Be a gate

In today's Gospel (John 10:1-10), our Lord says

I am the gate for the sheep.

All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.

I am the gate.

Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.

A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;

I came so that they might have life
and have it more abundantly.

Does that mean that Moses and the prophets were thieves and robbers?

Not exactly. On one level, the reference to thieves and robbers is aimed at the false prophets and false Messiahs with whom our Lord's listeners in that time and place would have been familiar.

But on a deeper level, our Lord's words do apply to Moses, the prophets, the Apostles, you, me, and everyone else as well.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is THE Gate: salvation comes only through him.

You and I, by his grace, can be instruments of that salvation, but only insofar as we are totally within the gate of salvation that is Christ: there is no other opening into the pastures of eternal blessedness.

Our Lord's reference to himself as the Gate calls to mind the classic reference to his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the Gate of Heaven:

Alma Redemptoris Mater,
quae pervia caeli porta manes...

(This is usually translated as "Loving Mother of the Redeemer, Gate of Heaven...")

This "Gate of Heaven" reference is clearly in the context of Christ as the Redeemer.

Nor does the reference to Mary as "Gate of Heaven" apply only to her being the physical means through which the Son of God came from heaven and into our world: she remains ("manes") Gate of Heaven but only in connection with our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ who is THE gate.

All those apart from Christ are thieves and robbers: insofar as they are not one with Christ, they draw people off for their own purposes and hinder them from reaching Christ, resulting in spiritual theft, slaughter and destruction.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, on the contrary, remains uniquely one with Christ, not simply because of her role as the physical mother of Christ, but most importantly and powerfully because of her faith and discipleship, empowered by the grace of her son.

Mary in herself does not in any way draw people off for her own purposes apart from Christ nor does she in herself hinder them from reaching Christ.

Mary in herself diverts no one from Christ, but rather she is totally directed toward hastening people to Christ, her Savior and Son.

Mary is entirely filled with Christ, open to Christ, and oriented toward Christ.

You and I are not Mary, but in some sense, you and I need to be gates of heaven: open portals through which others may find Christ and thus the pastures of eternal happiness.

Like Mary, we must never let ourselves or our agendas get in the way of Christ. Rather we must be gates totally open to Christ and through which others may see and find nothing but Christ and thus his evermore abundant life.

Our aim (to borrow the words of Pope Benedict during yesterday's priestly ordination Mass) must be

"...the total donation of self to Christ,
so that He may use me as He wishes,
so that I serve Him and follow His call
even when this contrasts
with my own desires for self-fulfillment and respect.

"To enter by the door, which is Christ,
means knowing Him
and loving Him ever more deeply,
that our will may unite with His
and our action become one with His action."

[source: Vatican Information Service]

May you and I be gates in Christ.