At some point you’ve probably heard one of these common phrases:
“All you gotta do is just be a good person” or, “I don’t go to Mass because God loves me as I am,” or “I can always return to God on my death bed.”
Although it is true that we must be good people, that God loves us unconditionally, and that people can have death-bed conversions, heaven should not be viewed as something automatic. Of course, we are ultimately saved by God’s grace and mercy, but we have a role to play and need to be faithful and persevere to the end as Scripture reminds us. Unfortunately, heaven has turned into a “prize for those who are nice” and seems to be guaranteed like the daily rising of the sun. This presumptuous way of living is dangerous as it can put one’s spiritual life on autopilot and salvation in jeopardy.
Today, Our Lord tells us that it is much more difficult to enter the kingdom of heaven then most people think.
Jesus says, “Enter through the narrow Gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.”
I don’t believe that Jesus wants to scare us, but rather to shake us up a bit. It is important to reflect on our salvation as well as the times when we’ve been tempted to go through the wide gate of comfort, worldly pleasure and sin.
To enter through the narrow gate is to follow the Lord with our entire being and total love. It is to keep the commandments, to carry our crosses, and do God’s will every day. The Christian journey is not easy, but it is the only way to true intimacy with Christ, real freedom and it is the safest path to eternal life.
One saint who entered through the Narrow Gate was Saint Aloysius Gonzaga which we celebrate his memorial today. He lived during the 16th century and was born into a wealthy family, but because of his deep love for God and desire for holiness, he gave up his princely inheritance and entered the Jesuits to serve the sick and spread the Gospel.
After a terrible plague hit Italy, Saint Aloysius dedicated himself to caring for those infected and suffering by begging for alms and carrying those he found in the streets to the hospital. He cleaned them, took care of them and also prepared them to receive the sacraments. Eventually he got infected from someone he was caring for and at the age of 23 he died.
May our Merciful Father grant us all of the graces we need to remain faithful to Him, so that we may imitate Saint Aloysius Gonzaga in walking through the narrow gate that leads to life.