![\"\"](\"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/files\/2019\/08\/Narrow-Gate.jpg\")
<\/h5>\n<\/h5>\nWill only a few be saved? A number of years ago, a Christian group in Alabama presented a news release which attempted to answer this question. The headline read: \u201cForty-six percent of the people in Alabama are going to Hell.\u201d Do you think that\u2019s a reasonable number? I don\u2019t. But what is even more doubtful is the method that this group used to calculate the forty-six percent. They began with \u00a0the total population of Alabama and then subtracted those people who were registered in Christian churches that demanded an acceptance of Jesus as our personal savior. They believed that only by doing that could you escape hellfire.<\/p>\n
The biggest flaw, however, in this group\u2019s mathematics, was their willingness to use what we<\/em> do, our<\/em> actions, as the basis of salvation. Eternal life is God\u2019s free gift to us. It is not based on our works or accomplishments, but only on God\u2019s mercy and love. The summation of all that we do\u2014our prayers, coming to church, our service, our generosity\u2014is not what gets us into heaven. It is only when we trust in God\u2019s mercy and accept God\u2019s love that we know we are saved.<\/p>\n This is why Jesus says in today\u2019s gospel that we should enter through the narrow gate. What does it mean to enter through the narrow gate? It means that we live our lives knowing and claiming God\u2019s sovereignty over us and embracing every moment as an opportunity to accept God\u2019s love. Heaven is not about us. It is about God\u2019s decision to save us. It is when we accept that reality that we are on the road to glory.<\/p>\n So today is the day we should enter through the narrow gate. Today we should accept the power of God\u2019s love which surrounds us. If you are fortunate to be in a strong marriage, have healthy children, live comfortably, you can of course say, \u201cI worked hard for this. I\u2019ve made good decisions. I\u2019m a responsible person.\u201d<\/p>\n But we enter through the narrow gate when we say, \u201cAll that I have comes from God\u2019s hands. God is the one who has given me my life, my abilities, my relationships. God is the one who has guided me in my wise decisions.\u201d So although I have done my best, it is God who is to be praised. If your life is in disarray, if your relationships are broken, if your health deteriorating, if you\u2019re coping with depression or addiction, of course you could say, \u201cI should have made better decisions. I could have seen this coming.\u201d But you enter through the narrow gate when you say, \u201cDespite my faults and sins, I believe that God still loves me. This gives me the power and hope to move ahead knowing that God will not abandon me.\u201d Those who enter through the narrow gate understand that God is in charge. Those who enter through the narrow gate realize that for all they have done or failed to do, it is God\u2019s action that is definitive. And God chooses to save us. What we<\/em> need to do is to accept that salvation with humility and trust.<\/p>\n So today let us enter through the narrow gate. Because the day will come when the door is locked and we will hear others outside knocking to get in. But there will be no need for us to be afraid, because we will already be inside.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This homily was offered on 25 August at Holy Angels Church in Bainbridge Ohio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5879,"featured_media":4806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/files\/2019\/08\/Narrow-Gate.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4805"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}