Dear brothers and sisters,

This week in our Gospel someone posed a question to Jesus, “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.” (Lk 13:23-24) Our Lord is very direct here and reminds us that there is a need for us to cooperate with His grace in order to enter through the narrow gate. What does He mean by the narrow gate? To get through a narrow gate you have to leave behind all your excess baggage – you have to go through it on purpose. It is possible to be labeled a Christian on the outside without really making an effort to follow the Christian way in our hearts. It is possible to come to Mass, to be involved with parish activities, and still never really enter into a committed, life-changing, personal relationship with Christ. Jesus knows that going through the motions isn’t enough; we need to let His grace change our lives.

Jesus has reminded us today that we have to strive to enter through the narrow gate, that we cannot take for granted our friendship with Him. It’s a real relationship that needs attention and effort. It’s an encouraging reminder – it proves that He hasn’t given up on us! But if we leave it at the level of a reminder, we will be missing the point. We need to ask ourselves today: what more can I do to know, love, and follow Christ better? During this Mass, we should ask Christ to show us. He knows, and since He is the first one interested in building up our friendship, He won’t keep it a secret if we sincerely ask Him. Most likely, He will invite us to strive more intelligently or energetically in one of three areas. The first is our life of prayer. Daily prayer and frequent confession are essential aspects of striving to enter through the narrow gate. For a Christian, slacking off on those is the equivalent of a professional athlete slacking off on exercise and skipping practice. The second area is relationships. All the basic relationships of our lives are opportunities to build Christ’s Kingdom, by being like Christ. But it takes effort. Maybe that’s the area that Christ wants us to focus on this week. The third area has to do with building up our own character. We have to constantly be exercising virtues of self-control and self-discipline, otherwise our character will get flabby, and we will make ourselves vulnerable to temptation. Jesus will never let us strive for the narrow gate all by ourselves. He always helps and strengthens us, especially through Holy Communion. But He needs us to decide to put that strength to work.

Peace,

Fr. Mike