Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus offers us three images that, taken together, form a powerful guide for our journey of faith: the narrow gate, the warning of not being ready, and the vision of the great banquet where people gather from every direction of the earth.
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate” (Lk 13:24).
The narrow gate is an image that catches our attention because it speaks of challenge and effort. A wide, open door requires little of us; a narrow gate demands intention, focus, even struggle. The Narrow Gate is Jesus. This is an invitation to detach from everything that is not good. To go through the purification process of keeping what is good. To become like Christ who humbled himself. Jesus already said it when he invited us to be like children, that is to trust in the Father (cf. Mk 10:15).
“For many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough” (Lk 13:24).
This warning unsettles us. What strength is he talking about? Strength here is not about physical ability or intellectual sharpness; it is the inner strength that comes from a life rooted in God’s grace. On our own, we will not be “strong enough,” but when we allow God to shape us—through prayer, sacraments, service, and community—we grow in the strength that matters most: the strength of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ warning is not meant to discourage but to awaken us from complacency, so that we may live our faith actively open to the action of God in us.
“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” (Lk 13:29).
Here, Jesus ends not with fear, but with hope. To encourage us Jesus tells us that even men who have been sinful like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are in heaven. What the church says when someone is canonized or becomes a saint, is that they are in heaven. As Jesus is the one that affirms that they are in heaven, these would be the first saints! But if you remember their story, they had a lot of issues and sins. Even, Jacob was the one who wrestled with an angel. Yet Jesus is saying that they are in heaven! This means that we can all reach heaven! What is beautiful about the story of all three of them is that even though there was so much struggle, they remained faithful to God! Moreover, Jesus affirms that people will come from all over the world into the kingdom of God! The invitation is open to all of us! The Kingdom of God is not a closed club for a privileged few. It is a feast, a banquet, where we are all invited. The key is to receive the strength of God or his grace. Our Blessed Mother is the model of receptivity to God. Let us follow her example of simplicity and service to receive the Kingdom God wants to give us.
Have a blessed day of the Lord!
Fr. Carlos
