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-check out this week's LinC Letter at www.parishlincletter.blogspot.com
-I will be celebrating mass at 4pm on Sat and 9:30am on Sunday
What makes the gate narrow?
I cannot help but think of the gospel passage about the camel passing through the eye of a needle. That camel is burdened with all the luggage and the goods of a beast of burden. Because of that heavy bulky burden the animal cannot fit through the opening.
When Jesus mentions the width or the size of the gate that leads to salvation I am anticipating that the "size" of the individual is what determines the width or the narrowness of the gate. So, the invitation or the opportunity for salvation is not the restriction. The restriction on who will be saved completely lies with the girth of the individual.
One can change the width or narrowness of the gate that leads to salvation by conforming his or her life to that of Christ. Trim the fat, lighten your load, lose the excess, dispossess, detach, and you will fit just perfectly
Remember the old playdoh machine in which you placed the Playdoh and then a fixed pattern or a dye to the front of the machine? We pushed the Playdoh down and it took on the shape of the pattern on the front. The playdoh was conformed to the "gate" rather than forcing a immalable mass through a definitive opening.
The material must be conformed to the pattern not the pattern changed to accommodate the material. Salvation is in Christ and through Christ and the way is only narrow to those who have not laid down their lives in imitation of his.
