, because they refuse to give their whole heart to Jesus by following everything He asks of us. Jesus warned them, saying MANY, are not strong enough to be His true followers and therefore, only a few will gain heaven. 

May the Virgin Mary, help all Christians to live their life in accord with being a true follower of Jesus, to not only to just listen to what He says through His Church, but to do what He says.