\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
What’s with this narrow gate talk any way?\u00c2\u00a0 Wasn’t everybody saved by Jesus’ death and Resurrection?\u00c2\u00a0 All we have to do is believe, right?\u00c2\u00a0 So why the talk about a narrow gate.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Perhaps we should step back and look again at Salvation.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is popular today to talk about how much God loves all of us, and that He saved all of us.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, everybody was saved by Jesus sacrifice on the Cross.\u00c2\u00a0 But that doesn’t mean that we will all find our salvation.\u00c2\u00a0 Jesus makes that quite clear in this parable.\u00c2\u00a0 To find our salvation, we all need to strive for it.\u00c2\u00a0 We need to seek out the Kingdom of God.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Notice that Jesus never answers the question of how many will be saved.\u00c2\u00a0 The answer He gives is personally directed to his questioner.\u00c2\u00a0 Jesus says, in effect, that it is not your concern how many are saved.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather, your major concern is whether you will be saved.\u00c2\u00a0 And so, Jesus advice is to “Strive to enter through the narrow gate”.\u00c2\u00a0 Now the word “strive” was translated from the Greek word agonizomai.\u00c2\u00a0 Our word agony comes from this word.\u00c2\u00a0 So, the sense of Jesus’ meaning of “striving” then, is an agonizing, consuming effort.\u00c2\u00a0 That is what Jesus is telling his questioner he needs to do to enter the narrow gate- to make an agonizing, consuming effort, to find his salvation.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wouldn’t the same thing be true for you and I?\u00c2\u00a0 That means several things when you think about it:\u00c2\u00a0 First, it is not enough to just say “I believe”, rather, we have to know the Christ we profess to believe.\u00c2\u00a0 We cannot be like the folks who ate and drank with Jesus in the parable and then were told:\u00c2\u00a0 “I do not know where you are from”.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s because these folks heard the message, but were not involved with their God.\u00c2\u00a0 They were there- but were bystanders.\u00c2\u00a0 So , the Master says he did not know them- twice.\u00c2\u00a0 He goes on to say to these people- “Go away you evil doers?”\u00c2\u00a0 Seems like such a harsh statement.\u00c2\u00a0 Is it possible that you can come to Mass every week and you can be involved in parish activities but still not gain eternal life?\u00c2\u00a0 These folks said that they ate and drank in the Master’s company.\u00c2\u00a0 I think Jesus is telling us we not only need to believe, but we also must be in a committed, life-changing, personal relationship with Christ.\u00c2\u00a0 Your relationship with Christ needs to be living, lasting, and ever growing, so that Christ affirms that He does have a relationship with you.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
We can come to know Christ that way through prayer.\u00c2\u00a0 We do that by making room for prayer in our busy lives.\u00c2\u00a0 We especially need a two way conversation in our prayer, so that we hear God as he pulls us towards the narrow gate.\u00c2\u00a0 Our parish is blessed with the Perpetual Adoration Chapel.\u00c2\u00a0 Visiting there is a great way to get away from it all and get to know Christ better.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a great way to begin and sustain that two way conversation with God.\u00c2\u00a0 Also, in a few weeks, our parish will begin “Why Catholic”.\u00c2\u00a0 “Why Catholic” Discussion groups will be formed to explore the Catechism, another great way to know Christ,\u00c2\u00a0 Because the groups will explore details about God and what we believe about faith, morals, sacraments, and prayer in our Church\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Second, we have to get rid of extra baggage.\u00c2\u00a0 One can not get through a narrow entrance with arms full of heavy baggage.\u00c2\u00a0 Our excess baggage may be things, things we are addicted to; too much TV; too much food; too much drink; or too much gossip; even too much football.\u00c2\u00a0 Of course, I am not guilty of any of those things!\u00c2\u00a0 Or, it may be baggage we carry by virtue of our attitudes:\u00c2\u00a0 Laziness and fear come to mind.\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes we just don’t want to get up and go; it’s easier to just stay the course.\u00c2\u00a0 Others are afraid to try something new for fear of failure \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0But, both of these attitudes amount to excess psychological baggage that we carry around with us, burdens that keep us from “striving” for God’s Kingdom.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Third, we must actually strive to enter the narrow gate.\u00c2\u00a0 Striving involves action- not a passive existence.\u00c2\u00a0 All too often, our lives are characterized by a routine, a sort of settling into a comfort zone.\u00c2\u00a0 It may be a busy life, even a very dynamic life, but just the same, it is a life that is mostly focused on our own families and friends and problems, while our relationship with God remains static, not dynamic.\u00c2\u00a0 Being in a growing and living relationship with Christ means that we are open to risk. \u00c2\u00a0Risk means moving out of our comfort zone, our immediate circle, and getting involved with the larger Church by “Striving” to live our lives as a Christian in service to others- responding to those little nudges you hear in your prayer life, things that Jesus may be calling you to do.\u00c2\u00a0 These are ways to “strive” for your salvation on the way to the narrow gate.\u00c2\u00a0 They are strivings which involve a commitment of the heart- not just of our time and effort.\u00c2\u00a0 The call may still be close to home, in our families.\u00c2\u00a0 Or we may be called to help outside of our immediate family.\u00c2\u00a0 But it would mean things like helping someone who is sick or ill; becoming involved in a youth program, RCIA, or Prep; visiting and caring for the elderly; or helping with the poor and marginalized.\u00c2\u00a0 Holy Family has very active ministries to the sick, youth programs, Prep, and Rest Home Ministries.\u00c2\u00a0 And our St. Vincent De Paul Society chapter operates a store in Clermont, and provides on-campus counseling and aid to the community.\u00c2\u00a0 Additionally, our Just Faith program is identifying other ways for us to share our talents with the less fortunate.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Gospel ends with the people who think they knew Jesus, but who are on the outside, seeing others from all over enjoying the Kingdom instead of themselves.\u00c2\u00a0 And we hear “the last shall be first, and the first shall be last”.\u00c2\u00a0 Truly, it matters little how well regarded we are in the eyes of society.\u00c2\u00a0 All that matters to God is what is in our hearts.\u00c2\u00a0 We have to strive with our hearts, minds, and bodies to be strong and enter that narrow gate.\u00c2\u00a0 Unfortunately life is like that- an agonizing, consuming commitment to Christ is needed to get through the narrow gate o the heavenly banquet. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 66: 18-21; Heb 12: 5-7, 11-13; Luke 13: 22-30 Dc. Larry Brockman What’s with this narrow gate talk any way?\u00c2\u00a0 Wasn’t everybody saved by Jesus’ death and Resurrection?\u00c2\u00a0 All we have to do is believe, right?\u00c2\u00a0 So why the talk about a narrow gate.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Perhaps we should step […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}