The Narrow Door
Jesus, in this Sunday’s gospel, challenges us with these words, “Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough” (Luke 13:24). A door, as we know it, is an entrance to something – a house, a building, or any other structure. In the context of this gospel, the door is also an entrance, but not to a physical matter. Rather, the door is an entrance to a spiritual reality, and that is, our salvation.
How do we get saved? If we believe in life after death, how can we be sure that our souls are destined to the eternal and inexplicable joys of heaven? The answer is that we have to enter through the right door, and that is no other than our Lord Jesus Christ. As he said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” St. Peter, in his testimony before the Sanhedrin, affirmed this when he said in reference to Jesus, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved (Acts 4:12)”
Following Jesus, however, is not easy. He cautions us,
come Whoever wishes to after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (John 16:24). To be sure, God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). For him, blessedness comes in conforming with the Beatitudes – in being poor in spirit, in mourning, in being meek, in being hungry and thirsty for righteousness, in being merciful and clean of heart, in being peacemakers, and in being persecuted for the sake of righteousness (Matthew 5:3-10). Following Jesus means obeying the commandments, for “whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments will be called least in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19). It means loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44), and forgiving others the wrong they have done to us so that we ourselves will be forgiven (Matthew 6:12). In short, in these and in many other teachings, Jesus’way is an invitation to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22: 37-39). It is a calling to be holy just as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16). These are hard teachings; who can follow them?
Because of the illness, he sought the help of his confrere in Talisay, Fr. Fernando Cuenca, for Hydrotherapy. From 1873-1876, he returned to his first love, Mindoro, and was named Parish Priest of Calapan and Superior of the missionaries in Mindoro. In 1876, he was transferred to Las Pinas, where the townspeople suffered terrible drought, a smallpox epidemic, and fire of enormous proportions. Romanillos noted that many witnesses attest to his charity and availability to the neediest in such dramatic situations. His parishioners fought to retain him. But, the Saint was transferred to Santo Tomas, Batangas, then to Santa Cruz, Manila. He was appointed in 1882 as an administrator of the hacienda in Imus, Cavite.
St. Ezekiel was “santulon" for the Filipinos. He is a saintly man whom people loved and felt loved by him. He attended to the sick with extraordinary tenderness. He encouraged the children and helped the poor. His saintly deeds for the Filipinos ended with his transfer to Spain in 1885.
The Catholic and the Order of Augustinian Recollects celebrate the feast of St. Ezekiel on August 19. St. Ezekiel Moreno, pray for us.