Road To Heaven Ain't Easy

𝐀𝐔𝐆. 𝟐𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄    

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝟔𝟔:𝟏𝟖-𝟐𝟏   

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟕:𝟏-𝟐 "𝐆𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬."   

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟐: 𝐇𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐬: 𝟏𝟐:𝟓-𝟕, 𝟏𝟏-𝟏𝟑   

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐤 𝟏𝟑:𝟐𝟐-𝟑𝟎     

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: "..𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚, 𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐." (𝒗.24)

           How many times have we heard people say all you need to do to be saved is to just believe and have faith. There’s no problem with that especially for non-Catholics especially those whose faith are largely dependent on Sola Scriptura or those whose belief rests on the Bible as the only infallible authority for Christian faith and practice.

        But 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.

         This is what Christ is emphasizing in this passage in 𝐋𝐤 𝟏𝟑:𝟐𝟐-𝟑𝟎 where Our Lord Jesus was kind enough to give 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, compassionate 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 must 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 impoverished environment in a house that my parents shared with the relatives of my mother. We were literally poor compared to our ritzy neighbors and I equated comfort with wealth and power, and I strove to have these. That opportunity came when I stumbled on a securities trading business while I was working with the media.

         My pockets were soon loaded 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 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 all 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, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 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.

        And today, the Church calls us to help stem the hemorrhagic desertions of the flock in former strongholds in Europe, North America and Latin America due to sex abuse scandals, increasing secularism, rival faiths and open dissent against Church teachings on homosexuality which has crept into the Church in the Philippines with the House of Representatives recently approving the proposed Bill on divorce. Sooner or later these bills if left unchecked will add more tentacles to it such as same-sex marriage.

       Though the Holy Father did not name any new methods in proclaiming the faith, the 1.2 billion members of the Church has increasingly turned to the Internet and social media to spread its message. Truly the road towards the Kingdom of Heaven is narrow and strewn with pebbles of trials and difficulties. In contrast, many are drawn to the increasingly secularized and materialized world, and this is what the Church needs to reverse.

       Jesus said “strive” and this is the mandate that the Church is calling us to, and we need to tell others not to be disheartened by the narrow gate leading to the Kingdom but be filled with expectant faith towards the eternal joy that awaits those who will pass through it.

       And if we are equate today’s Gospel passage with what is currently happening in our government today, do you really think that those who are involved in this multi-billion peso flood control scam projects will be able to pass through heaven’s narrow door.

       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 – 𝘈𝘶𝘨. 24, 2025)