Broad is the way

that leadeth to destruction
and many there be
which go in thereat...

This saying from today’s Gospel (Mt. 7:6, 12-14) does not sound like good news. It certainly does not sound like the “peace, love, and whatever” version of Jesus promoted by some today.

Yet the truth of the statement is undeniable and not only because of the divinity of Christ and the inerrancy of Scripture.

One need only look at the world today:

• At the many who - consciously or unconsciously - promote selfishness and gratification under the banner of what they call “freedom” (or even "normal")...
• At those who advocate terror and violence under the banner of what they call “religion...”
• At the many who simply drift under the banner of what they call “getting along...”

...all caught in the acceleration of technology and all ending ultimately in nihilism.

Broad is the way
that leadeth to destruction
and many there be
which go in thereat...

Christ calls us to a better way – not an easier way – but an infinitely better and more satisfying way.

Enter ye in
at the strait gate...

Because strait is the gate,
and narrow is the way,
which leadeth unto life,
and few there be that find it.

This brings to mind what our Lord says in John 10:9 -

I am the door:
by me if any man enter in,
he shall be saved,
and shall go in and out and find pasture.

Our fallen human nature inclines us to follow the easiest path and to seek comfort in numbers, but the right way - the way of life and of eternal happiness - is very often a narrow target and a difficult road.

We should not despair, however, or be put off by the words "few there be that find it" for it is the Lord himself who provides the grace to find and hold to the narrow way.

Being faithful to the Lord is not always easy nor does it always seem popular. The way of the world often seems easier and "normal" but God's path - the road that may seem hardest, the gate that may seem narrowest - is the one that brings us to infinite peace and eternal happiness through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.