As we read words from scripture, some words can “stop us in our tracks,” some can strongly encourage us. The scriptures for this coming Sunday have both words for us. As Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem someone comes up to him and asks, “Are those to be saved few in number?” When the person asked this question, they certainly must have assumed that the kingdom of God was only for those chosen people rather than for outsiders, non-believers.
Jesus’ answer must have come as a shock—"strive to enter through the narrow gate…many will attempt to enter and not be strong enough.” He declared that entry to the kingdom can never be automatic but is the result of a struggle. It is easy perhaps for one to believe that simply belonging to a Christian civilization means that one is truly a follower of Christ, but a person who lives in a Christian civilization is not necessarily a Christian. They might be enjoying all its benefits, living on what you might call “Christian capital” which others have built up. But we cannot live on borrowed goodness. “We ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets.” In response Jesus speaks shocking words: “I don’t know where you come from.”
The encouraging words are words of God through Isaiah: “I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory.” God has come to gather all of us in. It can be a struggle, but, as our second reading encourages, “Strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet.” Our Collect prayer for this Sunday asks God to grant us to love what God commands and to desire what God promises—so that amid the uncertainties of this world our hearts will be fixed on that place where true gladness is found. And that can be our prayer these days!
Len Kraus, S.J.
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