THE NARROW DOOR THAT DEMANDS EFFORT, HUMILITY, AND SINCERITY OF HEART
21ST SUNDAY, YEAR C, 24TH AUGUST 2025, ST. MARTIN CATHOLIC CHURCH, MABUSHI, ABUJA. HOMILY BY ARCHBISHOP I. A. KAIGAMA
READINGS: 1ST READING ISAIAH 66:18-21; 2ND READING HEBREWS 12:5-7.11-13; GOSPEL LUKE 13:22-30
THEME: THE NARROW DOOR THAT DEMANDS EFFORT, HUMILITY, AND SINCERITY OF HEART.
I am delighted to be with you, the parish priest and dean of Wuse Deanery, Fr. Hilary Ugiomoh, your assistant Fr. Simeon Okalla, and the entire parishioners of St. Martin of Tours Mabushi. My mission here today during this time that many of us are passing through spiritual confusion, economic hardship and political uncertainty, is to pray with you, to bless you, and to administer the sacrament of confirmation to sixty-five (65) of your members; to encourage you to keep striving, and to ask God to grant you great increase in your work and businesses as individuals, families, and as a faith community here in Mabushi.
I first visited your parish in 2021. Since then, there have been serious pastoral developments in your parish. We look forward to the increase of faith and to greater spiritual, social, and pastoral progress.
Today’s readings do not give us statistics of how many will be saved. Instead, they call us to be responsible Christians. They remind us that salvation is not a cheap ticket, but a lifelong journey of faith, discipline, and perseverance.
Christ, in today’s liturgy, presents to us an enlightening, yet disconcerting message. On His last journey to Jerusalem, someone asked Him: “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And Jesus answered: “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Lk 13: 23-24).
Christ’s message goes in exactly the opposite direction: everyone may enter life, but the door is “narrow” for all. The passage to eternal life is open to all, but it is “narrow” because it is demanding: it requires commitment, self-denial, and interior and external mortification.
The salvation which Jesus brought with His death and Resurrection is universal. He is the one Redeemer and invites everyone to the banquet of immortal life, but on one condition: that of striving to follow and imitate Him, taking up one’s cross as He did, and devoting one’s life to serving the brethren. This condition for entering heavenly life is consequently one and universal, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 543) states, “Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations.” To enter it, one must first accept Jesus’ word: The word of the Lord is compared to a seed sown in a field; those who hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its own power, the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest. Jesus recalls further that it is not on the basis of presumed privileges that we will be judged but according to our actions. The “workers of iniquity” will find themselves shut out, whereas all who have done good and sought justice at great costs will be welcomed. Thus, it will not suffice to declare that we are “friends” of Christ, boasting of false merits: “We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets” (Lk 13: 26).
Many people would like to possess earthly goods but cannot brace themselves to the needful work and sacrifice for the reward of heaven. Many would like to ‘go to heaven,’ as I saw on a social media post allegedly saying that Donald Trump, the President of America, would like to go to heaven too. Even though he is among the most powerful men on earth, it remains a very strong desire. He allegedly joked that if he could reconcile Ukraine and Russia and save thousands of people dying, He believes he can find a place in heaven.
We are, however, told by our peni catechism that to go to heaven you must know God, love Him, serve Him, and at the end be happy with Him in heaven. There is, therefore, the need to surrender ourselves totally to God, not in a halfhearted manner, but with all our heart, mind, and soul.
Our second reading from the letter to the Hebrews addresses the concept of divine discipline as a sign of God’s love for His children. This passage encourages believers to endure trials and challenges with patience and to view them as opportunities for spiritual growth. We may be very cynical about this, around this time in our country, when many are going through unimaginable hunger, poverty, and insecurity. All that is being taught is never to give up; to persevere in faith, knowing that even in the midst of our sufferings, God still has a deep love and care for us. In Isaiah 49:15, the verse uses the extreme hypothetical case of a mother forgetting her nursing child to emphasize God’s unwavering faithfulness and love, stating that “Even if these were to forget, I will not forget you.” Hence, we can say that the cross of poverty and insecurity we are carrying now may be the “identity cards” that qualify us for the “passports” that will give us access to eternal life.
It is not about church attendance alone, not about claiming we are Christians while our lives contradict the Gospel. Jesus warns that some will say, “We ate and drank with you, you taught in our streets,” but He will reply, “I do not know you.” This means that salvation is not automatic. You have to make effort for God to help you. Familiarity with Jesus is not enough; intimacy with Him is what counts. We must be in authentic communion with Christ. It is not enough to be near the Church; we must live the Gospel. We are blessed so that we can bless others. Faith is never a private property; it is always missionary.
Dear friends in Christ, if we too want to pass through the narrow door, we must work to be little, that is, humble of heart like Jesus, like Mary His Mother and our Mother. She was the first, following her Son, to take the way of the Cross. Let us, therefore, invoke her as Ianua Caeli, Gate of Heaven. Let us ask her to guide us in our daily decisions on the road that leads to the “gate of Heaven”.
May your Patron saint, St. Martin and our Blessed Virgin Mary intercede for all of us and accompany us in our struggle to enter into heaven.
