Strive

Listening to the Spirit

We stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we gather together in Your name.
With You alone to guide us, make Yourself at home in our hearts;
teach us the way we must go and how we are to pursue it.
We are weak and sinful; do not let us promote disorder.
Do not let ignorance lead us down
the wrong path, nor partiality influence our actions.
Let us find in You our unity so that we may journey
together to eternal life and not stray from the way of truth and what is right.
All this we ask of You, who are at work in every place and time,
in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever.

Amen.

Listening to the Word

Lk 13:22-30

Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, 'Lord, open the door for us.' He will say to you 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 to you, 'I do not know where you 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. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."

Reflection

The journey to Jerusalem is not yet finished for Jesus and all who follow Him. Among the doubts on the way, there is one concerning salvation – “will only a few people be saved?" – It`s well known and believed that God “wants all men to be saved.” (1 Tim 2:4). Not only, He also “gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die but may have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). All are welcome into Kingdom. The only requirement to do so is to strive to enter it.

In the answer of Jesus, there is no mention of the number of the lucky ones. The possibility is given to everyone who strives today. Rather than considering how many will enter through the door of the Kingdom, one can ask if he/she is striving to enter it now? Yes, the word of Jesus gives the opportunity to all who strive in the present time and, at the same time, alert those many that... “will attempt to enter – in the future – but will not be strong enough.” One can enter the Kingdom with fidelity to Christ today, not in some other imaginary time in the future when things are expected to be better. Maybe this better period will never come.

The image of the narrow gate is, first of all, a reminder that salvation comes from God. It is not only our effort. Stay in His presence, listen to Him, and eating and drinking at His banquet (Eucharist) is not “enough” if one does not allow to be transformed by it all. If this transformation is not happening at the end, we will listen to the words: 'I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!' All these occasions were opportunities for the transformation of our lives and hearts. Salvation, as we can see, is not a matter of hearing God`s words but following it now and being transformed by it.

This is the narrow gate He is talking about. This mysterious “narrow gate” can also be a disposition of humility, self-denial, detachment from material things, generosity, forgiveness, purity, honesty, truthfulness, piety… in other words, loving obedience to God’s commandments, no matter what the cost. These are the “conditions” that make the road to life “narrow.” But they are also, at the same time, the qualities/virtues which keep a person free from the burden of vices and sins. Good for all to realize that this “narrow gate” is not an unpleasant surprise that we will find only at the end of the journey of our lives. It is a daily reality, a challenge with which we have to reckon more than once every day. To follow Jesus is to listen to His words and live them in one's daily life.