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 21st
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 21st
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 12th 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.
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