Spiritual Discipline to Enter the Narrow Gate

Sunday Readings

The way to eternal life is narrow because it is demanding, requires commitment and denial of ourselves.”
-Benedict XVI

My Dearest Friends In Christ,

The readings of today, especially the Gospel, point to the reality of judgment. It points out to us the experience of the last day when those who persevered through earthly trials and accepted God’s discipline in faith, will be with Christ. While those who compromised the law of God and followed the pleasurable ways of worldliness will be locked out of the Kingdom.

In Matt. 7:13-14, Jesus contrasts the narrow gate that leads to life with a wide gate and easy road that leads to destruction. Like physical conditioning, spiritual conditioning requires discipline and many people are unwilling to pay this price.

The Gospel uses the metaphor of a door locked by the master. ”…after the master of the house has arisen and locked the door” (v. 25)
Note the similarity between Vv. 25-27 and the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins in Matt. 25:1-13. The point is that God gives a period when we can prepare for the kingdom, followed by a time of judgment. Once the door is locked, there is no longer room for preparation or negotiation.

This metaphor might not make sense to the spiritually blind nor to those whose minds are preoccupied with earthly vanities nor to religious people who think that their familiarity with God and religious practices will guarantee them eternal life. ”We ate and drank with You and You taught in our streets.” Jesus exhorts us to enter through the narrow gate because some will strive but will not be strong enough to enter because they lack spiritual discipline. Who are these? These are those who lack the spiritual discipline to enter the narrow gate. Those who would rather compromise their faith than face the hardship of life. Imagine if the day when the door was to be very hour; do you think you will be admitted or locked out? If you are not sure, then examine yourself and ask yourself if you are striving to do the Will of God. Do I live by His commandments? Am I making enough effort to use this limited preparatory time on earth to prepare for the eternal destination? Is my lifestyle pleasing to God?

We often take seriously things of this earthly life but play down that which will endure hereafter. The problem on the last day will not be that you did not go to church but were you going to worship God or to fulfill an obligation? The problem will not be whether you love or hate God but how committed and how deep and sincere is that love. The question will not be whether you showed love to the neighbor but to what degree you showed it. So the real issue that demands our urgent attention is to re-examine ourselves and ask what we mean when we say we worship God. Many Christians of today, I must say, are really confused. There is this wide gap or dichotomy between the ‘lived life’ and the Christian life. Many of us are hypocrites and fanatics, to say the least. “Don’t be deceived, God is not mocked, For whatever a person sows he will also reap.” ( Galatians 6:7)

The road to God is narrow which means it is only those who are spiritually disciplined and willing to pay the price of self-denial that can navigate through the narrow path of suffering and pain that leads to the narrow gate. Unfortunately, we live in an age where everyone wants an easy life, but it shouldn’t be so in our relationship with God. Christ never promised us a smooth sail but a safe arrival. However, He never abandons us when the sail becomes turbulent because His Grace is sufficient for us and He is always near to help. We need to recognize that He is always with us as we journey on this narrow path to Heaven.

The second reading admonishes us to endure trials as ‘discipline’. For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline? A good father disciplines his children to help them to become more responsible persons when they grow up. Nothing good is ever achieved without discipline. We discipline ourselves by avoiding eating junk food or anything that will harm our health. Spiritual discipline involves indulging in spiritual exercises that stimulate our spiritual growth. Self-denial and prayer are among them. These prepare us to accept difficulties that come our way with spiritual vigor and joy.

In our human society, when we fail to discipline our children for fear of being arrested we groom them into sociopaths and hoodlums that terrorize society. Many undisciplined children are now taking the lives of their parents. It is high time parents started taking the issue of disciplining their children seriously. God is our Father because He loves us, He also disciplines us in various ways. “I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve.” ( cf. Jer. 17:10)

Our trials and challenges in life are God’s ways of disciplining us. That is why we must accept whatever comes our way, good or bad, with total resignation to the Will of God. When we accept God’s discipline, we become spiritually strong. To achieve this we need to give up whatever does not align with God’s directives for our lives.

We ask God today to give us the Grace of spiritual discipline, the strength and Grace to run our earthly race with perseverance and faith so that we shall be found worthy to enter the narrow gate that leads to salvation on the last day. Amen.