Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 24, 2025

Today, too, we are facing the uniqueness of the Gospel: some pages are extremely comforting, other very challenging, unsettling, even scary.  

Here are two unsettling samples: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. Lk 13:24 

Then, he will say to you, ‘I do not know where (you) are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’ Lk 13:27 

After realizing the seriousness of these two statements, as believers, we should all say: let us accept the challenge; let the unsettling feeling take hold of our mind; let our heart be scared, if this is the surest way to make it to heaven. 

My dear brothers and sisters, is there anything else that really, really matters in life? 

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

And just in case Jesus’ jargon remains a bit obscure, he goes on to clarify it: ’Lord, open the door for us,’ …’We ate and drank in your company, and you taught in our streets.’  He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’ Lk 13:27 

This bloodcurdling phrase is the one we resolve to never have to hear as we try to enter heaven.  

To make it to heaven we cannot count on having attended Holy Mass every Sunday and every Holy Day of obligation and having received the Lord in Holy Communion. 

To make it to heaven we cannot even count on having reflected of Jesus’ teachings and paid attention to the homilies. 

What must we do to avoid the most tragic of all tragedies? What must our inner attitude be to avoid having to hear those terrifying words, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers? 

Counting on faithful Holy Mass attendance and on hearing Jesus’ teachings in a church setting can create in us a false sense of security. Nor could we reason like this: “I did not kill anybody; I do not steal; I do not commit adultery; I am an honest person; I mind my own business; the Lord will find a little area in a corner of heaven for me.” 

No, at every age we must strive to enter through the narrow gate. The teachings of Jesus (God’s Word) must be put into practice. Reception of Holy Communion is meant to give us the motivation to journey towards the narrow gate. 

In the 25th chapter of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus describes for us the narrow gate. 

The journey leading to the narrow gate is marked by heartfelt concern for our brothers and sisters in their needs. 

We must empathize with their tears, straights, toil, sweat, fears and grief. We cannot stop caring in concrete ways until we can honestly say we have done all we could to help them.  

To feed the hungry, to quench the thirst of the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick and those who are incarcerated, to welcome the homeless is the best definition of the narrow gate.  

However, the narrow gate includes also the inner attitude of attentiveness to the real situation in which the world is, beyond ideologies, spins, accommodating interpretations which can quickly and summarily absolve us. 

The narrow gate makes it impossible for us to stay self-absorbed and aloof from the pain we notice around us. 

I must point out to you, who are sincerely, viscerally concerned to journey with me towards the narrow gate, that Jesus mentions the narrow gate after he has made his decision to go to Jerusalem. 

There he will go through the narrow gate of Calvary and the cross. 

The 2nd reading (Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13) talks about God’s love for us manifested in a very unusual way, through discipline: by training us to endure hardships and trials and even sickness so that we do not settle comfortably in a dangerous rut of self-absorption. 

We ought to be always ready to follow Jesus through the narrow gate, to feel the urgency to draw close to those who suffer and are in serious need.  

Hence, we cannot afford to receive the Lord in Holy Communion without asking him to give us the strongest motivation ever to spend our energies in heartfelt care and loving concern for the needy of all kinds to the very end of our earthly life. 

That will be our final entry through the narrow gate that leads to everlasting joy.