Profaning the Holy and The Narrow Gate

In today’s gospel reading the mention and image of a narrow gate is a very straight forward and understandable image. The narrow gate and the hard road in the gospel suggest that being Jesus’ disciple will mean certain demands on us. We can easily walk through a wide gate without much thought, but to get through a narrow gate we have to think, concentrate and focus our attention. It takes a certain amount of though and planning, discipline and alertness to get through a narrow gate.

Jesus is reminding us that being a follower of his requires reflection and attentiveness on our part; it doesn’t happen automatically. The adjective “narrow” tends to have a negative meaning in our walk of life today. No one wants to be considered narrow; we like to think of ourselves as broad minded. But the gospel today suggests that certain narrowness is called for in our following of the Lord, in the sense that it often means excluding all kinds of ways that are well and easily accepted today that is contrary to the teaching of Jesus and the Magisterium of the Church

Saying “yes” to the Lord’s way requires saying “no” to a lot of other ways that our flesh and the world offers. However, Jesus also declares, that the narrow gate we are demanded to follow him through will ultimately lead to greater things. The gate may be narrow, but what is beyond has a length, breath, width and depth which surpasses human understanding and knowledge.