Daily Mass Reflections - 6/26
“Do unto others what you would have done unto you”
In today’s Gospel (Matthew 7:6, 12-14) we continue to examine Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, wherein our Lord encourages his disciples to seek out and subsequently enter the oftentimes difficult and seemingly always unpopular “narrow gate.” For as Jesus goes on to say “the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.”
In his timeless and eerily insightful classic The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis contends that the devil is bent on convincing us that he does not even exist. In doing so, Lewis contends, the Prince of Lies succeeds in lulling us to sleep, blinding us to the fact that the battle for souls is real and that our actions have eternal consequences.
It’s hard to read this Gospel without feeling at least the slightest pangs of anxiety. We are however encouraged by the fact that God wants all His children to be saved and come to the knowledge of His truth. For this He arms us with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Scripture. The Holy Mass. The Blessed Virgin Mary. The Sacraments. The Saints.....and yes, each other.
“How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few,” concludes today’s passage.
Perhaps those who do not find it were never really looking for it in the first place?