Up Against the Narrow Gate
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Wednesday of the
Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
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Father James Swanson, LC
Luke 13:22-30
Jesus passed through
towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He
answered them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I
tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the
master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand
outside knocking and saying, ´Lord, open the door for us.´ He will say to you
in reply, ´I do not know where you are from.´ And you will say, ´We ate and
drank in your company and you taught in our streets.´ Then he will say to
you, ´I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!´
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the
south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are
last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe in You with a faith that never seeks to test
you. I trust in You, hoping to learn to accept and follow Your will, even
when it does not make sense to the way that I see things. May my love for You
and those around me be similar to the love You have shown to me.
Petition: Lord, grant me the humility and sincerity to enter by the narrow gate.
1. A Scary Question: This is a scary question: “Lord, will only
a few people be saved?” Jesus doesn’t answer the question directly. Instead,
he gives some advice. It almost looks like Jesus is avoiding the question, as
if the answer is too discouraging. He tries to be encouraging instead, but at
the same time underlines the difficulty of success. “Strive” he says, “to
enter by the narrow gate.” Strive is the key word, since apparently, many are
going to try to enter and fail, because the gate is so narrow.
2. A Disturbing
Reply: The words that
many will try to enter and fail are troubling. What percentage? How many?
Nowadays, we like exact statistics. Jesus doesn’t say, but we get the
impression that it will be more than a few. The possibility of failure is
very real. Who will fail? Probably, people who don’t take him seriously;
people who don’t try hard enough; people who love something more than they
love Jesus. In other word, lots of people will fail…
3. My Christian
Credentials May Not Be as Solid as I Think They Are: He goes on to say that many who think they
are doing enough are going to be surprised to find they didn’t do enough.
They think their Christian credentials are solid, but they will be found
wanting. They will tell Jesus that they ate and drank with him, that they
received communion every Sunday. They will witness to how many times they
heard him preach in their streets, how much they contributed to the
collection, but that will not be enough. Yet others who did not seem so good
in life will be entering the Kingdom before them. Which group will I be in?
Jesus is warning me that just because I feel I am doing enough for him
doesn’t mean I am going to be in the group to be saved. I need to follow him
with as much sincerity and honesty as I am capable of, doing his will and not
my own.
Conversation with
Christ: Dear Jesus, Your
words are troubling to me. I see how often I fail in what I know I should be
doing for You. I see that I cannot reliably guide myself in this matter. Send
Your Holy Spirit to help me open my eyes to see if I am falling short before
it is too late. Help me to enter by the narrow gate.
Resolution: Today I will examine my conscience very
honestly to see if I am saying ‘no’ to Jesus in any aspect of my life and to
see if I am letting myself get too comfortable in any aspect of my life,
since comfort, especially in the spiritual life, is a sign that I am not
“striving to enter by the narrow gate.”
Excerpts from
the DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
94 O my Lord, inflame my heart
with love for You, that my spirit may not grow weary amidst the storms, the
sufferings and the trials. You see how weak I am. Love can do all.
153 One day, I saw two roads. One
was broad, covered with sand and flowers, full of joy, music and all sorts of
pleasures. People walked along it, dancing and enjoying themselves. They
reached the end without realizing it. And at the end of the road there was a
horrible precipice; that is, the abyss of hell. The souls fell blindly into
it; as they walked, so they fell. And their number was so great that it was
impossible to count them. And I saw the other road, or rather, a path, for it
was narrow and strewn with thorns and rocks; and the people who walked along
it had tears in their eyes, and all kinds of suffering befell them. Some fell
down upon the rocks, but stood up immediately and went on. At the end of the
road there was a magnificent garden filled with all sorts of happiness, and
all these souls entered there. At the very first instant they forgot all
their sufferings.
163 JMJ The Year 1937
General Exercises +O Most Holy Trinity! As many times as I breathe, as many times as my heart beats, as many times as my blood pulsates through my body, so many thousand times do I want to glorify Your mercy. +I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, 0 Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor. Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors' souls and come to their rescue. Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors' needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moanings. Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all. Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks. Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbor. Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me. +You yourself command me to exercise the three degrees of mercy. The first: the act of mercy, of whatever kind. The second: the word of mercy-if I cannot carry out a work of mercy, I will assist by my words. The third: prayer-if I cannot show mercy by deeds or words, I can always do so by prayer. My prayer reaches out even there where I cannot reach out physically.
241 Love of neighbor. First:
Helpfulness towards the sisters. Second: Do not speak about those who are
absent, and defend the good name of my neighbor. Third: Rejoice in the
success of others.
242 +O God, how much I desire to
be a small child.[71] You are my Father, and You know how little
and weak I am. So I beg You, keep me close by Your side all my life and
especially at the hour of my death. Jesus, I know that Your goodness
surpasses the goodness of a most tender mother.
294 +Once the Lord said to me,
Act like a beggar who does not back away when he gets more alms [than he
asked for], but offers thanks the more fervently. You too should not back
away and say that you are not worthy of receiving greater graces when I give
them to you. I know you are unworthy, but rejoice all the more and take as
many treasures from My Heart as you can carry, for then you will please Me
more. And I will tell you one more thing: Take these graces not only for
yourself, but also for others; that is, encourage the souls with whom you
come in contact to trust in My infinite mercy. Oh, how I love those souls who
have complete confidence in Me. I will do everything for them.
303 Great love can change small
things into great ones, and it is only love which lends value to our actions.
And the purer our love becomes, the less there will be within us for the
flames of suffering to feed upon, and the suffering will cease to be a
suffering for us; it will become a delight! By the grace of God, I have
received such a disposition of heart that I am never so happy as when I
suffer for Jesus, whom I love with every beat of my heart.
Once when I was suffering greatly, I left my work and escaped to Jesus and asked Him to give me His strength. After a very short prayer I returned to my work filled with enthusiasm and joy. Then, one of the sisters [probably Sister Justine] said to me, "You must have many consolations today, Sister; you look so radiant. Surely, God is giving you no suffering, but only consolations." "You are greatly mistaken, Sister," I answered, "for it is precisely when I suffer much that my joy is greater; and when I suffer less, my joy also is less." However, that soul was letting me recognize that she does not understand what I was saying. I tried to explain to her that when we suffer much we have a great chance to show God that we love Him; but when we suffer little we have less occasion to show God our love; and when we do not suffer at all, our love is then neither great nor pure. By the grace of God, we can attain a point where suffering will become a delight to us, for love can work such things in pure souls.
340 I know now that nothing can
put a stop to my love for You, Jesus, neither suffering, nor adversity, nor
fire nor the sword, nor death itself. I feel stronger than all these things.
Nothing can compare with love. I see that the smallest things done by a soul
that loves God sincerely have an enormous value in His Holy eyes.
502 Only love has meaning; it
raises up our smallest actions into infinity.
534 Chastity. There is no need to
explain that this vow forbids all those things prohibited by the sixth and
ninth commandments: deeds, thoughts, words, feelings... I understand that a
solemn vow differs from a simple vow; I understand this in all its
implications. While reflecting upon this, I heard these words in my soul: You
are My spouse forever; your chastity should be greater than that of the
Angels, for I call no angel to such intimacy as I do you. The smallest act of
My spouse is of infinite value. A pure soul has inconceivable power before
God.
704 I spend every free moment at
the feet of the hidden God. He is my Master; I ask Him about everything; I
speak to Him about everything. Here I obtain strength and light; here I learn
everything; here I am given light on how to act toward my neighbor. From the
time I left the novitiate, I have enclosed myself in the tabernacle together
with Jesus, my Master. He himself drew me into the fire of living love on
which everything converges.
1701 I asked the Lord today that
He might deign to teach me about the interior life, because of myself I can
neither understand nor conceive anything perfectly. The Lord answered me,
I was your Teacher, I am and I will be; strive to make your heart like unto
My humble and gentle Heart. Never claim your rights. Bear with great calm and
patience everything that befalls you. Do not defend yourself when you are put
to shame, though innocent. Let others triumph. Do not stop being good when
you notice that your goodness is being abused. I Myself will speak up for you
when it is necessary. Be grateful for the smallest of My graces, because your
gratitude compels Me to grant you new graces...
1714 Today I interceded earnestly
with the Lord Jesus for our house, that He might deign to take away the cross
which has touched our convent. 252 The Lord answered me, Your prayers are
accepted for other intentions. I cannot take away this cross until they
recognize its meaning. Nevertheless, I did not stop praying.
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-94, 153, 163, 241-242)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-294, 303, 340, 502, 534)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-704)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-VI-1701, 1704)
http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS10.shtml
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