The Narrow Gate

“Enter through the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13).”

I read that in the Gospel as I prepared for Mass today and was grateful that, in my experience, I’ve found the gate not so much a thing, but a person. The road that led to life and Jesus for me was Mary.

“The gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction and those who enter through it are many,” Jesus says in continuation of the same verse. Saint Peter and Saint Paul both warn us many times in their letters of “false prophets” who twist the teachings of Jesus into things He didn’t mean and cause people to go astray. Jesus also gives a dire warning to those who would cause the little ones who believe in Him to sin, saying it would be better that a millstone be tied to their necks and they be thrown into the sea (Matthew 18:6). There are falsehoods that are big and others that come drip by drip, but they can pull a believer to a place that Jesus never intended.

The narrow gate. Who knows Jesus better than any other human? The Apostles had Him in person for only three years. Saint Joseph was believed to have died somewhere between Jesus’ twelfth year and when He started His public ministry at age 30, only because Saint Joseph isn't mentioned after that. The one who knew Him best and longest was Mary, from the moment of His conception, through His childhood, throughout His ministry, at the foot of the Cross and even there at the time Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

Mary knew Him longest. She knows her Son from a false one.

This is a solace to me. I remember as a girl being very disturbed by the story of David Koresh, the man who fooled people into joining his Texas cult by claiming to be the secret second coming of Jesus. How does one know whether one is really the secret Jesus? It bothers me today that there are more than 30-thousand groups that claim to have the “right” teaching of Jesus, but they all differ to small and large degrees. It bothers me that more than one group even within my own denomination can claim Jesus and come to opposite conclusions in a story. How does one know where Jesus is?

I bought a magazine for its stories on planets (because I like to read about the Heavens, whether in the Bible or outer space), and I was taken aback by a story in the same magazine on several people who claim to be Jesus. These "Jesuses" have a surprising number of followers who give them money or their bodies for things that I shall not mention.

There are false prophets.

How do you know the real Jesus? Enter the narrow gate.

My life moved radically closer to Jesus after I formally asked Mary to be my Mother. I have done it in prayer, through the confraternity of the Brown Scapular and also the consecration to Jesus through Mary by Saint Louis de Montfort. There are other consecrations. And there are other less formal ways, like by praying the rosary. When I am confused, I ask her to help me find Jesus in a situation and then I just listen. 

It is helpful to consider that Mary knows who her Son is. And she has no other interest in helping you to find Him than for His glory. She is not a rival. She is not God. She proclaims the greatness of the Lord (Luke 1:46), and tells you to do whatever He tells you (John 2:5). She is not the end. Only a gate.