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Today's Gospel
The Secret of the Narrow Path
5 min
Gospel
Lk 13:22-30
He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us.’ He will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!’ There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. And men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Readings are from Dynamic Catholic’s New Testament Bible: RSV Catholic Edition
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Transcript
The Secret of the Narrow Path
What is it that jumps out at you in today's reading? There's so much here. The first thing that strikes me is that Jesus is asked a question. And the question is, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" Jesus doesn't answer the question. He doesn't answer the question. He says to them, "Strive to enter by the narrow door." He goes on to say, "For many will seek to enter and will not be able." So they're like trying to work out, well, how many are you going to be saved, Jesus? Is there going to be a lot? Is it going to be a few? And they ask Him, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" He doesn't answer the question. He says, "Strive to enter by the narrow door." Why? Because that is the way to live in this life and the way to live in the next life.
He's teaching us not just how to get a ticket to Heaven. He's teaching us how to live in communion with God. And so he says, "Enter by the narrow door." Why? Because it is just the best way to live. And we have plenty of evidence of that, right? It's like if you want to have a sound financial life, you can only enter into that by the narrow door. Health and well-being, the narrow door; good relationships, the narrow door; good parenting, the narrow door; good career, the narrow door. What is the narrow door? The narrow door, it's discipline. It's discipline. It is self-sacrifice. It is not the wide highway that the world invites us to walk down. So in not answering the question, he answers an even bigger question. In not answering the question, he essentially says, "You're asking the wrong question." And because you're asking the wrong question, I'm not even going to answer that question. We're going to move straight on from that, and we're going to talk about what really matters.
And what he's saying is, what really matters isn't that you obsess over, okay, who's going to get in and who isn't going to get in, how many are going to get in, how few are going to get in. What matters is the path that I'm inviting you to walk. And that path is about how to live in this life and how to live in the next life. Enter by the narrow door. And so maybe today we reflect on, okay, what area of our lives is God inviting us to get off the wide highway and to enter back onto the narrow path. Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.
