Wisdom for Entering Through the Narrow Gate of Heaven - 21st Sunday (Year C) Readings

In response to an anxious question if only a few will be saved Jesus answered: 

“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.  After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from. And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’”(Luke 13:24-27)

Jesus did not answer in a simple “yes or no” way. Rather he answered the question with a parable of the narrow gate to hint that only those who meet certain conditions can be saved at the time of the judgement upon Christ’s return. 

So, what are the conditions we must satisfy in order to be saved?  We must meet the salvation criteria before Jesus returns and lock the entrance of the heaven, as he indicated in the parable. 

The 21^st Sunday Year C Gospel narrative (Luke 13:22-30) does not provide any specific conditions. But, it is obvious that it takes more than faith to be saved – though some Christians seem to naively believe that accepting Jesus Christ as a personal savior and keep the faith is the way to be saved. Surely, the 21^st Sunday Gospel indicates that accepting Jesus Christ as the Messiah and keeping the faith is only a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition. Personal association with Jesus – knowing him does not suffice to be saved as those who said, “We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets” are being saved. 

In thinking of what Jesus says about the condition for salvation, the Gospel narrative (Luke 13:22-30) just reminds me of Matthew 25:31-46:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.  Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’  Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Both Luke 13:22-30 and Matthew 25:31-46 address the judgement and salvation. It seems that Matthew 25:31-46 gives more concrete and practical ideals about what it takes us to be entitled to salvation – to enter the Kingdom of God – heaven. 

It is clear that important criteria for salvation are our work of charity – opus caritatis, taking care of those are in need. In Jesus’ view, our acts of charity toward those are in need also means serving him – serving God. 

This clearly makes sense because Jesus, in Luke 10:25-37,  also teaches that a path to salvation (to inherit eternal life) is to practice works of charity as the Good Samaritan did, in light of the most important command – the command of love: To 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, which reflects Deuteronomy 6:5 (about loving God ) and Leviticus 19:18 (about loving our neighbors). 

Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25:31-46 certainly indicates that practicing the Corporal Works of Mercy (feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, providing shelter to the homeless, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, and burying the dead) is a very important in our efforts to enter into Heaven through the narrow gate.  

After all, the Corporal Works of Mercy is opus caritatis, the works of charity.  As James said in James 2:14-26, faith that is not demonstrated by works is not good enough for salvation and only as good as dead faith.  Paul makes it clear that our work of faith must embody love in 1 Corinthians 13: 1-3.  So, with Jesus’ worlds in Matthew 25:31-46, as well as, these words of James (James 2:14-26) and Paul (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) on faith, work, and love, we now understand better that what Jesus meant by “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough”(Luke 13: 24).  It is to strive on the Corporal Works of Mercy (CCC 2247) in order to enter into the Kingdom of God through the narrow gate. 

For those who are strong enough to have persistently practiced the Corporal Works of Mercy, as well as the Spiritual Works of Mercy (instructing, advising, consoling, comforting, forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently)(CCC 2247), are the ones entering the Kingdom through the narrow gate.

Some may wonder if there is a better way to enter the Kingdom – an easier way of attaining salvation. In fact, there is not. The way to heaven is never easy. 

As I have mentioned in my previous blog entries, since the 12^th Sunday’s Gospel readings (Year C), Jesus’ words are on what it takes to be his disciples (the cost of the discipleship) and what it takes to inherit the Kingdom of God. Through his teachings on the discipleship and inheriting the Kingdom (attaining salvation), there is nothing even indicative of an “easy way”.  To be his disciple and to journey on the path toward the Kingdom only lead to the narrow gate.  No wider gate to enter into the Kingdom.  In fact, being Christian and walk on the path to the Kingdom comes with many trials, as the path Moses took the Israelites to the promised land was so in Exodus.  If you think that all you have to do to attain salvation is to simply accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior…of if you naively think that all you need is faith to be saved, I suggest that you reconsider your belief.  Being Christian and attaining salvation, indeed, demands a lot of hard works – works of love – works of mercy, while enduring series of hardships, including persecutions. 

So, Paul, whom I regard as a great cheerleader and coach for Christians on a long hard path, allegedly says these words: 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us  while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons: “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 12:1-7. 

These words suggest that the path to salvation via the narrow gate of the Kingdom sure demands our endurance, as walking on this path is like a challenging race. And, we must win this race by completing our mission – to enter through the narrow gate through our striving, just as marathoners enter into the post-race refreshment area upon heroically crossing the finish line, upon enduring a challenging 26.2-mile path. 

Of course, to run a marathon successfully, you must be fit – physically, mentally, and spiritually. Likewise, we must be fit spiritually to endure our challenging path to enter through the narrow gate into the Kingdom by ridding ourselves of burdens and sins. It means that we must travel spiritually and psychologically light.  That is why we need the spiritual disciplines to make sure we are not burdened – not to be with a restless heart, which is associated with sins, and not to carry baggage of sins, along our way. 

Jesus also advises us to journey “light” because we would not be fit to enter through the narrow gate if we were heavy with a restless heart and sins. 

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  (Matthew 10:25)

In these words, Jesus meant a person, who is suffering from sin of greed, by saying a rich man. Greed is considered as sin also in Buddhism, which calls what Christians call sin a poison, as greed is one of the Three Poisons in Buddhist teaching. And, Buddhism also warns against the Poison of Attachment. In fact, this Buddhist teaching is also echoed in Jesus’ teaching’s on entering into the Kingdom through the narrow gate by journeying  light”. What makes us heavy with burdens and sins is our inability to rid our attachment of.  This wisdom is also clinically reflected in Morita Therapy, a psychotherapeutic method developed by Shoma (Masatake) Morita, a Japanese psychiatrist. 

So, we need to shed whatever gets in our way of entering into the Kingdom through the narrow gate through our spiritual disciplines, such as the St. Ignatius of Loyola’s “Spiritual Exercises” and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This way, we can keep our heart and soul fit to endure the journey.  This way, we can better serve our brothers and sisters in need – to serve Christ – better in our striving with the works of mercy. 

Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken” is about dilemmas in making a choice. And, we may face difficult dilemmas on our way to enter the Kingdom through the narrow gate. As Frost’s poem invokes an image of traveler standing and wondering to make a decision on which way to take at a fork, we may have to slow down and even stop for a while when we face difficult decision-makings. 

When we at a fork on our path to our destiny, the Kingdom, we must guard ourselves against temptations to be pulled into devil’s path, which tend to appear easier, more pleasurable and even rational. We must make sure that we will not be fooled. For our need to make right decisions on our path, I found “What’s Your Decision?: How to Make Choices with Confidence and Clarity: An Ignatian Approach to Decision Making” by Rev. Michael Sparough, SJ, Jim Manney, and Rev. Tim Hipskind, SJ, to be resourceful. 

The lead author, a Jesuit priest, Fr. Michael has been my friend and Ignatian spiritual resource. He is also a great story-teller and writer. Over the years of my association with him through the Charis Ministries and Loyola University, I know his deep commitment to discernment and his gift to explain abstract concepts, such as spiritual discernment, through lucid narratives.  In this book, just as in his retreat and workshops, through inviting and engaging stories, you can also find that how discerning God’s will for us at our journey’s crossroads and our deep hearts' desires are to be put in the same direction, overcoming discrepancies and resistances. 

It is not only about recognizing God’s will but also making sure that our heart’s deep desire is in God’s will.  As we attain the spiritual discipline with our mature faith, we become more able to understand that discerning God’s will and finding our deep heart’s desire in God’s will does not have to be a rational decision.  And, it often comes with risks and even sufferings. But, I have found that what this book describes really helps us to appreciate these words of Jesus: Strive to enter through the narrow gate. 

St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose spiritual wisdom is the bottom line of the book, had to make many difficult decisions at forks on his journey. And, many of the decisions he made did not make sense – rationally, and he had to ensure great sufferings because of the decisions he made. But, it was out of his deep heart’s desire for the greater glory of God (Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam), and his journey took him into the Sainthood. It means that St. Ignatius of Loyola has already entered the Kingdom of God though the narrow gate before Christ’s return. So, we can trust St. Ignatius’ spiritual wisdom, which the book is based upon, to helps us become better decision-makers, better discerners, fitting to strive to enter the Kingdom through the narrow gate.

Importance of Speaking and Standing Up for Our Faith - What We Can Lear from the Gospel of the 20th Sunday Year C

The 20^th Sunday Gospel reading (Year C) is: 

“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:49-53)

What kind of image of Jesus do you have with this Gospel narrative? 

I asked a bunch of people – my students, friends, and colleagues – their impressions about the Gospel story. “Disturbing”, “scary”, “I can’t believe Jesus actually said such a thing!”, “I wonder if Jesus could have said in a better way to make his point…”, “Maybe Jesus was in a bad mood or something to say such a thing….”, “Looks like Jesus was mad!”, “This reminds me of angry God in the Old Testament.”  Obviously, nobody indicated a positive impression.

An image of Jesus with these words of him sure wipes away a popular but naïve sheepish image of Jesus as a peacemaker. 

The above words of Jesus invoke another “un-Jesus-like” description of him:

“Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple.  And He began to teach and say to them, ‘Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robber’s den.’ The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.  When evening came, they would go out of the city.” (Mark 11:15-19)

The scene of Jesus driving those who are engaging business in the sacred place and overturning tables of the money changers tells how upset he was.  As his words in Luke 12:49-53 did not give a mere peace-maker image of Jesus, neither the description of Jesus’ rather violent behaviors in Mark 11:15-19(Luke’s version of this incident in Luke 19:45-47 tones down Jesus’ anger). 

Images of Jesus as a man, who brings fire, division, and disturbance do not seem to bode well with a popular image of him: a man of peace.  In fact, Jesus is called “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). He has also said, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful”.(John 14:27)

Now, it is evident that Jesus can be quite harsh, stern, and austere, in his words, as in the case of Luke 12:49-53, and in his acts, as in the case of Mark 11:15-19. But, we must be very careful not to take this aspect of Jesus out of context and not to fix Jesus to a naïve stereotype we tend to make for our own convenience. 

To those who “nail” Jesus to certain images, as keeping Jesus only to a mere image of peace-maker, Luke 12:49-53 and Mark 11:15-19, should give an awakening call to more realistic view of Jesus. Because those who put Jesus only to an image that they like are also avoiding and subconsciously reluctant to acknowledge other aspects of him, it is an indication of immature faith. In other words, immature faith makes us put Jesus in our convenient “boxes” – making stereotype suiting to our narcissistic take on religion. 

So, it is my hope that Luke 12:48-53, along with Mark 11:15-19, helps us “liberate” Jesus out of stereotype and get to know Jesus more comprehensively and wholly, as who he was as historical Jesus, as our faith matures. 

Immature faith puts us at risk of not only confining Jesus into a naïve and convenient stereotype by interpreting the scriptures out of context, due to insecure narcissistic ego. Biblical passages, like Luke 12:48-53, are quite vulnerable for such misinterpretations.

There is a danger in interpreting this kind of statement in the bible literally and mistakenly think that Jesus was a man to bring social disturbance, if our faith is immature, if our heart is insecure and narcissistic. 

As a matter of fact, see where such a mistaken literalist interpretation would lead.  After all, isn’t it the same conclusion as what those who conspired to kill Jesus had, in arguing that Jesus is dangerous as he came to disturb the peace of the Roman Empire? It means that misunderstanding Jesus by misinterpreting the scriptures are associated with human sinfulness, which killed Jesus about 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem. 

Now, let’s get to know another reality of Jesus, besides that he sure came to bring peace and salvation, through Luke 12:49-53.

The fire he is bringing can be understood as a metaphor for the final judgement, which is described in the Book of Revelation.  As this prophetic and apocalyptic book of the Bible tells, the judgement process is quite stormy and, indeed, disturbing, to a point of anxiety-provoking. But, if you read this book carefully, you know that our mature faith in Christ will enable us to endure all the trials in the judgement process, however scary it may seem. This is another way that Jesus is assuring the faithful – not to worry.

In conjunction with the Book of Revelation, we can appreciate the fire that Jesus brings as the fire of refinement – to purify the world, which he found corrupt (i.e. Luke 11:29). Further, Jesus even prophesized trials on the corrupt world infested with sins, by saying, “Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!”(Luke 11:51). 

Yes, Jesus speaks quite harshly – to those who need to wake up to the truth. In fact, these harsh words in Luke 11:51 were cast out to the Pharisees, who are synonym to hypocrisy. Jesus even compared their sinfulness to the grave sinfulness of Abel and Zechariah, the first (Genesis 4:8) and the last (2 Chronicle 24:20-22) murders described in the Hebrew cannon of the Old Testament, as the New American Bible explains. 

Though Jesus loves peace, he does become quite harsh in condemning evil and what it brings, such as hypocrisy and injustice. That is why, he was not only speaking harshly against evil but also acting even violently against evil, as he did in cleansing the corrupt temple (Mark 11:15-19).

Now, we are in a better position to appreciate Jesus’ intention to tell us that he came to bring divisions, though it is rather disturbing to hear so. 

The divisions are conflicts between those who are faithful and those who are not – those who stick with the teaching of Jesus and those who are against it.  The divisions are what John’s Gospel symbolically contrasts the light and the darkness. 

As the Book of Revelation tells,  the salvation, which is namely the Kingdom of God, the new Eden, the new paradise, comes upon the return of Jesus, which is preceded by series of disturbing trials.  In Luke 12:29, Jesus indicate the trials in the judgement process with the fire he brings to suggest that it is also a refining and purifying fire. 

In this fire, things unfit to enter into the Kingdom will be weeded out so that those who are to inherit the Kingdom can enter with absolute purity of heart. 

An image of fiery refinement and purification is also found way back at the time of Babylonian captivity, using that adversarial and humiliating experience upon the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC as a learning experience to repent from sins to the purity of heart. This is summed up in Isaiah 48:10:

"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”

Jesus must have meant by saying, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” in the same spirit of the Word of God in Isaiah 48:10.  In fact, during Job’s process of conversion, he also found himself in a spiritual refinement, purging whatever blocks his vision in recognizing the greatness of God:

“But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”

And, Job eventually became refined as “pure gold” upon his trials. 

Because the human sinfulness has gotten to a point that makes Jesus lament, he had to remind us that he is bringing refining fire so that we will be pure enough by the time of inheriting the Kingdom.

So, what about Jesus telling about bringing divisions and our families getting divided against each other?  Why did Jesus have to say such things about dividing – though we tend to think that Jesus is about bringing people together to unite not only with God but with each other - ? 

This is where we must be very careful in interpreting – to make sure that we do not misunderstand what Jesus meant by “establishing division rather than peace”. 

In fact, if you approach this part of the scripture passage with mature faith, you can appreciate it as Jesus’ encouragement to us, not to be afraid of speaking up your belief and faith in Christ – even it may cause some disturbances and divisions in your families, circles of friends, and communities.

People with lukewarm faith become reluctant about speaking their faith – because they are simply afraid of “losing friends”.  Unless you are a vote-hungry politician, you do not have to compromise your belief. 

Jesus knows that it hurts us if we cannot speak up the truth, which he teaches.  It’s like someone telling her psychotherapist, “I could not tell him because I did not want to upset him….”, in regretting not telling him a truth.  Imagine if you had to be like her, going on a relationship with pretentiousness, because you were afraid of speaking your true feeling – lest expressing it would hurt a person you love. 

Depending on how you express it, it can hurt the person you have to tell your true feeling, or at least, it can disturb the person. But, imagine if you kept on going on your relationship not telling it…  Not telling a truth because of your fear of upsetting someone or making a division among people you associate with…or lest you are so afraid of being left alone, as a result of telling a truth, will eventually hurt both you and another person or the people you associate with.   

“Gee, I wish you had told me back then!”, is what people who were too afraid to tell a truth will have to hear. 

“Man! I wish you could tell me your true feeling then.”

“But, I was afraid that you’d get upset and hate me for that.”

“Well, I could have gotten upset, for a while. But, it is terrible and even more upsetting  that you did not tell me this for such a long time.” 

Exchanges like the above are what I often hear from my clients when I provide counseling sessions to couples and families plagued with afflictions. 

It is true that Jesus’ teaching is not welcomed by all in this world. It is also true that his teaching can upset some people even in your small circle of people you associate, which Jesus describes as a family in the Gospel.  So, can you call yourself a true disciple of Christ – if you cannot tell your faith because you are afraid of this reality? 

In recent years, many American Catholics seem to have this problem that Jesus is indicating in this Gospel message:  watering down their faith because they are afraid of divisions with those who are not in agreement with the Catholic Church.  The quality of their faith seem to deteriorate in the meantime at the expense of “getting along”. 

This recent phenomena of American Catholics also invokes an image of the Israelites, whose faith in God, dwindled as they gave their hearts to the surrounding Canaanites, eventually upsetting not the Canaanites neighbors but their God, whom they forgot. 

I think that Jesus was using harsh words to alert us to this kind of problem.  If we did not get his message now, then, we would repeat the history of falling and falling, which cost many prophets before Christ, as well-described in the Old Testament. 

Of course, the way we express our faith makes difference.  Expressing our uncompromising faith to those who do not agree or appreciate does not have to be done in a way to upset them.  But, letting a possibility of their hostile reaction to expressing our faith and not speaking our faith can lead to a serious problem down on the road. 

Jesus is hoping that we gain both courage and wisdom to handle this difficult challenge as we continue our pilgrim journey to inherit the Kingdom.