The Narrow Gate Of The Cross

Five years ago on Easter Sunday afternoon, I arrived to the fascinating city of Istanbul, Turkey. I visited Istanbul for a few days and traveled south to visit incredible archaeological sites like Perganum and Ephesus, including the house of the Virgin Mary. The following Sunday morning I was back in Istanbul and I went looking for one of the few Catholic churches in the city to attend Mass. I went early since I didn’t have the exact address; the concierge at the hotel had somewhat explained to me where the church was.

I walked back and forth two blocks of a busy street and couldn’t find the church. How could I miss it? This is the cathedral of Istanbul!

I finally noticed people entering through a gateway into a regular-looking building. I peeked in and realized that the opening led down a hallway into what seemed to be a courtyard. I entered through the gateway uneasily, took about 15 steps, and there it was. The arched hallway opened up into a courtyard and I saw the façade of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit.

The church had been built to comply with the Ottoman building code back in the 1800s. Facades of churches could not be seen from the street so churches were built farther in from the street with a building blocking the view in between.

The normal, somewhat narrow and non-spectacular doorway led to my destination. I expected a grand facade, yet I found a simple doorway. I thought it’d be easy to find, a typical, obvious church, but finding it was a challenge. Yet once I identified the gate and figured out what I needed to do, I went through the gate and was happy.

“Strive to enter through the narrow gate”

The narrow gate to reach salvation, to be saved, can easily be missed. Many walk past it without recognizing it. Others give up trying to find it, lose hope and despair.
Jesus does not answer the question posed to him: he does not say whether many will be saved or if few will be saved, he just says to his listener in a very direct manner, “strive to enter through the narrow gate.”

What makes the gate so narrow and difficult to enter through?
The second reading gives us some insight.

Saint Paul speaks about the discipline of the Lord and describes how many lose heart from the difficulties and trials of life. We are encouraged to see these trials as a preparation in the same way a father prepares his child for the future through discipline. Rather than doubting and losing heart when things get difficult, we are called to strengthen our drooping hands and weak knees; to make straight paths for our feet so what is lame in us will be healed.

Passing through the narrow gate involves carrying the cross; passing through the narrow gate requires God’s strength and grace; passing through the narrow gates requires the same sacrificial love which led Jesus to the cross.

Not long ago I encountered a man struggling to keep the faith – he was a good man who wanted to do things right. Even though he saw people around him making money in dishonorable and questionable ways, he wanted to stay on the right path. Despite his efforts, his good intentions and good will, no doors seemed to open. No work, no money, no possibilities.

For some time I’ve visited a family with a very sick child who has been hospitalized at least five times since last September. After each hospitalization his condition worsens and doctors currently are not painting an optimistic picture. There is nothing more heartbreaking as seeing a mother holding her dying baby in her arms, in tears.

Situations such as these make the gate extremely narrow and very difficult to pass through. It is the presence of the cross that makes the path narrow. Yet the cross is our path to salvation.

Many despair, lose faith, and rebel against God because of the cross. Yet the cross contains the key to pass through the narrow gate. Using Paul’s words again, when we are faced with the cross, we must strengthen our drooping hands and our weak knees so what is lame within us may be strengthened.

In the same way I went past the gateway into the church without noticing that was the path into the church, so many times we walk past the cross and fail to find in it our salvation; we fail to see in it the narrow gate.

May Our Savior who comes into our midst give us the grace and strength to carry the cross and with it pass through the narrow gate into his kingdom. May he strengthen our drooping hands and weak knees, so all that is lame within us may be strengthened.

The Narrow Gate of the Cross