Now is the important time. Now is the time when we can choose the narrow gate before the master of the house has locked the door, Jesus tells us today (Luke 13:24-25). In Matthew, Jesus’ words are more challenging: 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. (Matt 7:13)
What is the narrow gate or door? Jesus has shown us in the way he lived: giving himself for us, his self-giving. We see his self-giving when he became one of us, taking on our human flesh. We see his self-giving in allowing himself to be crucified to atone for our sins. His self-giving was always out of love for us. One of the most famous verses of John’s Gospel is: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, writes: God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). The narrow gate for Jesus was his incarnation and Calvary. In the way he lived, giving himself for love of us, Jesus showed us how to live, to give of ourselves for love of others.
Jesus also showed us the narrow gate in his teaching. There are plenty of statements from Jesus in the gospels to tell us what the narrow gate means. In Mark, someone asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus responded: You know the commandments: ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother (Mark 10:19; see also Matt 19:18-19) In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Jesus deepened the commandments saying that our heart must convert. It was said not to kill but Jesus said anger in our heart will also be judged. It was said not to commit adultery, but Jesus said one could commit adultery in one’s heart (Matt 5:27-30). He said divorcing and remarrying is committing adultery (Matt 5:31-32). Some listeners said to him that Moses allowed them to divorce, and he responded that God never intended that (Matt 19:1-12). Jesus condemned retaliation and asked us to forgive and demonstrated it by forgiving those who nailed him to the cross. He said you cannot serve two masters; you cannot serve God and mammon (Matt 6:24). He said to do to others as you would wish them do to you (Luke 6:31). Not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one who does the will of God (Matt 7:21). He said if we are to follow him, we are to take up our cross after him (Mark 8:34). The cross comes to everyone; the question is if we take it up after Jesus and make the correct decision because of love of Jesus. In so many ways, Jesus taught what the narrow gate or door is that we are to enter to find life.
Just as in today’s Gospel where Jesus says the opportunity we have now to convert will not last because the master will lock the door, many times elsewhere Jesus also encourages us to convert before it is too late. He told a parable about a wedding feast; five bridesmaids were prepared for the wedding to begin by having oil in their lamps but five were not and were unable to attend when the wedding started (Matt 25:1-13). The Son of Man will come at an hour we do not expect (Luke 12:40; Matt 24:42).
Now is the important time when we can choose the narrow gate. Every time we turn to the Lord, he is waiting for us. Pope Francis reminded us of this in a beautiful section of his first encyclical, Evangelii Gaudium, Joy of the Gospel:
I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”. The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your redeeming embrace”. How good it feels to come back to him whenever we are lost! Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to forgive one another “seventy times seven” (Mt 18:22) has given us his example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven. Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew.(Evangelii Gaudium 3)
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2025
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Twenty-First Sunday Year C
Related Homilies: Choose Jesus the Narrow Door 2013
Today’s Gospel in the context of Luke (gathering of nations) 2007
stories: on the Last Becoming First