Mtr Mary Trainor
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction...
Dear friend,
I am a bit geographically challenged.
Prior to reliable navigation systems, it was not unusual for me to lose my bearings.
The same is true even when encountering new locations. Every once in a while, if I take a different route at Saint Philip’s, I have to pause and figure out where I am--again. And I have been in Tucson sixteen months.
For me, the kiss of death is if someone, giving directions, waves me off with, “Oh, you can’t miss it.” That person doesn’t know me very well.
So, today’s Gospel from Matthew (7:13-21) is a bit troubling: Find the narrow gate and take it. Beware the easy-to-find path.
For someone who can miss even the wide gate, this note of caution inspires fright.
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction...
What I’ve noticed in my life—the path to Ordination certainly— but, really, all my life is this: the choice comes round and round again. And that is good news.
It’s like the movies Groundhog Day or Fifty First Dates, where characters seem stuck in an endless loop of reliving a day, or an experience. If you didn’t get it right the first time, well, there’s always the next.
The narrow gate may be narrow, but it is offered over and over. So the challenge is not that of missing the gate as we pass it. The challenge is noticing the gate and, eventually, heeding its invitation.
When I first felt the narrow gate summon me to the priesthood, I told it no. I’m too old. I have a thriving career. My ailing, aging mother counts on me for support. I don’t want to go back to school. And so on.
But in myriad ways it continued to beckon. A dream here, a casual remark from a friend there, a sermon, a movie. Things I assumed tugged on everyone in a similar fashion until I realized, nope, just me.
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction...
About the narrow gate, Jesus says: “...[the] road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Who wouldn’t choose life, if they recognized that’s what it was?
I wonder. Is the hard part recognizing this is the road I am to take? If so, it’s a reminder to stay awake, lest I miss the next opportunity.
Enter the narrow gate…
Mtr. Mary