HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 30TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR II.
THEME: WORK HARD FOR IT.
BY: Fr. Karabari Paul.
HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 26 2022.
“Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
In the Gospel of today (Luke 13:22-30), Jesus teaches us to work hard in obedience to His Word to make heaven. He uses the word, ‘strive’. Strive comes from a Greek word used of athletic contests and of war. In other words, it requires a serious but deliberate effort. You don’t win wars or athletic contests by being passive. You never see an athlete receiving the gold medal, who says, “I had never worked hard for it. I just came for the fun.” Every athlete who wins strives to win. He invests great energy and effort into winning. It is not an accident if he wins. It is the result of deliberate and sustained effort. Not everyone receives the prize. Only a few are winners.
The fact that the door is narrow means that efforts must be made to go through it. It shows there aren’t many doors into the same place, so that you can take your pick. There is one and only one door, which is Jesus Christ. He alone is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Him (John 14:6). The entrance is narrow and exclusive, not broad and all-inclusive.
There isn’t one great big door that is easy to find and stroll through without thinking about it. If it is big, it is destructive. There is one narrow door. You might not like the fact that it is narrow. You may think that it is too exclusive. You may say, “I believe that God is loving and that He will accept everyone who tries to do his best. I believe that all sincere people will get through the door.” But, the fact is, according to Jesus it is narrow, not wide. He made it narrow without checking with us for our ideas about how wide it should be. Whether you like it or not, Jesus claimed to be the only way to God. You can either enter through the narrow door, which is Christ alone, or you can invent a broad door that includes many ways to God, and thus contradict what Jesus Himself said.
Jesus is asking, “Are you striving to enter the narrow door? Are you making your salvation a matter of deliberate and sustained effort? Are you sure that you are entering the narrow door as defined by Jesus.
Proverbs 3:6 lets us know that by submitting to God, our path will be made straight. What does that mean? Well, God knows what He wants for us. He wants to help place us on the best possible paths that our lives could follow. Which puts the ball in our court really. With God’s wants, and His plan there for us, it’s left up to us to make the decision to ask Him to reign over our desires, our goals, our hopes, our decisions. Proverbs tells us that when we live like that, He will straighten out the life-path ahead of us. He will make it clear, step by step, where we are going. Even though the paths and gates to heaven may be ‘narrow’, God’s guidance makes them walkable. So, when you come up against a tough decision, a challenge, or anything that creates a bump in that path, God will smooth it out, for you to move forward with Him. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God have mercy on us, heal our country Nigeria bless and protect us all through Christ Our Lord Amen. Good morning.