Twenty-First Sunday In Ordinary Time, Cycle C- The Narrow Gate

In Readers Digest, David Barman, from North Miami Beach, Florida, wrote that at the university where he teaches, the school has a policy of giving a + designation for grades.

A 78 is a C+, an 89 is a B+.

A student received his final grade and was adamant that I left off the plus sign. I looked up the grade. The kid got a 58, I told him that he failed the course. “I know,” he said. “But I earned an F+, not an F”. “You want me to change it to an F+”? I asked. He said yes and left happy when I agreed.

The stakes could not be higher for eternal salvation.

Each person receives his or her eternal retribution in their immortal soul at the very moment of their death, in a particular judgment of either entrance into the blessedness of heaven as per— 1 Corinthians 3:15 — or immediate and everlasting damnation.

The wide road is the way of least resistance and mass identity, as Sanford says. But the narrowest of the gate suggests some anxiety because narrowness and anxiety have long been associated, e.g. "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”

Spiritually, the narrow road is a hardship because it involves destruction of the old personality and the ego.

e.g.

Our Gospel opens up with a question from Luke 13:23, “Someone asked him, ‘Lord, will only a few people be saved?’"

This question does not come from a disciple. The questioner seems to presume he or she is already saved no matter what, even if one commits a mortal or serious sin as per the doctrine of eternal security.

A biblical answer, in the spirit of the narrow gate teaching by Jesus, for someone in the state of grace is, “Yes, I am saved, by grace alone, by faith and baptism, and I can ‘rely on the mercy and promises of God” to keep me saved.’”

Notice saved is in the present tense, so there is no presumption.

Source: Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church.

Jesus’ answer of "Strive to enter through the narrow gate…” means that no one has an absolute guarantee of entry into heaven no matter if they have the attitude that it does not matter what they do in the future, especially if they fall into the state of mortal sin and thus reject Christ by their actions. God will not be mocked.

Gregg Ten Elshof says, “Self-deception occurs whenever we manage our beliefs without an eye on making progress toward the truth. It is most likely to occur when we have a strong emotional attachment to a belief on some topic.

2. Familiarity does not guarantee entrance into the Kingdom.

Luke 13:25 from our Gospel today begins, “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!'

There is a saying, “The nearer the Church, the farther from God”. The Yiddish proverb is: "The nearer the synagogue, the farther from God," which speaks of an overfamiliarity that reduces religious practice to occasional, outward observance only. Religion for them is viewed as merely legalistic and dismissed, and such a misunderstanding is to their peril.

In conclusion, a fortress, village, or city would have at least one gate, but the fewer gates to be defended the better. A single city gate could be the salvation of the inhabitants and refugees. However, when the gate is shut at least a small door would be available for inconspicuous ingress and egress. …in imminent danger, one might scramble in after nightfall, if one could persuade the gatekeeper that one was entitled to enter (Mt.25:12).

Gate of heaven, Jesus, pray for us!

Source: THE MERITS OF THE NARROW GATE, J. Duncan M. Derrett, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, JSNT 15 (1982).

From Canada to Mexico runs the continental divide, along which two raindrops falling just a few inches apart can end up in two different oceans. On one side, any body of water flows into the Atlantic Ocean, and on the other side into the Pacific Ocean. [from internet].

When Jesus came into the world, He imposed His own ‘Continental Divide’ on humanity, what side of the divide are you on? One leads to everlasting life by the grace of Christ; the other to eternal damnation.

Amen.