Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary time
I have always imagined the door of heaven like in the Disney movie of Hercules. Remember that at the end there is a scene when he finally goes to see his father in the Mount Olympus, and they show the gates. They’re these brilliant gold gates with billows of clouds under them – and the gates are HUGE.
In Sunday’s Gospel Jesus paints us a very different picture. He tells us we must “strive to enter through the narrow gate.” This is basically the exact opposite of what I was picturing! But as we read the Gospel and learn about what Jesus is teaching, maybe it actually makes more sense than we realize.
Our culture and society are generally counter-Christian – they pull us in very different directions than the direction that Jesus wants to pull us. The world in which we live tends to not support the values that the Catholic Church gives us. At the same time, Jesus is calling us to do challenging things. To love our neighbor as our self, to go the extra mile. In many ways, our faith can be counter cultural. We have to protect ourselves and know that the way of the world is often not the best things for us, rather Jesus is the Way to eternal life through the gates to Heaven.
Entering God’s kingdom requires effort, commitment, and a willingness to let go of worldly attachments. Jesus tells us, “many will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”
We must be wise and choose God’s way.