The narrow door

Today the liturgy the Word strikes me as very powerful. Saint Paul says that I am predestined to be conformed to the image of God's son. This reality is so deep that gives me almost vertigo. But I can also see the mystery of Christian life in this verse. I have to let the Father continue to do this in me: fuller conformity into the image of His Son, so that - as one of the Sunday Prefaces says - "He can see and love in us what He sees and loves in Christ."

I find great comfort in knowing that God, in His great Love for me, sends the Holy Spirit to help me in my weakness; I really like knowing that God knows I am weak and I need His help. 

When I let the Holy Spirit strengthens me I realize that my life can be lived in a different way: without Him I rely only on my own strength and I always find myself "against the whole world." I want to be patient but at times people can drive me crazy. I am driving to go somewhere and I am in a hurry and traffic may force me to change my plans. With His help, I realize that "all" things - all people and all events - are nothing else but a concrete Will of God for me, and since God is love and He loves me immensely, everything is a manifestation of His love for me. The problem is not Him, but me who am unable to see Him acting in my life. The Holy Spirit changes this and makes me see that "everything works together for good." 

It's not easy, then, but it is possible; that's why Jesus reminds me today to strive to enter through the narrow gate. To pass through the door - that is, through Jesus Himself - I have to let go of all that is mine, my luggage that is full of opinions, ideas, thoughts, judgments, etc. 

In this Gospel passage there is something that concerns me a bit, though: the possibility of not making it, of seeing that Door be shut before my very eyes. But I know how to avoid this: to say always Yes to the will of God in every present moment.

How do I know if I am truly passing through the narrow gates? Jesus tells me how to know: by looking at the way I love Him-in-the-other. It's my love of neighbor that shapes and demonstrates my love of God. I want to be a living Gospel, a living "Credo"... living and lived out, not just spoken or preached.

So, I know how to live today: by striving to pass through the narrow gate by loving Him in the other in every present moment.