Narrow gate

"Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough." (From today’s Gospel reading, Lk. 13:22-30).

Jesus Christ! That’s quite a statement from you. It sounds so harsh, doesn’t it? What is this narrow gate all about – and what does it take to be strong enough to go through it?

First of all, what it is not. It is not God who prevents us from entering that narrow gate. In fact, He invites all to enter it. But we whom He gifted with human freedom are responsible for choosing to do so or not. And if we choose to enter through it, we must make sure that we are light enough and lean enough to be able to make it. No extra baggage. Worldly riches. Worldly power. Worldly pride. These are the extra baggage!

Worldly Riches. The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus says it all (Lk. 16:19-31). Today, how many baptized and educated Catholics go to Mass on Sundays, give a token contribution to the church or some charitable project, but fail to really share in a substantial way their time, talents, and treasures with those who have much less? From their household help, their employees, their neighbors, all the way to the community-at-large.

What about those who accumulate wealth through our profit-oriented, capitalistic system without a soul and a genuine concern for the poor? They definitely cannot enter through that narrow gate!

Worldly Power. In Jesus’ time, there was more oppression and exploitation within Judaism than from without. The middle-class Jews who were in rebellion against Rome were themselves oppressors of the poor and the uneducated. The people had to suffer far more on account of the oppression of the Scribes, Pharisees, Saducees, and Zealots than on account of the Romans. They, too, would not make it through that narrow gate, Jesus tells us.

Today, we claim to be a Christian, democratic country. But how come there is still such a big gap between the powerful and the powerless? Where do we go from here, if we want to enter through that narrow gate? What more can we do beyond what we may already claim we are doing — starting with our own selves, our families, and our immediate communities?

Worldly Pride. For a taste of this, let us go to the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Lk. 18:9-14). Inside the temple, this Pharisee prayed thus: "O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity – greedy, dishonest, adulterous – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I pay tithes on my whole income." (vv. 11-12) He was giddy with self-righteousness. So you think he would make it through that narrow gate? Jesus says no.

Even today, how often do we find this self-righteous attitude among us Catholics – that we belong to the one, true religion among the religious of the world? What should such Catholics do if they want to enter through that narrow gate?

This brings us to what the narrow gate is all about. And as author A. Nolan titles his book, this is all about Jesus Before Christianity. The original, historical Jesus, "before he became enshrined in doctrine, dogma, and ritual …" The universal, cosmic Jesus. The lover of all humanity, cultures, and religions. The incarnation of the one and only law of God: "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." (Lk. 10:27). Whoever lives by this one and only law of God will be strong enough to enter through that narrow gate.

Thus, today’s Gospel tells us: "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 first who will be last." (vv. 29-30).

You and I of the privileged, educated class must thus respond to this one and only law to the hilt.

"Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more." (Lk. 12:48).