20191030
ENTERING
BY THE NARROW GATE
30 OCTOBER,
2019, Wednesday, 30th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Romans 8:26-30 ©
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The Spirit comes to help us in our
weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit
himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God
who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, and that
the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of
God.
We
know that by turning everything to their good God co-operates with all those
who love him, with all those that he has called according to his purpose. They
are the ones he chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of
his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest of many brothers. He called those
he intended for this; those he called he justified, and with those he justified
he shared his glory.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 12(13):4-6 ©
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Lord, I trust in your
mercy.
Look at me, answer me, Lord my God!
Give light to my eyes lest I
fall asleep in death,
lest my enemy say: ‘I have overcome him’;
lest my foes rejoice to see my
fall.
Lord, I trust in your
mercy.
As for me, I trust in your merciful love.
Let my heart rejoice in your
saving help.
Let me sing to the Lord for his goodness
to me,
singing psalms to the name of
the Lord, the Most High.
Lord, I trust in your
mercy.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn14:6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says
the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except
through me.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.2Th2:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News God called us
to share the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 13:22-30 ©
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Through towns and villages Jesus went
teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him, ‘Sir, will there be
only a few saved?’ He said to them, ‘Try your best to enter by the narrow door,
because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.
‘Once
the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself
knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not
know where you come from.” Then you will find yourself saying, “We once ate and
drank in your company; you taught in our streets” but he will reply, “I do not
know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!”
‘Then
there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned
outside. And men from east and west, from north and south, will come to take
their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.
‘Yes,
there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be
last.’
ENTERING BY THE
NARROW GATE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ROM 8:26-30; LK 13:22-30]
Many of us have
theological questions that are speculative in nature. Those of us who are
rationalistic have many questions to ask about the faith which we cannot
understand. Yet, such
intellectual questions are not always necessary or important for our happiness,
purpose and meaning in life. Indeed, this was the case of someone who
said to Jesus, “Sir, will there be only a few saved?” But what was Jesus’
response? Instead of answering the theological speculation of the person,
Jesus turned a general speculative question to a personal one. He
said to them, “Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you,
many will try to enter and will not succeed.”
Indeed, the most
important question and one that matters at the end is not who will be saved or
how many will be saved but rather, whether “I” will be saved. There is a tendency for us to generalize
our question so that we do not have to confront our own inner struggles in
life. Many of us hide behind intellectual questions so that we do not
have to ask personal questions. We try to intellectualize our questions
as if they do not affect us but others. The point is that we should be
more concerned about whether we are saved or not.
How, then, can we be
saved? Those who are saved are not nominal followers of our
Lord. The
entry to the kingdom of God is not by association due to race, like the Jews
who were the Chosen People of God, or by following some rituals, like being
baptized. Just by an external ritual or even belonging to the race will
not assure us of any advantage over those who are not members of the Chosen
race or even baptized. This was what St Peter came to realize. “I truly
understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who
fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34f)
Indeed, those who claim
privileges simply because they are Christians should take the warning of Jesus
seriously, “Then there will be
weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all
the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned outside. And men from
east and west, from north and south, will come to take their places at the
feast in the kingdom of God.” The truth is that those of us who do not
live out our faith but take our faith for granted are further away from God
than those who are not baptized for one reason or another but have deep faith
in Christ. Indeed, we find very often that new converts are much more
alive in the faith than cradle Catholics who are merely nominal in faith, many
of whom do not go to Church or even pray at all except when in trouble.
Just a superficial
exposure to the Lord is not sufficient to give us the fullness of life, here on
earth or in heaven. This means that even those who are apparently active
in Church and in ministry may not be counted among those who are saved. Indeed, there are many
Catholics who do not mind getting involved in church activities, but they do
not know Jesus, nor take the trouble to grow in their faith in Him. They
hardly pray and hardly read the scriptures or form themselves in the
faith. Their spiritual life is no better than people in the
world. They apply worldly attitudes and values to measure success and how
they treat people. This explains why parishioners often get hurt by those
serving in ministries because they treat them without compassion.
To these so called “active” Christians, this is what the Lord says, “Once the
master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself
knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, ‘I do not
know where you come from.’ Then you will find yourself saying, ‘We once ate and
drank in your company; you taught in our streets’ but he will reply, ‘I do not
know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!'”
Salvation depends on
one’s personal relationship with the Lord. Christ is the Shepherd, the Gate and the
Door. “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by
the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who
enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. (Jn 10:1f) So again Jesus said to
them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who
came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to
them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will
come in and go out and find pasture. (Jn 10:7-10)
But after knowing Jesus,
we must now follow Him. Jesus said, “Try your best to enter by the narrow door.” This is the way of the
cross. Jesus told His disciples, “Whoever loves father or mother more
than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is
not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is
not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who
lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 10:37-39) This is the price of salvation,
putting Jesus as the center of our lives. Salvation means to take our
reference point in all that we do or say or think from our Lord. (cf Eph 5:19f)
Christian life is an
ongoing struggle. Jesus said, “I tell you, many will try to enter and
will not succeed.” This
means that we need to strive, try and struggle. Finding
ourselves is not an easy task. We need to make efforts in
responding to God’s invitation to share in His life and love. It is a
long haul, an ever-going process until we reach the end of this journey.
Even St Paul spoke of his striving to complete the race after his encounter
with the Risen Lord. “So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though
beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after
proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified. (1 Cor 9:26f7) St Peter, writing to the early
Christians, repeated a similar message. “Therefore,
brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election,
for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into
the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided
for you.” (2 Pt 1;10f)
It means constantly
fighting against temptation all through our life. There is no escape from the
temptations of the Evil One. In fact, the more we want to live the life
of Christ, the more Satan would tempt us to go astray as he tried with
Jesus. Hence, the author of Hebrews exhorts us “Let us also lay
aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with
perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer
and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right
hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against
himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In
your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding
your blood.” (Heb 12:1-4; cf Mt 4:1-11) St Paul reminds us that “our
struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness,
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. simply against the
wiles of the devil.” (Eph 6:10)
Thirdly, we must align
ourselves with the will of God. St Paul wrote, “We know that by turning everything to
their good God co-operates with all those who love him, with all those that he
has called according to his purpose.” We cannot replace doing God’s
will with our will, even if we are doing good things. What is of value to
God and good for our salvation is when we cooperate with His plan, and do what
He wills for us. Jesus warns those who apparently do many things for God
but not in accordance with His will but theirs. It is done out of pride
and not out of obedience to God: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my
Father in heaven.” (Mt 7:21)
Our ultimate goal is to
become sons and daughters of God in Christ. St Paul wrote, “They are the ones he
chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son, so that
his Son might be the eldest of many brothers. He called those he intended for
this; those he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his
glory.” This is why we need to continue to struggle against the
temptations of the Evil One and grow in virtues, in holiness and
grace. Our hope is to grow in Christ-likeness and become images of
Him.
But of course, we can do
all this not with our strength alone but with the grace of the Holy Spirit. We must pray in the mind of Christ
by praying in His Holy Spirit. “The Spirit comes to help us in our weakness.
For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself
expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God who
knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, and that the
pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of
God.” Only when we pray in the Spirit, will our prayers be one with the mind
of Christ. All prayers made in His name will be answered. “I
will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.” (Jn 14:13f; cf Mt 18:19; Mk 11:24)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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