21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C
Luke 13:22-30
This narrow door is about stuff, plain and simple. City gates in Jesus’s time had narrow entrances on either side of the main opening, “the eye of the needle” (Mt 19:24). Until a camel had shed its bags, it couldn’t get through that gate. Jesus sent out His followers in pairs with only the stuff on their backs. Jesus Himself lived a nomadic life, and to be a nomad, you can’t carry much stuff. Truly holy people don’t need a lot of stuff. They just need Jesus.
I look around my house. I’m actually not much of a stuff person. I’m never happier than when I’m cleaning out a drawer, a closet, a basement and getting rid of stuff. But still I have a ton of stuff. I like stuff. I like to page through catalogues. I like to support local causes. It’s fun, and it’s fun to have just exactly what I need for an outfit, a project, a cooking endeavor.
I definitely could not get through the narrow door.