Jesus has taught us to enter the Kingdom through its narrow entrance. This evokes nijiriguchi, through which guests enter into their master's tea hut, demanding to bend their bodies on their knees to enter. Imagine Jesus being the ultimate tea master, looking forward to our arrival in his hut for the heavenly tea ceremony. For this, we continue to journey on our Exodus from Eden lost to new Eden, not to be fooled or tempted onto a wider path with a wider entrance.
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In the Gospel reading for the 20th Sunday
on Cycle C, Luke 12:49-53, Jesus made it clear that his presence on earth is to
bring division rather than peace (v. 51). Namely, in a hyperbolic way, Jesus is
referring it to the judgement (Revelation 20:11-15) upon series of tribulations
(Revelation 6-16). The division is to separate those who are saved and those
who are not, like separating wheat from tares at the harvest time (Matthew
12:24-29, 36-42). Those whom God puts His seal on foreheads (Revelation 7:3-4)
and those whose robes washed and made white in Christ’s blood (Revelation 7:15)
and those whose names are in the Book of Life (Revelation 3:5, 20:15) are the
saved ones. Because Jesus underwent the baptism of suffering (Luke 12:50), we
can be saved by his blood (Revelation 7:15; St. Faustina’s Diary, 298-299), as
it is the ultimate Passover Lamb’s blood (Exodus 12; Hebrews 9:22; 1 Peter
1:18-19).
The Gospel reading for the 21st Sunday
on Cycle C, Luke 13:22-30, describes that the division between those who are
saved and those who are not is hinged upon the narrow door (v.24). The saved
are those who entered the house of God, while those who are not saved are left
outside. Then, the master of the house, God the Christ, locked the door.
Those who are saved are inside the house, while those who are not are outside. In juxtaposing Luke 13:24-25 to Matthew 7:13-14, those who failed to enter the house of God through the narrow entrance and, therefore, left outside are to be condemned. In fact, those who are saved and in the house of God are those who have done the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21), and it is to be the good stewards of what God has entrusted us in (Matthew 25:14-30) and to do the works of love for others (Matthew 25:31-46). And they remain vigilant for the return of Christ to be in the house of God – to be saved (Matthew 25:1-13).
There is a permanent division between the saved and
the condemned – the insiders and the outsiders at the eschaton.
The narrow entrance to the house of God, which
symbolizes the salvation in the Kingdom of God, is a metaphor for what it takes
us to be saved and to be in the house of God. It is not as simple as some
heretic preachers say, “You are now saved because you have accepted Jesus as
your personal savior”. The passage of Luke
13:25-27 is a reminder against such a heresy. It takes far more than accepting
Jesus as the savior to be saved by him. And, narrow entrance (narrow door (stenes thyras, Luke 13:24) and narrow
gate (stenes pules, Matthew 7:13)). It takes to endure tribulation by sustaining
faith in Christ and faithfully doing the will of God, while remaining in
vigilant hope for the parousia.
The house of God that we enter through the narrow
gate is actually the new heaven and earth, the Kingdom of God, envisioned in
Revelation 21. In it, there is the ultimate Jerusalem (not to be confused with
the geographical city of Jerusalem).
That is why the First Reading for the 21st Sunday on Cycle C is
Isaiah 66:18-21, with a glorious image of the faithful from all over the earth
gathering in this heavenly city of peace, called Jerusalem, is read to
correspond to Luke 13:22-30. In fact,
the ultimate Jerusalem in Isaiah 66:18-21, is what the Church is to become, the
bride of Christ in the Kingdom of God. Thus, the we, the Church, must enter the
new through the narrow entrance into the house of God. As we complete our entry
into the house of God, the Kingdom, through the narrow entrance, then, Eden is
restored to us anew (Revelation 22:1-5). And, this is the total consummation of
God’s salvific scheme, which started just before Adam and Eve were evicted from
Eden (Genesis 3:15).
It has been a very long way from Genesis 3, in which we lost Eden, to
Revelation 22, in which we are in new Eden, as long as we enter the house of
God through the narrow entrance. In fact, the journey from Genesis 3 to
Revelation 22 is our ultimate Exodus. Like the Exodus that the Israelites took
from Egypt to the Land of Milk and Honey in Canaan, first, crossing the Red
Sea, and lastly, crossing the Jordan River, not everyone can make it through. Thus,
to think of the narrow entrance (Luke 13:24; cf. Matthew 7:13), think of the
Exodus: why God did not let the Israelites take a “short cut” from Egypt to the
destination in Canaan but rather a longer and far more difficult way. God sure
does not make our path to salvation easy. We have to endure in doing the will
of God faithfully, while remaining vigilant for the Parousia.
Given that the Gospel narrative for the 22nd
Sunday on Cycle C, Luke 14:1, 7-14,
which addresses the virtue of humility, the narrow entrance to the house
of God, also means that humility is another necessary factor, besides endurance
in doing the will of God and vigilance for the return of Christ. The last
sentence from the Gospel reading for the 21st Sunday, “For behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last” (Luke
13:30) is echoed in the Gospel reading for the 22nd Sunday, in
addressing the virtue of humility:
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:8-11
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:8-11
Now, the above words of Jesus on the virtue of humility, applied in the proper
manner for invited guests, evoke an image of a Japanese tea hut, where a host
holds a tea ceremony with guests. Because guests for a tea ceremony must enter
the hut through a very small entrance, called nijiriguchi, which
literally means an entrance that requires guests to bend on their knees.
If the house of God is to be juxtaposed to a Japanese tea ceremony hut, the narrow entrance definitely symbolizes humility. In front of Christ, we bend on our knee, in the sanctuary of Church. We are on our knees when bread and wine are consecrated into Corporis et Sanguinis Christi upon epiclesis on the alter. So, imagine, entering into a Japanese tea hut for tea ceremony is to meet the ultimate host of the ceremony, our Lord Jesus Christ, the grand tea master beyond Sen no Rikyu. Imagine, we, the faithful, enjoy Christ’s hospitality as he hosts the heavenly tea ceremony, acknowledging our completion of a long Exodus journey from lost Eden to the new Eden (from Genesis 3 to Revelation 22), enduring tribulations in faithfully doing God’s will and keeping vigilant hope for this tea ceremony, thus being able to make ourselves “stenos”(narrow) enough to enter through the nijiriguchi of God’s heavenly tea hut.
It is no coincidence that Bl. Justo Ukon Takayama, 16th century Japanese Catholic samurai lord, who is soon to be canonized by Pope Francis, was also an excellent student of Sen no Rikyu, a grand tea master of the 16th Japan. He endured persecution, losing his castle and province, and ended as an exile to Manila, for his staunch refusal give up his faith in Christ. Bl. Unkon Takayama certainly endured in doing God’s will for him. His faithfulness with fortitudes is inseparable from his humility to be a good student of tea ceremony under Sen no Rikyu, who demanded samurais to leave their treasured swords outside his tea hut. There is no way for a samurai to enter a hut through its nijiriguchi, unless he detaches his swords. The swords represent the pride of samurai. But, Bl. Ukon Takayama, needed no sword – no pride, in entering the house of God – the tea hut of Sen no Rikyu. For him, the way of Christ – the way of tea mattered more than his swords. All he needed was his faithful adherence to what he was fully committed to: his faith in Christ, his practice of the way of tea.
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