“Knock Knock – Who’s There?” by Tim Margiotta, Fiat Ventures
Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
There is a common phrase when it comes to targeting something – whether it be in archery, riflery or simply trying to knock down one of the Fat Cat clowns at a carnival; “aim small miss small”. It is a helpful little phrase to help a person focus on the task at hand and to make sure they don’t miss the mark by much.
In the Gospel today, Jesus’ opening line is “Strive to enter through the narrow gate”. He adds that many will attempt but will fall short of this goal. For me, this simple line is a strong reminder not to aim big when dealing with our faith. What I mean by this is that many times we can be tempted to think we are doing an “okay” job in our faith; that we “aren’t that bad” or that we have a good balance of spirituality in our lives. In reality, we aren’t called by Christ to “kinda” be Christian and to hit the mark in general. We are called to enter through the narrow gate! To aim for the bullseye! To knock down the three Fat Cats required to earn that stuffed gorilla at the fair! If we settle for living out a lukewarm Catholic faith and miss the mark now and then, we can slowly be pulled further and further away from the strong relationship we are meant to have with our God.
The image Christ paints as he continues to speak in this Gospel gets more and more challenging – “then you will stand outside knocking and saying ‘Lord, open the door for us.’…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.” It is clear from this passage that those speaking with God did indeed have a relationship with him. They respond that they ate and drank in his company and heard him speak in their streets. Unfortunately for them, this wasn’t enough. Their lack of relationship with him and true investment of themselves in their faith causes them to be excluded from the glory of God.
You stand in front of an enormous dark brown, wooden door. A beaten up cast iron knocker thunderously announces that you have arrived. You hear movement on the other side of the door and then slowly this wall of a door in front of you opens and suddenly you find yourself face to face with Jesus, the master of this house, and two angels on either side. You stand there for a moment, wondering if you should speak first, but before you can even get your thoughts together he says to you…
…what would you hear him say if you met him like this right now? Would he say “Well done good and faithful servant! Come share in your masters joy!”…or would he look you in the eye and say “I do not know you or where you come from”… what a challenging thing to think about. Let us today resolve to grow closer to the Lord, to seek mercy for our sins, and to draw closer to him so that one day when we approach the door of his house we will be welcomed as cherished family returning from a distant trip, ready to receive our proverbial stuffed gorilla.