Perseverance Breaks Barriers

𝐎𝐂𝐓. 𝟐𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟖:𝟐𝟔-𝟑𝟎

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟑:𝟒-𝟔 “𝐌𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐎 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲” 𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟑:𝟐𝟐-𝟑𝟎

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲, 𝐈 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡.” (𝐯.𝟐𝟒) 

          Belief in God does not necessarily translate into a ticket to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Nor even a signed covenant such as what members of covenanted communities do can qualify a person to a membership in God’s kingdom because a man though he lives in a Christian setting is not necessarily a Christian.

          We also must also have faith in the one we believe in. As much as we need legs to stand and walk, we also need belief and faith to allow us to reach our heavenly destination. Let it be known that the road to heaven is strewn with many pitfalls and only those who will persevere can enter the narrow door.

         This is what Christ is emphasizing in this passage in which Our Lord gave us a clear indication of what we all need to do to enter the kingdom of Heaven as he also declared in very clear terms that not all will be saved.

         For all intents and purposes, this passage points to the kingdom of God as an exclusive enclave that is open only to those who will be given their titles to their heavenly inheritance the right that they earned by sharing in the suffering of Christ

         But Jesus, kind as he was, provided the man who asked how many will be saved with the word or disposition that man can use to unlock the mystery of the kingdom of Heaven. And the secret, he said, is for everyone to “Strive” (v.24). The way this word was used in this passage refers to the struggle that an athlete has to contend with to win the prize.

         In other words, we are to treat our lives and our desire to claim our inheritance as an athletic competition in which our eyes are set on fighting a good fight and running the race to win. Paul tells us in 2 𝑻𝒊𝒎 4:7 “𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉.”       

         Lest our focus be deviated we all need to remember that life is a struggle against the lures of the material world that we live in. From the rising to the setting of the sun, our faith is constantly being put to a test when we face temptation, loss of loved ones, sickness, loss of jobs and income opportunities, family relationships rocked by division. There are a lot of challenges and trials we face and how we manage these will determine our reward.

         I grew up in a big house in a ritzy part of the town, a house that my parents shared with the relatives of my mother. But we were poor compared to our neighbors, and I equated comfort with wealth and power, and I strove to have these. That opportunity came when I became a media practitioner and soon, I found my wallet filled with cash unmindful of how these were sourced. What was important was the wealth and power I had. I thought I had everything. What I didn’t know then was that this wasn’t the plan of God for me and God found me at a time when business reversals almost put me back to where I was before.

         God led me to rediscover my faith, and he impressed upon me the need to repent of my sins and allow the Holy Spirit to transform my life and I am just glad that God found me at the right time. In this passage, Jesus’ spoke of the Heavenly kingdom as a narrow gate and indeed it is because the door becomes narrow when we persist in our sinfulness and refuse to repent and change.

         Many times, we want to claim our inheritance but without paying the cost of faith and obedience. We are fond of compromising our faith as I did in my past life. I went to Mass every Sunday and there was no doubt that I understood what the Mass was as I went to a Catholic school in my youth. I ate and drank with Jesus, and I heard him speak but as I was to find out after the Lord found me that this was not enough.

         This passage has an eschatological dimension to it in that the door will be shut and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in apparent reference to those who will be left out of the kingdom of Heaven. Certainly, this is something that we don’t want to happen to us. So, the question that we need to ask is why take the risk? 

         The main message of this Gospel is for us to repent so that we can enter through the door while there is still time. Jesus is the door, “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅.” (𝑱𝒏 10:9) There is no other way through which we gain admission to the kingdom of God but to enter through Jesus. To enter in, we must deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow him. This means a life of struggle but a life that is shared with Christ.

         The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that to be called to suffering in this life is to be called into the mystery of Christ’s passion and to cooperate in the redemption of mankind. And suffering can be redemptive especially when we offer our trials and tribulations as our gift to Jesus to express our love through a costly way.

         Paul reminds us in 𝑹𝒐𝒎 8:16-17 “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒅’𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏. 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒔 – 𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐-𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚.” To share in his glory is the reward that awaits those who will struggle in finishing the race.

         Let me end by saying that the quality and standard of our lives will not be determined by our achievements and accomplishments, titles, honors, awards, fame and wealth but by how well we confront the adversities that we face in life. Attitude is the key to a glorious end but an attitude that is attuned to the Word of God. An attitude that will move us to integrate the Gospel values into our way of life and we have God’s assurance that we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us.

           In this life, we must keep on running the race and keeping the faith and we will leave this world as winners. But we also need to cooperate with God. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘖𝘤𝘵. 29, 2025)