[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible study podcast.
[00:00:13] Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, August 24, 2025, the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time. And if you're a member of my home parish… Happy Feast of Saint Pius!
This week's episode is entitled: Finding Our Narrow Gates, and in these readings, we are reminded that being a faithful disciple of Jesus means that we must seek the narrow gate that lies before us and strive to pass through it.
As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following:
The path of discipleship is difficult, and Jesus assures us that we will be challenged along the way. But if we are faithful, if we carry our crosses, and enter through the narrow gate, we will be welcomed into the kingdom. With everything that lies before us, are we willing to help each other reach our heavenly home?
So, let's begin:
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the hope and the help you give us as we walk the way of discipleship. May we have the strength to carry the crosses set before us and the grace to help each other so that we all reach our eternal home in the kingdom of heaven. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures.
[00:01:48] Our Gospel this week is from Luke 13: 22-30.
[00:01:54] “[Jesus] went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. And some one said to him, ‘Lord, will those who are saved be few?’ And he said to them, ‘Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, “Lord, open to us.” He will answer you, “I do not know where you come from.” Then you will begin to say, “We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.” But he will say, “I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!” There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. And men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.’”
[00:03:12] This week, depending on where you attend Mass, you may encounter different liturgical celebrations.
[00:03:18] My home parish, for instance, is dedicated to Pope Saint Pius X, so we will celebrate that Feast this weekend as a Solemnity. Not too far away is Queen of Peace Parish, which will celebrate the Feast of the Queenship of Mary as a Solemnity this weekend. Most other parishes in my area will celebrate the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time. So, just be aware of the various possibilities, especially if you are traveling on vacation. This week we also jump from the end of chapter 12 to the middle of chapter 13. And whenever the Lectionary skips several verses, we miss some of Jesus’ parables, teachings, and healings.
[00:04:01] Then, as we draw ever closer to the end of the Liturgical Year, remember Jesus also draws closer to Jerusalem, the destination toward which he has been traveling throughout this summer portion of Ordinary Time.
[00:04:19] This year, in particular, has been a bit more disjointed than normal because we observed - or will observe - four additional Solemnities (occasions that don't often take place on Sundays), meaning we missed hearing four passages from Luke's Gospel that we would normally hear.
[00:04:38] And although Jesus' destination all along has been Jerusalem, we have to remember that we won't hear about his arrival in Jerusalem, since that passage is read on Palm Sunday.
[00:04:52] I say this in order to extend an invitation… this summer may present the perfect opportunity to read the entirety of Luke's Gospel, independent of what we hear at Mass, which would then fill in the gaps for things we've missed and allow us to see the complete picture of Jesus as Luke intended him to be seen.
[00:05:18] Again, just an invitation, but one that is well worth considering. Jesus, remember, has been teaching about discipleship and judgment, and this week's Gospel begins with a question. So, let's listen in…
[00:05:34] “[Jesus] went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. And some one said to him, ‘Lord, will those who are saved be few?’”
Given what Jesus has been telling the disciples and the crowds, that question is perfectly understandable. The parables we've heard recently have painted a rather bleak picture.
“And he said to them, ‘Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.’”
[00:06:07] The Greek word: thyra is what the RSV translates as door, but it can also be translated as entrance or gate. The NAB translates it as gate. And notice, Jesus doesn't offer a number of how many people will be saved! Instead, he contrasts many and few. Many will seek salvation, but not all will be able to enter through the narrow door.
[00:06:38] So what is the narrow door or gate?
[00:06:42] Well, the narrow gate means discipleship, that we must be good disciples, we must live our Baptismal promises, we must carry our crosses - whatever they may be. Do not, however, think this means that we earn our salvation… we do not!
[00:07:04] Salvation is a gift freely given by God - but we can either cooperate with God by being good disciples, or we can resist him or even turn our backs on him.
[00:07:18] God intends that all mankind be saved, but we still have free will, and we are still tempted to sin. In fact, we are bound by concupiscence - that propensity for sinful actions.
[00:07:36] Regardless of how good our intentions may be, we don't always act as we should. So, the many who seek to enter but are unable to do so are those who resist God or turn their backs on God… even if they do so unintentionally.
[00:07:58] And we hear an example of that in the following parable.
“When once the householder”
Householder comes from another Greek word: oikodespotēs, which can mean householder, as the RSV has translated it here, or it can mean master of the house. Given the way the remainder of this parable is translated, master of the house is probably a better choice.
[00:08:27] “When once the householder had risen up and shut the door,”
The word shut comes from yet another Greek word: apokleisē, which can also be translated as locked. Again, the word locked is probably a better choice. So, let's read that phrase using that different translation…
“Once the master of the house has risen up and locked the door,”
You can see that changing just how those two Greek words are translated changes the impact of that entire phrase.
[00:09:03] “Once the master of the house has risen up and locked the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us.’”
[00:09:12] At the end of that sentence is why master of the house and locked are better translations.
[00:09:19] There is one other Greek word there that I want to mention, and that is: kyrie. Kyrie means lord or master - and think of Kyrie eleison… which means Lord, have mercy. So, that word is referring to Jesus, who is our Master and Lord. Again, parables always teach us about the kingdom of God. And the beginning of this parable tells us that we are approaching the gates of heaven.
“He will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’”
[00:09:53] That is judgment! When Jesus says, I do not know where you come from, he means that those seeking to enter do not belong to him, they do not belong to the Father, they did not follow Jesus's teachings, they did not live and love as he taught them to do, they were not his disciples in this life… so he cannot recognize them in the next.
[00:10:23] And we run the risk of hearing Jesus say that to us if we don't listen to him, if we don't accept everything he teaches, if we are not his faithful disciples.
“Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’”
[00:10:46] Proximity does not indicate familiarity! Meaning that there's a huge difference between knowing who someone is and knowing the person.
[00:10:57] If you've ever heard of the actor Adam Driver, you may know that he grew up in Indiana, not far from where I live, and graduated from a local high school. But that doesn't mean I know him personally… I do not, I've never met him, I've never even seen him in person.
[00:11:16] And these people in this parable are essentially saying - hey, we ate at the same restaurants you did, we saw you around the neighborhood, so we know who you are, and you know us.
[00:11:28] But that would be like me saying - sure, I hung out with Adam Driver because we both lived in Northern Indiana. Clearly, that is not the case!
[00:11:40] But that's exactly what those standing outside the gates are saying to Jesus! Hey, we knew who you were… why don't you know us?
[00:11:50] “But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from, depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!’”
[00:12:00] Jesus either is our Master and Lord, or he isn't. There is no middle ground.
[00:12:10] It's not enough for us to say who he is or that we've read about him, or even that we've heard about him… we must acknowledge him as God. We can't wait until we meet Jesus at the end of our lives to do that. Jesus is telling us, in this parable, that by then it may be too late!
[00:12:37] We may be turned away… we may be locked out… and then what happens?
[00:12:44] “There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out.”
[00:12:58] Jesus is saying: don't take salvation for granted! It may not be waiting for you when you get around to wanting it.
[00:13:09] “And men will come from east and west, and from north and south,”
[00:13:14] By including the four cardinal directions, Jesus means everywhere… people will come from everywhere - and all types of people will come. We hear those promises in First and Second Isaiah: “gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” says Isaiah 11… and – “I will give you as a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” in Isaiah 49.
[00:13:45] So, when Jesus says men will come from the east and the west, he likely means Gentiles; the nations to the east and west of Israel were primarily Gentile nations.
[00:13:58] And when he says men will come from the north and the south, he most likely means the Northern and Southern kingdoms, so primarily the Jews.
[00:14:09] Jesus’ statement means that all men will be invited to come from every land and from every direction… but an invitation is not a guarantee of admittance!
[00:14:25] “and sit at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
[00:14:35] By the phrase: sit at table in the kingdom - Jesus means that eschatological banquet… the Supper of the Lamb in heaven. And think back, we heard just a couple of weeks ago in Luke 12: “he will put on his apron and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them” - that Jesus himself will come and serve the faithful at that heavenly banquet.
But an invitation is not a guarantee of admittance! And we get a hint of that in that final phrase. We know that the Jews are the Chosen People - they were the first people called by God. We, the Gentiles, were the last to be called - we know that because Paul was appointed the Apostle to the Gentiles after Jesus’ death.
[00:15:24] So, what Jesus is saying through all of that is that some Gentiles may be judged worthy to enter the kingdom first, even though we were called after the Chosen People. While some of the Chosen People may be destined to enter the kingdom after some Gentiles despite being called first.
[00:15:48] We also have to consider the possibility that some people may not enter the kingdom at all. As I said, an invitation to the banquet doesn't guarantee admission to the banquet… we can turn our backs on that invitation, we can decline it, we can walk away from it. And that's the lesson we need to learn from this parable. We can't wait too long to live according to God's law, we can't wait too long to choose to follow Jesus, we can't wait too long to choose to be his disciples… all those choices are up to us! But if we wait too long, it may be too late!
[00:16:40] As I said in the beginning, the path of discipleship is difficult, and Jesus assures us that we will be challenged along the way. It is up to us to seek out the narrow gates in each of our lives and strive to enter through them. If we are generous, if we are loving, if we are compassionate, then we may be able to help each other carry our crosses, keep our Baptismal promises, and together pass through those narrow gates in order to reach our heavenly home.
[00:16:40] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from Isaiah 66: 18-21.
“[Thus says the Lord:] ‘I know their works and their thoughts, and I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tar’shish, Put, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tu’bal and Ja’van, to the islands afar off, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. And they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the sons of Israel bring their cereal offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.’”
[00:18:39] This passage is from Third Isaiah (which is chapters 56 to 66), and it was written after the return of the exiles from captivity in Babylon. The author is trying to encourage the people despite the devastation to which they have returned and the monumental task they face in rebuilding the temple and the city of Jerusalem.
[00:19:04] Third Isaiah also acknowledges the punishment endured by the Chosen People for their infidelity to the Covenant, while at the same time focusing on the restoration and renewal that will make the Chosen People a better people and Israel a better nation.
[00:19:26] This passage, which comes almost at the end of Isaiah, depicts all the nations of the world coming to Jerusalem to worship God.
[00:19:37] So, let's see how Isaiah predicts this will happen…
[00:19:42] “[Thus says the Lord:]”
Of course, we know by now that those words mean that the prophet is speaking to the people on behalf of God.
[00:19:50] “I know their works and their thoughts, and I am coming to gather all nations and tongues;”
[00:19:58] This is God's promise that the Jews will be brought home to Israel after the Diaspora. The Diaspora is the dispersion of the Jews among Gentile nations, especially during the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles.
“and they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them.”
The sign God will set among the people will be the fulfillment of the promised return of the exiles from all the lands to which they had been dispersed.
“And from them I will send survivors to the nations,”
[00:20:35] From among those exiles who have returned, God will send out some of them who will in turn serve as heralds or missionaries carrying the message of God's glory to far off nations that were never hostile to Israel. And who exactly are those nations?
“Tar’shish (which is Spain), Put, and Lud, who draw the bow (nations in Northern Africa known to be fearsome warriors), to Tu’bal and Ja’van (Turkey and Greece), to the islands (or coastlands) afar off, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations.”
I want to point out a couple of things there.
[00:21:22] First, there is some disagreement about how part of this is translated. The original Hebrew is moseke qeset, which literally means who draw the bow. However, that is translated as the place name: Moshoch in the NAB.
[00:21:42] Some commentaries agree with the NAB translation and cite passages from the prophet Ezekiel in support of that, but the word in Ezekiel is: mešek, which was, in fact, a country likely in the vicinity of modern-day Armenia. I mentioned that because the NAB translation is the basis of the current Lectionary, meaning that is what you will hear at the Catholic Mass this weekend.
[00:22:10] Hearing this now will alert you to the difference in what you'll hear this weekend as well as give you some insight into the difficulties inherent in translating Sacred Scripture. I know I've said this before, but I want to point out again that the nations mentioned here weren't typically considered to be hostile to Israel - they never threatened Israel's borders and never took any of Israel's citizens into captivity, so there would have been no hesitation in sending forth messengers from the Chosen People to share their knowledge of God's glory among those far distant lands.
“And they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as an offering to the LORD,”
[00:22:59] As these heralds spread the message of God's glory, they will draw more and more people to him, and it is those converts who will become the brethren from all the nations that will be an offering to God. And how will these brethren arrive?
“upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries,”
The various types of transportation indicate that people will be arriving from many different geographic regions and socio-economic classes. And where are they going?
[00:23:39] “to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD,”
Meaning that all people will come to make a sacred pilgrimage to the city of Jerusalem on Mount Zion to worship God.
“just as the sons of Israel bring their cereal offerings in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.”
That seems like such a short phrase, but there's a lot for us to delve into. There so let's dive right in.
[00:24:05] First, we need to understand what a cereal offering was. There were actually five different types of offerings, or sacrifices, that the people were instructed to offer to God, and they can all be found listed in the book of Leviticus. The cereal offering is just one of those five types of offerings, or sacrifices. Now, cereal offerings consisted of fine flour, oil and salt - either mixed together raw or made into cakes before being mixed with frankincense and then taken to the temple in a clean vessel. A portion of the cereal offering would have then been burned on the altar as a gift to God, and the rest was given to the sons of Aaron - the priests of the temple. But Isaiah is, in turn, using that cereal offering as a metaphor.
[00:25:00] He is comparing the sacrifices offered to God for his bountiful goodness - which was the purpose of a cereal offering. And he's comparing that to two different things. First, with the goodness of the Jews returning from exile, and second, with the bounty of any new converts that come to worship at Mount Zion as a result of the missionary efforts of the Chosen People. As I said, there was a lot to wrap our heads around in that short phrase. But we then hear…
“And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.”
Meaning that, like the sacrifice itself, the returning exiles and the new converts who follow them will be divided… some will be offered to God and accepted as priests or Levites - those will only come from among the returning exiles - while the rest will nourish the city of Jerusalem as the cereal offering nourished the priests of the temple.
[00:26:06] This passage describes the return of the exiles, but it also is the most clearly described missionary undertaking in the Old Testament. And that message of the importance of missionary discipleship is the message that we as Christians need to take away from Isaiah. It reinforces what Jesus said in verse 29 of the Gospel: “men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God.” Meaning that all who are faithful will be part of that heavenly banquet… so, we need to be faithful in our mission of carrying the message of God's glory out to the world, even though it means we must pass through our own narrow gates to do so.
[00:26:56] That brings us to our Responsorial Psalm, which is Psalm 117.
[00:27:00] Our refrain, however, is from Mark, and the refrain is:
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.”
And here are the verses:
“Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!”
“For great is his mercy toward us; and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!”
[00:27:24] This Psalm is a Hymn of Praise for God's love and, as you may have already concluded, it is the shortest Psalm in the Bible. It has only two verses, and we hear both of them. Our refrain, however, actually comes from the Gospel of Saint Mark and talks about the mission that all of us should undertake to spread the good news throughout the world…. that is what gospel means: good news. The reason this Psalm was paired with our Gospel and Isaiah is evident - God's glory will be fully revealed in the kingdom and, until then, it is the mission of every person of faith to spread that good news to all of creation.
[00:28:08] That takes us to our Second Reading, which is from Hebrews 12: 5-7, 11-13.
“[Brothers and sisters:]
Have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons? —
‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him. For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.”
[00:29:13] This is the third of four passages we will hear from the Letter to the Hebrews this summer. The overall theme of this passage is that suffering serves as a form of discipline, with the emphasis being on the formative value of suffering rather than on its punitive nature. Remember, Hebrews was intended for a community of Jewish converts to Christianity that were being persecuted. The intent of this letter was to help the community understand the persecution it was undergoing and encourage it to persevere in faith. It has the same message for us.
[00:29:54] Oh, we may not be experiencing religious persecution, but everyone experiences suffering, and whatever suffering we do endure can help us become better, stronger, and more faithful disciples. So, let's listen to what the author of Hebrews has to say…
“[Brothers and sisters:] Have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons?”
That, of course, is a rhetorical question, and its entire purpose is to introduce the quote from Proverbs which follows in the text.
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him. For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
[00:30:42] That is Proverbs 3: 11-12. Keep in mind the first nine chapters of Proverbs are essentially a discourse between Lady Wisdom and the young people to whom she is speaking. This was a patriarchal society, remember, so most of the addresses begin with the words: “my so” as this passage does. This advice is intended to encourage those who are being disciplined by persecution or adversity, to explain the reason for their difficulties, and to prevent them from becoming resentful or discouraged. And we should also look at this in light of our Gospel - the discipline and chastisements we experience in life should not discourage us in our mission of discipleship either.
[00:31:38] Instead, we should see them as narrow gates that we must strive to pass through.
“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons;”
The author of Hebrews is reminding the new Christian converts that God is their Father, just as he is Jesus’ Father. That is a very Pauline statement and remember that while Paul is not recognized as the author of this letter, his the theology can be found woven throughout its entirety. And that should especially make us think of what Paul says in Romans 8: “you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” The author of Hebrews is also saying that being treated as a child of God is a tremendous honor and one to which we are not ever entitled, but which is offered to us, nonetheless.
[00:32:47] “for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”
The answer, of course, is none… although children never see discipline as something beneficial while it's happening. It's something we all recognize later, but never at the time.
[00:33:02] And let's face it, discipline changes with time and social norms.
[00:33:08] Spankings and being sent to bed without dinner were common punishments when I was a child… especially for me… I was a bit of a handful. And there are so many memes circulating about that very thing among my generation.
[00:33:24] The caption of one set of memes often goes something like: “Some of you come from the ‘If you quit crying, I'll buy you something’ generation. We came from the ‘If you don't quit crying, I'll give you something to cry about’ generation.”
[00:33:40] I heard those very words from my parents on more occasions than I care to admit! Regardless, the idea is that discipline - no matter what form it takes in any given generation - is unwelcome but undoubtedly necessary.
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
Again, we don't recognize the benefits of discipline while we're in the midst of experiencing it. Those are lessons that come with age and maturity. And we cannot perceive discipline only as something punitive - because its impact is so much greater! The Scripture hints at that as well when it says: “to those who have been trained by it.”
[00:34:35] Discipline can also become study skills, practice, willpower, self-control, commitment - all of those lessons that discipline teaches us which then helps us in so many ways… like mastering a musical instrument, acquiring a new skill, developing proficiency in a sport, or learning to speak a new language - all those things require self-discipline.
“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,”
And we should hear echoes of Isaiah there: “Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees.” - that's Isaiah 35.
“and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.”
And there we should hear the echo of Proverbs 4: “Take heed to the path of your feet, then all your ways will be sure.”
The author of Hebrews is reminding us that we should accept divine discipline as a sign of God's love and concern for each of us, just as a human parent's discipline shows their love and concern for their own child or children.
[00:35:52] Well-intentioned discipline - not abuse or cruelty - but well-intentioned discipline always produces some benefit. For us - as beloved children of God - God's discipline gives us grace, which is a sharing in his divine life… a sharing in God's own holiness, which helps us then to be better, more faithful disciples.
[00:36:21] Divine discipline enables us to walk with renewed spiritual energy, strengthening us to carry our own individual crosses and, perhaps, helps us support someone else at the same time.
Divine discipline removes whatever hinders our spiritual progress, enabling us to enter through the narrow gates we all encounter throughout our lives.
[00:36:48] So, we need to strive constantly for the grace, the peace, and the holiness that come to us as a result of divine discipline because that will help us HELP EACH OTHER pass through those narrow gates and reach that Supper of the Lamb in our heavenly home.
[00:36:48] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain, and and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand.
From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with the permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparation preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening and God bless.
