Ask a Priest

Q: In Matthew 7:13, Jesus instructs us to "enter through the narrow gate" ... and "constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few." Are we Christians taking this seriously enough? How few is few? And how do we ensure we are on the path to the narrow gate?

Anonymous

A: Jesus is inviting his disciples of yesterday and today to undergo metanoia. Basically, this is the invitation to see things with a new mind. If you were walking one direction before, you will be walking a new direction after your encounter with God.

It is impossible to understand what Jesus was teaching without having begun this conversion. 

Here is how Pedro Arrupe, S.J., talked about conversion: 

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in a love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”

Only God knows how many will live with him forever. But those who are undergoing metanoia, those who are becoming new creations, begin more and more to desire that all ultimately end up with God. 

If your center of gravity seems to be changing, if you feel like what is most important in your life is becoming less and less about you (False Self) and more and more about God and others (True Self), then you are not far from the Kingdom of God. 


Father Scott A. Boeckman
Little Flower Catholic Church, Oklahoma City