WHAT LIES BEYOND MY “NARROW GATE”

“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. . . .

There will be wailing when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and the prophets in the kingdom of God
and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and west,
the north and 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.’” Luke 13:22-24, 28-30

Once you read through to the last lines of this reading, you see that Jesus’ answer to the question, “Will only a few people be saved?” is “No, not a few, but a whole lot of people will be saved. However, you will not be among them unless you “go through the narrow gate.”

So what is the narrow gate? One interpretation could be that a “narrow gate” is an option of the choices open to me that leads to a  future that may appear more restrictive than where the other choices seem to lead, but that really leads to unforseen richness  (growth, strength, enlightenment, blessings, joy and gratitude) that awaits those choosing the narrowing “disciplines” that lead one to God – the discipline mentioned in the Second reading:

“’My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord
or lose heart when reproved by him;
for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;
he scourges every son he acknowledges.’
Endure your trials as ‘discipline’;
God treats you as sons.
For what ‘son’ is there whom his father does not discipline?”  Hebrews 12: 5-7

A NARROW GATE

Yesterday I joined my Sisters of Mercy family in the celebration of the new phase in the life of a recently deceased member of my community, a true Sister of Mercy, who allowed herself to be “set as a sign among us so that we could see the glory of the Lord” (Isaiah 66:18-19). As I sat in the chapel, it occurred to me that, when she and I entered the Sisters of Mercy, we were passing through one of many “narrow gates” and surrendering to being “disciplined” into more focused “disciples.”

Let’s spend some time during these last few weeks of summer relaxation considering the “narrow gates” we didn’t choose, and the “narrow gates” we did choose, but failed in the follow-up disciplining necessary to become the disciples we could be.

To what personal changes are we being called by today’s Scriptures?

As the pathway narrows, am I unburdening myself of the “stuff” I am not going to need as I continue my journey to where Jesus says I can go – to the “table in the kingdom of God “?

Sister Loretta