Through the Narrow Door

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

24 August 2025

 

First Reading: Isaiah 66:18-21

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 117:1, 2

Second Reading: Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13

Gospel: Luke 13:22-30

 

Reflection By:

Bro. Carlo Alexis Malaluan

Diocese of Imus

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit a Cistercian monastery in Portugal. We had a guided tour in where every single detail was explained to us by the guide. He told us how the monks used to live with great simplicity: simple dormitories, unadorned work room, and rhythms ordered around prayer, work, and silence. But what stayed with me the most was a small but curious detail — the door leading to the refectory, the monks’ dining room. It was too narrow — intentionally narrow. So narrow, in fact, that you’d have to remain physically fit just to pass through comfortably.

The guide remarked, “It helps them remember not to overeat.” We laughed, but the statement went deeper than health. It was about discipline. About restraint. About forming not just the body, but the soul.

And that image came rushing back to me when we read today’s Gospel: “Strive to enter through the narrow door.” Jesus speaks not of a wide, open gateway, but of one that must be intentionally entered. It doesn’t allow just anything to pass through—not baggage, not excess, not complacency. And then He warns: “Many will try to enter and will not be strong enough.”

It’s haunting, not because it excludes, but because it reveals something essential about discipleship: that entering the Kingdom requires a kind of spiritual fitness,not perfection. Not self-righteousness but readiness. It is a form of detachment which is a freedom from the excess that keeps us bloated with pride, entitlement, or spiritual laziness.

The narrow door doesn’t represent a God who’s trying to keep people out. It represents a God who wants to strip away what doesn’t give life. To enter, we must travel light.

Jesus even imagines a scenario where people knock on the door, claiming familiarity: “We ate and drank with you… you taught in our streets.” But He responds, “I do not know you.” It’s not that He never met them — it’s that they never truly followed Him. They stayed close, but they never entered. They knew of Him, but they didn’t allow their lives to be shaped by Him.

It’s easy to fall into that pattern. To hear the Gospel often but never let it press into our habits. To surround ourselves with religious things while remaining spiritually unfit to enter the narrow way of love, mercy, sacrifice, and obedience. The door is narrow, says the Gospel, not because God is exclusive, but because discipleship is real. It requires something from us. It calls us to become someone new.

And yet, the Gospel ends with hope: “People will come from the east and west, from the north and south, and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God.” The door is narrow but it is open. The feast is waiting. God’s desire is to fill His house. But He invites us to arrive ready, not bloated by excess, but lean in love. Not dragging what we cling to, but free to walk through with open hands.

So today, we might ask: What makes it hard for me to fit through the narrow door? What habits, attachments, or comforts weigh me down? And more deeply: Am I allowing Christ to shape me into someone who can pass through—not just at the end of life, but each day, in the choices I make?

Because the narrow door is not just the gate at the end. It’s the quiet choice in the middle of the day. It’s the discipline of a monk entering a refectory through a door that reminds him: less is more, and love is lean.

Prayer

The Narrow Gate

   

  Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

21 August 2022 

 

First Reading: Is 66:18-21

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 117:1, 2

Second Reading: Heb 12:5-7, 11-13

Gospel: Lk 13:22-30

 

Reflection

By: Grace Madrinan

 

"Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough." - Luke 13:24

I am an impatient person, contrary to what my friends are saying. When they see my output at work or in my paintings, they would wonder how I managed to get all the details, or get it done at all. They did not know that at the beginning of the task, there is a lot of struggle happenin before I even start with the first step. I complain at how difficult it is and get frustrated when the progress is slow.

I believe that is what the Gospel is telling us right now. The path to righteousness is no easy feat. If is a constant struggle to do the right thing. Only the determined will make it through the narrow path of salvation.

When it comes to doing my tasks, the one thing that determines its completion is by how much I wanted the prize of doing it. "Do I want to do this? Do I want it bad enough that it hurts just thinking I won't have it?"

Likewise, when it comes to salvation, do we want it bad enough that struggles and temporary pain becomes trivial? Are we willing to pass the narrow gate, bruised and all, just to get to the other side?

Prayer

Father God, teach us how to persevere as we pass through the narrow gate. May the thought of being with You on the other side bring us to motivation to press on. Amen.

Disciplined to be Worthy

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time 25 August 2019
First reading Isaiah 66:18-21

The officials said to the king, “This man [Jeremiah] should be put to death, because he is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, and all the people, by speaking such words to them. He is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.” King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he is in your hands; for the king is powerless against you.” So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. The king happened to be sitting at the Benjamin Gate, So Ebed-melech left the king’s house and spoke to the king, “My lord king, these men have acted wickedly in all they did to the prophet Jeremiah by throwing him into the cistern to die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.” Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take three men with you from here, and pull the prophet Jeremiah up from the cistern before he dies.”

Second reading                                                          Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13

And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children: “My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts.”

Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

Gospel                                                                         Luke 13:22-30

Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.

When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then in reply he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!’

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out. Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Reflection

By Jessa Janelle Padilla

When I was a child, my parents scold and discipline me every time I committed mistakes. After being scolded, I make ‘dabog’ (stomp their feet and mutter) and get angry with them since I don’t understand the reason why. As I grew old, I understand that they just did it to discipline me so that I would grow old as a responsible and well-behaved person. 

A parent who really loves and cares for his child will always get angry when the child did wrong and will never tolerate his wrongdoings. A parent will always lead his child to the right path by disciplining them. So children, don’t get angry and upset when your parents scold you. They are just doing this to discipline you. No parent will let his children become ‘pariwara’ (wayward).

Just like what Saint Paul wrote to the Hebrews: “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges." Treat your trial as a "discipline". Let us just endure them since they will bring the peaceful fruit of righteousness. 

Every challenge is not easy and it is not given to us by God if He knows that we are incapable of surpassing it. Challenges make us stronger and better. It also test our faith and how far can we endure every challengers without losing our faith and hope to God. 

In our Gospel for today, as Jesus passed through towns and villages someone asked Him "Lord, will only a few people be saved?"  and He answered them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate”. The gate is narrow just like the hole of a needle and we should do our very best to pass through it. 

How can we pass through this narrow gate and be one of those people who can enter the kingdom of God? It is by following God’s path and living our lives according to His teachings. All of us will say it is not that easy considering the different factors of where we live in. Yet, if we really want to enter His kingdom, we must be willing to obey him even it requires us to sacrifice our comfortable lives and earthly things. We must put our trust in Him who, like our own parents, wishes only what is good for us.

Nothing is impossible for a person who perseveres to achieve his goal. May our goal in life be to enter the Kingdom of God no matter how narrow the gates are.

Prayer

Lord, may we do our best to become worthy servants of Yours to enter Your Kingdom. May we endure all the pains of every challenge and never lose our faith in You. May You provide us strength to surpass everything and live our lives according to Your teachings. Help us to remember that You are with us every step of the way. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Our Path to Salvation

First Reading: Isaiah 66:18-21

"For I know their works and their thoughts, and I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations.

And they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their cereal offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.

And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.

Psalm: Psalm 117:1-2

Second Reading: Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13

And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons? -- "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him. For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

Gospel:Luke 13:22-30

He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. And some one said to him, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" And he said to them, "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, `Lord, open to us.' He will answer you, `I do not know where you come from.' Then you will begin to say, `We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.'

But he will say, `I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!' There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. And men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."

Reflection
By Mark Rodney P. Vertido 

A crucial thing for every Christian is the question of our salvation. In our growing years in the faith, we come to know about heaven and hell and our elders would always stress that we need to go to heaven. We need to attain salvation. Is salvation for real?

Like the one who asked the Lord if only a few will be saved, our curiosity asks who will be saved. And Jesus’ answer gives us an encouragement to strive to enter the narrow gate to salvation. Indeed, it is very hard to attain salvation yet Jesus had already paved the way for us when He died for us on the cross more than two thousand years ago.

This is one of the striking teachings that I have learned recently, the meaning of salvation. We are indeed being saved already by Christ and we call this as objective salvation. We were all saved by Christ for God willed it as a manifestation of His love to us.

“For God so love the world that He gave his only son and whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life,” says John 3:16, the most popular verse of the Bible. The first part of the text clearly shows how the love of God for us is manifested through Jesus Christ, who suffered for the world, our “sacrificial Victim.” Yet continuing the text it says that to attain eternal life or salvation, we need to believe in Him. We were saved through Christ yet this salvation is fully ours only if we become believers in His teaching. And the fullness of receiving Christ in our life is receiving wilfully the salvation that he has offered to us in the cross. Now, this is subjective salvation. We were saved yet the full attainment of salvation still depends on us whether we are accepting it or not.

Going back to the Gospel, Jesus tells His followers to “strive.” What does this mean? I believe that the path to salvation is a journey. It is both a journey of faith and action. As we take in the teachings of Christ and receive it, we grow in faith and understanding of the wisdom of God. But this inward growth does not end in there. Inwardness must extend outward through our actions, our works. Clearly, St. James would say: “faith without work is lame.”

We strive to grow in faith yet we strive to grow more in our action towards God and His people. Worship itself is an action towards God. As we worship and love God, God directs us to love our neighbors. These are the actions that God asks of us.

Accordingly, the Gospel teaches us that this “striving” needs to be consistent and persevering. That is why Jesus suddenly tries to illustrate salvation through the master and the sudden visitors who wants to get in the gate. We can see that if there is no consistency and perseverance in striving to enter the gates of salvation then the Master will not recognize us.

It is not enough that we just believe and be a member of the Church. It does not even guarantee that we will be saved already if we are a member of a religious denomination. Christians cannot boast that they are already saved even if they commit corruption and amass wealth from public funds in the government. If Christians were too perfect enough for salvation, then the concept of the state of hell will not be valid any more  Even Christians will be rejected by God if there is no consistency between faith and action.

Let us thank God in every way that we were Christians because for us the path to salvation is not already difficult. We only need to listen to God through the teachings of His Son. And we can fully listen and act upon the teachings of Jesus if we live up the Christian faith with the Church. 

I bid a short farewell to all for joining me for the last two months reflecting on the Sunday Gospels. I hope to share more things with you the soonest. But now I want to invite you to pray with me a very beautiful prayer that lets me focus on my journey every time that I feel I am not doing what I ought to do in “striving” to enter the Kingdom of God.

Prayer

The Quarter Hour Prayer

God, eternal truth,

We believe in you.

God, our strength and salvation,

We hope in you.

God, infinite goodness,

We love you with all our heart.

You have sent the Word as Savior of the world,

Make us all one in him.

Fill us with the Spirit of your Son,

That we may glorify your name. Amen.

St. Arnold Janssen, founder of the Society of the Divine Word, wrote this brief prayer that one can say every 15 minutes. You are encouraged to pause awhile from whatever you are doing, pray this Quarter Hour Prayer to unite yourself with the Holy Spirit who gives the wisdom and strength to fulfill one's task.