First Reading - Ephesians 6:1-9
Gospel - Luke 13:22-30
In the first reading, Paul deals with the. household laws. The household rules consists of guidance to execute one's own role in the family and in the service. Paul exhorts the Christians to understand their responsibility as being responsible to it. He underscores the role of the children towards their parents and the role of parents towards their children; the responsibility of slaves towards their masters and masters' role towards their slaves. Paul establishes the ecosystem of understanding of one's own role. Paul further ellaborates why all should excercise their responsibility according to their roles. It's because, he explains, our judgement is going to be based how faithful we are to our responsibility. The aim of Paul, in the passage, is to remind the Christians that they should do every work that they are supposed to do as if they were done in order to please God in faithfulness and further he assures that they will be rewarding in the end. This idea of Paul can be certainly compared with the narrow path that Jesus speaks about in the gospel.
In the gospel, we come across a philosophical question thrown to Jesus, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" Jesus does not give any direct or immediate answer to the question but gives two warnings to tread the path of salvation; firstly, the warning is directed to the disciples to enter through the narrow door which leads to the kingdom; secondly, the warning invites the believers to commit themselves to following him now, or else he will deny them entrance. The second warning evokes the parable of the wise and foolish virgins.
What is the 'narrow door' Jesus speaks about? It's repentance and faith in Jesus. Jesus stresses that "Many will try to enter through narrow door and will not be able to" simply means that one should make sure that he/she is part of the "few" who have through repentance and faith experienced God's mercy and grace.
Dear friends, as pilgrims here on earth, we certainly long to be the part of the kingdom of God. Jesus in the gospel tells us that to be the part of his kingdom includes our movement towards Him through a narrow door. This also means that we are to fix our gaze on Him and trust in His promise. The path to salvation is indeed narrow and less trodden, flanked by hardships and challenges but is a sure way. Jesus invites us to choose this path to share the gift of salvation.
Paul also reminds us that our path to Jesus is marked by the understanding of our responsibility and its faithful execution. It's indeed a narrow path to remain faithful to every task we do. It's really a narrow path to seek always to please God through our lives. However, he further assures us that those actions will be rewarded in the end.
Let's pray that we may be able to choose the narrow path that leads us to Christ.
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