My brothers and sisters, how often is it that we find ourselves struggling to make the journey of faith because of so many of the circumstances that surround our daily lives? Often we find ourselves in situations—family situations, for example—that discourage us or dishearten us, and we think that our prayers are of no avail.
We pray for our young, for our youth, for our children, that they will be close to the Lord. And yet sometimes all we see around us are indications of rebellion.
Saint Paul, in today's letter to the Romans, speaks about how, and I quote, “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.”
How often, my brothers and sisters, do you find yourself just pouring out your heart literally to God without words—just lifting up your emotions? Whether it’s sadness or joy, concern and anxiety, or weakness—you offer it all up to God, knowing that He is within you. He searches your heart and your mind, and He sees. He knows, and He is attentive.
For the Lord knows that it’s a difficult journey. The Lord knows that the gate through which we have to enter is narrow. In today’s Gospel, in fact, somebody asks Jesus, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
Now, don’t forget—this is a Jewish person asking another Jewish person about who will be saved, given that the mindset back then was that only the chosen people of God would be saved. It’s a mindset that prevails even today, for sometimes we think that our entrance into heaven will depend on our affiliation with a given creed or a given religion.
Now, of course, we know that outside the Catholic faith there is no salvation. Yet what does that mean? It means those who are aware that the Catholic faith is the fullness—the fullness of truth which leads to salvation—and yet reject it, there’s no hope of salvation there. But those who are inculpably ignorant of the fact that the Catholic faith is the true and narrow way—the Lord is just and will judge accordingly. It is not for us to judge.
But notice that the Lord here is breaking down these barriers, right? When somebody from His own faith—from His own Judaic, Abrahamic tradition—asks Him (since they were few in comparison to the rest of the world’s population), listen to Jesus’s answer. He doesn’t say, “Well, you know, those who aren’t Jewish, they’re going to have a hard time.” No. He addresses the person who asked Him the question: “You strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter, but will not be strong enough.”
My brothers and sisters, it’s a daily challenge. And that’s why the Lord, in speaking about taking up our cross, adds to that each day. “Whoever wants to follow me must take up his cross every day, deny themselves, and come and follow me.”
And we know that since He invites us to do so, He will also give us the grace and the strength, through His mercy and His love, to be able to lift that cross and to also help others—to make their burden a little bit lighter, their load a little bit easier.
And so, let us journey together, my brothers and sisters, through the narrow and difficult gate that leads to eternal life. Let us listen to the words of Jesus, obey them, and thereby strive to do as He asked.
And may the Queen of Heaven, who entered through that narrow gate, help us to do the same. May she always remind us that the journey ahead—though difficult—is nevertheless accompanied by the presence of God.
Our Lady, Queen of Peace, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Amen
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