the only access is Jesus thus it is a narrow gate: 12th week Tuesday 2013

In the sixth article of the faith we profess that Jesus ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  In explaining this article the catechism teaches that the ascension into heaven is closely linked to the descent of Jesus from heaven to become man.  Ang iya pagkayab sa langit naangot sa iya pagpana-og gikan sa langit agod mangin tawo.  Only the one who came from the Father can return to the Father, only the one who came from heaven can ascend into heaven.  The ascension therefore signifies that only Christ can open to men and women access to the Father.  On our own, humanity does not have access to the Father’s house.  On our own we do not stand a chance to participate, to enter into the life and happiness of God.  Jesus is the key, Jesus is the access, in fact Jesus said, I am the way.  Si Jesus lang gid ang makaabri sang ganhaan padulong sa Amay kag sa kalipay sang Amay.  We can only have access through him.

In our gospel today Jesus said that in life there are two gates where one could enter, there are two paths to follow, there are two destinations to arrive at and there are two crowds walking the two different paths – you either pass through the narrow gate or you pass through the wide gate. 

There are two! Which means that we have a choice.  We are not some machine that goes a certain way.  We are human beings – we deliberate, we weigh things, we choose and we determine to some extent the outcome of our choices – thus we have two gates, two paths, two destination, two crowds.

One gate is called narrow.  It can be narrow because many times the choice involves some difficulty, many times it may not be easy, many times it would involve hardships – mabudlay and so it is narrow.

It can also be narrow because it is not a popular choice, it is not fashionable, surely it is not profitable, it may not even be practical, and many times it would not be attractive at all, and so it is narrow.

It is narrow because the odds are against us, not just in popularity, not just in convenience, not just because I am going against the trend and the style but because many times following the Lord is going against my own nature, our nature as human beings.  It is difficult to be generous many times especially when our nature is to accumulate, to hoard and to amass.  There is a kind of narrowness that constricts when I force myself to forgive when all I ever wanted was to give him a punch. It is narrow because it is going against my nature.

And lastly, it is narrow because Jesus is the only way, Jesus is the only access to a life with God.  Without Jesus I could not overcome the nature of my fallen humanity.  Without Jesus I could not resist the logic and persuasion of the crowd.  Without Jesus there is hope against the strong currents that pulls us to the more spacious, to the wider and a lot easier gate.

It is narrow because we could only have access in Jesus, through Jesus – thus we pray, thus we receive him reverently in communion, thus we go to confession, thus we have a reason to fight what we want so that we can do what Jesus wants.  Because Jesus is the only access to the Father and by his ascension into heaven he made this possible for us.