August
26, 2007
The
Narrow Gate
Heavenly
Ha Ha
There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because
he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take
it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to
take some of his wealth with him.
An angel hears his plea and appears to him and informs the man that
God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed,
the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars
and places it beside his bed.
Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to greet
St. Peter
St. Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man
found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, "You brought pavement?!!!"
Online Masses
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Past Columns:
August 19: Comings &
Goings
August 12: Mass Schedule
Change
August 5: Better Late Than
Never
July 29: Sunday in the Chapel
July 15: Celebrating Kelly
July
8: I'm so not dead yet
July 1: Worse than Raccoons
June 24:Sommertime
June 17: Celebrating
Fr Cine
June 10: When Nature Turns
June 4:Celebrating Father
Jim
May 27: Praying in Tongues
May 20: Making (up) the
difference
May 13: Loving our Mothers
May 6: About Father George
April 29: Hearing Voices
April 22:Three Stones
April 15: What a week!
April 8: Alleluia! Alleluia!
April 1: Holy Week
March 25: Climate Change
March 18: Take A Step
March 11: Cold Enough for
You?
March 4:Stocking the Shelves
Feb 25: Basket Case
Feb18: Ashes and Desert
Dust
Feb11: Get Ready, Get Set,
REST!
Feb.4: Lent Lurking
Jan.28:Catholic Schools
Week
Jan.21:Crying in Church
Jan.14: Love ahead
Jan.7: So How
Was Your Christmas?
Columns
from 2005
Columns
from 2004
Columns from
2003
Columns from 2002
In
today’s Gospel (Luke 13:22-30), someone asks Jesus if many will
be “saved”. Jesus replies, “Strive to enter through
the narrow gate,for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not
be strong enough.” As usual, Jesus doesn’t answer the question
directly, but makes us think.
We have a hard time in our Long Island, Catholic society believing the
“narrow gate” image of salvation. Take a quick, informal poll
among people about “who will get to heaven,” and I suspect
the answer from most will be “If someone lives a good life, they
will get to heaven.” Doesn’t sound like “narrow door”
thinking to me.
It’s hard for a majority
to think that their life is supposed to involved a walk through a narrow
passage. Minorities think it all the time. A few months ago when I was
in the Czech Republic and couldn’t read the signs or understand
the spoken language, I felt I was going through some kind of “narrow
passage” and felt elated when I successfully got to where I was
supposed to be. I know that our non English-speaking ancestors and the
current immigrants feel the same living here. But when we’re the
majority, getting anyplace, communicating, buying things, etc. -- it’s
all easy and taken for granted.
Jesus’ comment about the
narrow door challenges us to not to take the journey to God’s kingdom
for granted. This suggests that if we don’t think the kingdom of
God is a challenging adventure, then maybe we’re not fully seeking
the kingdom of God. He suggests that many won’t be strong enough
to take this journey.
Are we feeling challenged to build
up our strength for this journey? Since my heart attack I’m being
guided to build up the strength in my heart. That means taking the time
to exercise and be more physically active. I fool myself if I think I
can get stronger and not do anything differently. So, what do we need
to do differently in the days ahead to be stronger in our faith life?
What are our spiritual exercises? Let’s get strong for the journey
through the narrow door.
