First Reading Isaiah 66: 18 - 21
18 "For I know their works and their thoughts, and I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory,
19 and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations.
20 And they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their cereal offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.
21 And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.
Second Reading Hebrews 12: 5 - 7, 11 - 13
5 And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons? -- "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
Gospel Reading Luke 13: 22 - 30
22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.
23 And some one said to him, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" And he said to them,
24 "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
25 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.'
26 Then you will begin to say, `We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.'
27 But he will say, `I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!'
28 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.
29 And men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God.
30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."
Commentary
Just this afternoon, my friends and I went to a river to go swimming. It was a consensus brought by severe longing to be with each other after almost six months being away. I am talking here particularly about Joseph. He is working in another region for months now. Being seas apart from each other, we totally missed him. He just arrived yesterday and this morning fetched a friend from the airport. It so happens that his friend is of the same name also, Joseph from Iloilo.
There is a challenge we always dare ourselves to do every time we are in that place where we swim and bond. We have to enter a tunnel. Dark. Frightening. The tunnel has a very very small opening hole enough for a person to enter and crawl because the waters flowing to the river will pull you back. No one in his right mind will enter it alone. Only with friends and those of company will dare to perform the test.
Very appropriately this Sunday, the Lord talks about entering the narrow gates going to heaven, which like the tunnel my friends and I would like to enter is dark, long, and constricted. Many of us are attracted by the wider gates because there are lights, beauty and luxury. That is the way to deceive humans. Our nature is to select where pleasure is. We think and feel we are bound to follow our appetites. Our low resistance to pain makes it horrifying to enter a gate that is narrow, dark, uncertain and ugly. But there is only one path to holiness. And we only need to believe we can. We only need to try. Just like my friends and I, we thought we cannot go to the end of the tunnel. We were wrong and we cannot prove we can unless we try.
Jesus is not condemning by teaching us about the slim gate. Jesus is encouraging. The second reading proves it by giving details on the hardships of being a Christian. But by focusing on Jesus, we can be able to pass. Walking in the tunnel, I just focused on the light, the small light before me. As I move forward, the light is becoming larger and larger. Jesus is encouraging.
I like to suppose that it is because of that encouraging person of His that Jesus did not directly answer the question. He didn’t say how many souls will be saved but His is an open invitation. Try your best to enter the narrow gate. We will remember in here the conflict of redemptive works and pre destination. There is already a definite list of who will be saved because the book of life is finished so how can one be sure of redemption? Here is my answer; nobody knows who is written in the book of life, just believe you are one. Besides, Jesus’ answer is clear. His grace and our efforts will make it to pass the narrow gate. There is no exact name mentioned but Jesus said “Whoever believes in me…” and the pronoun used is whoever. It can be you and I provided we believe and do our duties as Christians.
Will it be enough to believe? No. faith is always accompanied by actions. There is no use if you study all political theories and yet do not make laws and ordinances to apply them. That is the same with faith. There is no use attending mass every Sunday and memorize readings and homilies but not applying it to life. Praxis is a manifestation of how deep your religiosity is. Jesus said that in the Last Days there will be people who will shout and say “… we ate and drank with you” and we know He is pertaining to people who receive communions every Sundays of their lives but Jesus will tell them he does not know them. He will disown the people who are present to mass but are not practicing the teachings in their daily living. Our faith is not only about receiving redemption, it is also about extending the Kingdom of God. Today as we celebrate the Queenship of Mary let her be our example of a person who entered the narrow gate amidst the hardships of life and of being a mother of Christ.
Application
What are the examples we can learn from Mary as we take the narrow path to heaven? If going to mass is not enough for Jesus to own us in the Last Day, what else do a Christian needs to do? I would like to suggest ways on how to pass the gate from how Mary herself did it.
1. Grow in prayer life—Mary is a common example of a faith that is very susceptible to God’s call. Hers is “thy will be done” method. When the Lord asks her to do the mission, she just say yes. And that can only happen if there is a deep precision about the will of God. I do not say one has to know what the will of God exactly is, but discernment and disposition to God and to God’s work is enough for us to convict ourselves in saying yes always to God. Prayer is very important. Many people attend mass for the sake of being present but are they really praying? Are we really praying? We need to pray with the community and personally during mass. Do not leave the Church empty. Leave the prayers in there.
2. Fellowship—Mary did not bear the trials alone. She consoled her cousin. She shared the confusion of pregnancy with another confused soon-to-be-mother. Mary is a person of compassion. And to be compassionate, one needs to feel exactly how other persons feel. It is not good to attend the mass and after that go to your house and spend time alone until next Sunday.
3. Grow in Ministry—We can only extend the Kingdom of God if we do our mission. To win souls for Christ. To bring new converts to Him. We are invited and tasked to use our God-given skills and knowledge so we can please the Lord. What is your share in the building of the Kingdom?
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