1. A good question.
Someone asked Jesus; ‘are they few in number who are to be saved?’ That was a good question. I, myself, would want to know if my parents, my brother and sister, my relatives and my friends would be saved. But Christ responds; ‘that was a bad question.’ Why? Because you must first be concerned with your own salvation before looking at the salvation of others. What can you do for others if your own salvation is not assured? But definitely, if your own salvation is assured, there is something you can do for the salvation of others.
Christ corrects the curious question of those around him but gives them the answer to the question that they should have asked; ‘am I saved.’ And He answers; ‘if you are to be saved enter the narrow door.’ In the other Gospels He says; ‘walk by the narrow path.’ It looks like a narrow pathway that leads to a narrow door.
2. How narrow?
This is not physical narrowness. This is an allegorical narrowness that will allow one to pass through with almost no space to spare. The Gospels during these last Sundays are about preparation for death. And the lessons had been this; when you die, do not try to bring with you what you cannot take along with you when you die. Take along with you only those things which you can really take along with you. And what is this? Only Love of God and Love of neighbour. Since these two virtues are in the mind and in the free will, and since these two faculties are parts of the soul only these two virtues in these two faculties can be taken along with you before the judgment seat of God. Leave everything else behind; of better still, use everything you leave behind to gather merits for your soul. Like doing what? As Christ said and repeatedly taught as the main theme of ‘Veritatis Splendor’ by John Paul II, ‘go home, sell all your things, give them to the poor and come follow Me.’ Ok. Most cannot do this.
So Christ said; ‘well, this is indeed the narrow way. Many will try to enter and will not be unable. Thus they will be left outside and I will say to them; ‘I do not know you.’
Go home and sell all the things I worked so hard for. And give it to the poor? Are you crazy? No. I am as serious as He who said those words.
But many will say; ‘we have eaten with drunk in your company during Mass. And You preached to us in Church. We have great times together at Mass with all those Liturgical dancing. And Christ would say; ‘I didn’t say dance with Me. I said go home, sell all your things, give it to the poor and come follow Me. Don’t you understand English?’
3. Extra baggage.
The past Sundays mentioned those extra baggage that has to be left behind. Everything in the world after having used these things as the Master of the vineyard had commanded us. Not by using them the way we want as the unfaithful workers did. But as the Master had commanded us.
Then last Sunday, we were told to give us all human relationships if they are detriment to our salvation; the human relationship between father and son, between mother and daughter and between mother in law and daughter in Law. Give these up if they are detrimental to salvation because you cannot take these relationships with you before the judgement seat of God.
Of course, be sure no sin is part of your baggage because the pathway if narrow and any sin can easily swerve to the left of to the right and throw you off the road completely.
You cannot even take along your own will. This, in fact, is the biggest harmful baggage; together with doing the will of your father, mother and mother in law.
You must carry, only, two baggages; the Love of God and Love of neighbour. Other baggages will not fit that narrow door. The process of removing extra bagges is called the ‘discipline of the Lord,’ mentioned in the second reading. This is a life of self-denial and suffering which the whole Church is undergoing. It is discipline in that the soul is trained to do only God’s Will. It is a pruning process that hurts a lot so most people run away from it. It is what makes a lot of souls ‘unable to enter the narrow door.’ They would not give up their sins and all other lawful things that are not necessary for the salvation of their souls. Spoilt brats; I won’t give up the things I like; my second and third wives, my same sex partner, my female clothing, my atheistic beliefs, my pagan religion, my Protestant religions, my…. etc, etc.
4. But wait !!
The Gospel narrates that some walked the narrow path and reached the narrow door. In fact, they were able to knock. How come they were not able to enter; they were shut out and rebuked?
What was their fault considering they reached the narrow door? Their only fault was they arrived too late. Like the unwise virgins, they did not know the time of His arrival; they had lamps, but they were not awake and watching. They were caught unaware. They failed to interpret correctly the signs of the times. Christ was at the door and they didn’t know it.
It is not enough to go home, sell all your possession, give the proceeds to the poor and follow Christ. You must be able to enter the narrow door which St. Thomas of Aquinas described as difficult to enter because of the self-discipline required. But the moment you are inside everything is wide and nice. Entrance through that door is the perfection of Faith, Hope and Charity.
5. Everybody wants to enter but are unable.
Everybody, from Pope Francis down to the bishops and priests are not even in the narrow path leading to the narrow door. They are mostly in the wide road leading to the wide door.
They are not doing what it takes to love God and neighbour. Love of God is obedience to His commandment; ‘If you love Me keep My commandments.’ They are mostly doing their own things that are mostly against God’s commandments. Allowing remarriage, atheism, to remain Protestant, remaining gay and pagan……are clearly signs of hatred for God.
Pope Francis said; ‘if one is gay but is seeking God…….’ If he is gay it is because he is not seeking God. One who seeks God will be completely normal…if not even supernaturally holy.
Pope Francis’ toleration and even encouragement to sin, like encouraging his Evangelical friend Pastor who wanted to become a Catholic, to remain a Protestant is a very serious sin of scandal. He cannot be in the narrow path nor near the narrow door. He is in the wide road, which St. John Bosco described as a wide road that slants downward that leads to hell.
Add to his toleration of sin, his sins in deforming Catholic doctrines as he did in ‘Amoris Laetitia.’ and preventing contemplatives religious from reaching the perfection of Faith, Hope and Charity in his ‘Vultum Dei,’ and add to this his abolition of very good religious orders like the Franciscans and the Institute of the Good Shepherd…….one gets the idea that Pope Francis’ efforts to destroy the Catholic Church is not, merely, due to poor Jesuitical education but due to the resolutions of a committee meeting held in the depths of hell.
In which case, it is a situation of a Satanic possession that neither I nor a Pope who is a truly successor of the Apostle nor even the Blessed Virgin can do anything about. And our Lady had warned us; they are dragging numerous souls to hell. A Pope solemnly dragging souls of the the entire world to hell; from Catholics with weak Faith, to adulterers, to gays, to atheist, to pagans, to priest and contemplative nuns and children of families that he had broken by allowing remarriages.
We are seeing an attempt to kill the Mystical Body of Christ, just like on Good Friday by a Judas Bishop acting like a Pope and the whole world of those being drag down to hell is raising his popularity to high levels. His public relation office geared to get him in the headline once every two or three weeks, as published, with an act destructive of the Catholic Church deserves a medal from the same committee.
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