21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, C August 24, 2025
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville
Ever heard the phrase, “famous for being famous?” For my generation, it was the Kardashians. For younger kids, there are probably a bunch of social media “influencers” who fall in this category. It’s people who just kind of “got famous” by just hanging around famous people, chasing clout and “aura farming,” until they can market themselves as famous enough to get paid for it.
For one in every 10 million people or so, it kinda works. Not that it makes them happy. Jim Carrey, one of the most successful actors and comedians in the world, once said “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
In the end, “famous for being famous” is really a whole lot of nothing. In the same way, being Catholic by association amounts to a whole lot of nothing too. Some people get famous by hanging around famous people and at least sometimes make money. But simply being around Catholics does not work. If all you do is hang around Jesus – “eating and drinking in his company” and him “teaching in our streets” – that gets you… nothing. What does Jesus say to people who try to be Catholic by association? “Depart from me all you evildoers!”
Since you’re here at Mass, you’ve got a good start. But, by itself, it’s not enough. If all we do is the minimum, if, when we stand before Jesus at the end of time, all we can say is “I went to St. Mary Magdalen! I went to Vermilion Catholic!” then we may well hear Jesus say, “I do not know where you are from. Depart from me.” So, what do we do to avoid that fate? Take this a starting point, but then, strive.
Strive comes from an old French word – estriver – which means “to battle.” In the original Greek of the gospel that word is agonizesthe. You hear what that sounds like? Agonizesthe… Agonize… When Jesus tells us to strive to enter the narrow gate, he’s telling us to prepare for battle. He’s telling us to be ready to agonize over trying to enter the narrow gate, warning us that many – not a few, not just the worst of the worst – but many will not be strong enough.
Y’all, getting to heaven isn’t automatic. It’s not like riding a leisurely tour bus and then arriving with everyone else. It’s an arduous trek up a mountain in enemy territory. You don’t arrive by accident at the narrow gate because it is a treacherous road, a battle, and it requires suffering. And if we don’t make it, if we aren’t strong enough, what happens? Wailing and grinding of teeth. Hell is real. People go there and just showing up to Mass… it’s not enough. You have to strive. You have to yearn for heaven and get after it.
All this doesn’t sound terribly appealing, does it? Well, I’ve got three things to say to that. First, it’s the truth. This world is broken and the devil is out there trying to trap us. Just because we don’t like the truth doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Like playing against a tough team in a sport, like preparing for a hard test, like having to strive to get the job, like having to battle for health in the face of illness… life is tough sometimes and it’s no use pretending it isn’t. Running from suffering tends to make it worse. You’re better off facing it head on.
Secondly, this is why the Church requires you to go to Mass every week – sometimes twice in the same week! It’s why we require yearly confession. It’s why we require days of fasting and penance and why every saint has taught the importance of daily prayer and repentance. Being Catholic has never been about just being “in the club.” It’s more like getting married. Yeah, there’s the one time you stand up to say “I do” at the altar, but no good marriage leaves it at that. It’s two people choosing each other again and again and again throughout their entire life. Those who don’t… well y’all know how much divorce is out there.
Life is tough. Holiness is even tougher. And getting to heaven? It’s a narrow gate. You’ve got to strive, to agonize, to battle to get there. So, let’s us prepare you for that! That’s why the second reading stresses the value of accepting difficulties in life as part of “discipline.” It says that, at first, “discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.” Jesus calls the one locked out “evildoers.” It’s so very easy to do evil. Though the world likes to constantly redefine good and evil, God has been consistent from the beginning. Learning to adjust our perspective on right and wrong to match Gods is often difficult, painful, and feels like punishment, but it bears fruit in righteousness. And righteousness is what is needed to stay on the narrow path, to survive the trek through enemy territory to win the battle rather than end up locked out where there will be “wailing and grinding of teeth.”
Third, and perhaps most importantly, don’t be afraid. Yes, Jesus is serious about how tough it is to get to heaven. But I haven’t told you the good news yet: you don’t have to be strong enough. Jesus is using the same tactic I am – he’s emphasizing the difficulty to get the crowd to realize something. What is that? That you should not count on your own strength! I want… Jesus wants you to see that you’re not strong enough so that you learn to rely on his strength instead!
The Jews Jesus is talking to are constantly falling for the trap of thinking they can earn their way into heaven. But no one can do that. You can’t earn heaven, you can’t fight your way into heaven on your own. In another place, Jesus says it’s impossible for man to be saved by his own effort. You do have to strive, but you have to strive while relying on Jesus. That’s what grace is! It’s the power to rely on his^ strength for the battle.
It’s not enough to just kind of be in the right place. Famous for being famous, cradle Catholic or Catholic by association… doesn’t work. You gotta yearn for heaven, strive for holiness. You gotta learn and daily put into practice the skill of listening to the Holy Spirit, fighting against temptation, and clinging to Jesus. He’s already opened the gate and he can’t get lost. So, strive! Don’t strive to make it to heaven on your own – you’re not strong enough. Instead, strive to cling to Jesus, especially when faced with the “discipline” of suffering. Be sincere in your daily prayer, weekly Mass, spiritual friendships, and regular Confession. Use these gifts to follow Jesus day after day so that when the end of time comes and he goes to “lock the door” as the gospel says, you’ll already be inside because you’ve been with him all along.