Sunday August 21, 2016: 21st Sunday “Lord, will only a few people be saved?”

Gospel – Luke 13:22-30

Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.  Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.  After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from. And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.  Depart from me, all you evildoers!’  And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out.  And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.  For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

1036   The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

2656  One enters into prayer as one enters into liturgy: by the narrow gate of faith. Through the signs of his presence, it is the Face of the Lord that we seek and desire; it is his Word that we want to hear and keep.

1786 Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.

From “The Great Crusade of Mercy” Testimony of Catalina Rivas (CM-119:1-10)

1) My beloved daughter, this Message is directed to all: to any man or woman, but someone in particular should acknowledge it as directed to them personally. Let us write it.

2) I will start with the case of souls that have decided to enter by the narrow gate which leads to supernatural life.  In that way of life, there are two categories that may be distinguished: there are those souls that pay attention to mortal sins and those that pay attention to both mortal sins as well as venial sins. 

3) I speak to the latter and I tell them: you have been given sufficient Grace to avoid serious offenses against Me. Why should I not give you the Grace to avoid venial sins? And what is more, since I wish to see your souls entirely beautiful, I strive to keep you distant from every offense against Me.  That is what I do, and you also believe so.  If you consider your acts of  confession, it is a serious matter for you.  Is that not so?  But tell Me, if a field of wheat has a great deal of chaff, how can you expect to destroy it all at once?  Therefore, become convinced that before only the wheat of My grace remains, you need to work on your souls. 

4) My Children, confess the same things, but do not give up on correcting yourselves because otherwise your chaff will choke My wheat.  Today a little, tomorrow a little more, and with My help you will be free of burdens.

5) I speak likewise to the souls that I have chosen.  Is ten the same as five?  Do you not see that they are of  the same species, but what matters is to reduce ten to zero, do you understand?

6) But you who desire the narrow path are also enduring other sufferings.  You ask Me for bread, health, strength, Grace and love.  All well and good because that means obedience to Me, insofar as I have taught you to pray for those things, and I do not wish for you to change.  However, in your petitions, your aims are for yourself and a great deal is lost in the prayer that you address to Me.

7) This, indeed is the narrow gate and very few enter it: asking for everything while aiming for the fulfillment not of your own will but of Mine.

8) It is a great Love that I make known to you today in putting you on the right road to appreciating what helps you to be and to remain My special disciples.  Do not think that My Words are all for the purpose of belittling your way of coming to Me since I see all of you and I am aware of your most intimate affairs.  But I declare that reaching a decision is perhaps a good sign, while heeding the encouragement I provide, [yet doing so] just for sentimental reasons is not very productive, even if it may bring tears to some eyes.

9) I want to perform great deeds in you; believe Me.  I want to make of you fiery furnaces of My Love, sparks from My Heart before the cold and ungrateful world. Therefore, follow Me, and accept My advice.  Work together with Me to purify your souls. A method is needed.  You cannot sweep out a house with continuous sweeps of the broom, which are more appropriate for raising dust than gathering it.  Clean slowly, look in corners and do not be impatient with yourselves, because impatience leads to ruin.  And pray; pray that My Will may be accomplished in all of you.

10) Indeed, the gate is narrow, I repeat, but the Palace awaiting you is great, beautiful, and marvelous.  Enter it, thinking of Me and not of yourselves.