The Narrow Door

He passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’ And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Luke 13:22-30

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The Door in the Seed

What is the “narrow door”? If we listen to the flowers and trees, the words of Christ whisper out of the depths:

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

John 12:24 (RSV)

The “narrow door” is the crack in the seed that breaks forth into life and love to nourish others. The power of love is tremendous. Marveling at the capacity of tiny plants to push through concrete sidewalks, a concrete service expert writes: “Talk about a mustard seed moving mountains!” How do they do it? “Molecule by molecule,” much like the unicellular yeast of the preceding parable. Heavy duty rocks are no match for the minuscule molecules energized by the life-giving Spirit of Love. 

That same Spirit of Love wants to crack through our hardened hearts and transform them into flowering trees.

The Door is Christ

Christ is the “narrow door” that opens our hearts:

I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

John 10:9 (RSV)

Tepidity and lovelessness are “not strong enough” to enter through the narrow door. The unbroken seed remains alone, sealed from the risk of generosity. 

God casts no one out of communion with himself. Love is a choice.

Resources:

St. Pope John Paull II, Catechesis on Heaven
St. Pope John Paul II, Catechesis on Hell