Entrance into heaven is the topic of conversation in the Gospel passage today. Who can be saved? Who can enter into heaven. Is heaven a promise only to a few?
And how does our Lord answer. Well, he doesn’t give a number. And he doesn’t say that yes, there will only be a few able to enter heaven, nor does say that everyone goes to heaven.
Rather, he describes the way by which all people are to seek heaven—the mode, the method, the manner, the attitude: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.” We are to strive for heaven.
The word “strive” in the original New Testament Greek is a really interesting word. It’s Agōnize-es-the, from which we get the word agonize. Jesus tells us here to agonize to enter heaven—we are to struggle and strain for heaven. To borrow an image from St. Paul we are to be like athletes running exerting all of our strength to reach the finish line, pushing themselves through emotional and physical limits to reach the goal.
Is that how most of us would describe our efforts to grow in holiness? In the practice of prayer and good works and seeking out souls, are we struggling and straining to use the time we’ve been given for the work of the Gospel? Most of us would need to admit, no we don’t. Which is why we pray over and over, Lord have mercy upon us.
“Strive to enter the narrow gate” Notice the Lord doesn’t say, it’s important to have striven for heaven at one point in the past or it’s okay if you put off striving for heaven for when it is most convenient for you. Agōnize-es-the isn’t a past tense verb, it’s not a future tense verb, it’s in the present tense: “agonize now and don’t stop” The Christian life requires constant effort for heaven.
Now, there are some protestant denominations that seem to profess that as long as at some point in your life you’ve acknowledged that Jesus is God and Savior, that you are basically automatically guaranteed heaven. Some of us Catholics treat baptism with the same attitude. But that doesn’t align with the biblical data. Why strive if heaven is guaranteed? Baptism isn’t the end of the race; it’s the starting point.
Throughout the Christian life, we face the constant temptation to slacken in our efforts for sanctification: I’ll begin to take prayer seriously tomorrow, I’ll go to confession next month, I’ll engage in some charitable work when it’s more convenient. I’ll begin reading the Bible just after binge watching this new show on Netflix: But what happens when we put off spiritual growth until tomorrow? To quote Meredith Wilson: “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.” Excuses about not getting serious about the Christian life leave us emptier and sadder for it.
The pursuit of heaven, the pursuit of spiritual growth, conversion from sin, docility to the inspirations of the holy spirit, this is to be first in our life. Seek first the kingdom of God. But then, on top of this immense, all-encompassing agonizing effort on our part to reach heaven, what does the Lord say next? He says, the gate of heaven is narrow. The width of the door to Heaven is the span of a needle’s eye, something that is anything but easy to pass through.
Entering the narrow gate requires us to change. The behaviors and attitudes that are incompatible with heaven need to change: our selfish clinging to sinful pleasures, our grudges and hatreds, our prideful self-aggrandizement. It needs to change into temperance, self-control, generosity, forgiveness, and humility. They need to change into Christ—who is Love.
Now many who presented with the demand for conversion have a negative reaction. Instead of conforming themselves to Christ, they complain about how narrow the gate is, how small it looks. Many, when presented with the commandments of God and the teachings of the Church, say,
“no, too narrow, too rigid, too outdated, for me”. They lobby for the Church to change her teachings instead of exercising the humility and fortitude to change themselves. But that’s not what Jesus asks. “Strive to enter the narrow gate”.
It is a tough gospel, a tough lesson. But, isn’t it the message of the cross? The key to the narrow gate of heaven is the cross that the Lord has told us to take up and carry, each and every one of us.
“If this is the case, who can be saved?” we might find ourselves saying, like the apostles. God of course has not left us to accomplish the impossible on our own. He provides us the necessary grace, the strength, the assistance of the angels and saints, and the gift of us very life in the Eucharist.
Jesus doesn’t leave us agonizing on our own, with all our weaknesses, staring at the uphill narrow road as a sheer, unscalable cliff. He gathers us together every week: guiding and teaching us by his word, bolstering us through our prayer together, joining us in the bonds of charity to accompany, encourage, and assist each other. And He feeds us the spiritual food of the Eucharist so that we might come to the eternal banquet of heaven.
And that’s how the Gospel today ends doesn’t it? With that beautiful image. Those who strive and strain to enter the narrow gate, from east, west, north, and south, will come to recline at the heavenly table in the kingdom of God.
May we find our strength, our life, in the Eucharist today, to carry the cross, to strive to enter the narrow gate, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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