21st Sunday in Ordinary Time: August 23/24 2025

Two weeks ago, the reading from St. Luke’s Gospel began in this way:

“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.” We considered that you and I are kingdom bound, a kingdom which God is delighted and pleased to give us – NOT EARNED - but give to us as pure gift.

But it does come with a price –

FOR: Where your treasure is, there your heart shall be, the price is setting our hearts,

directing our lives, toward God’s kingdom. . .

This is the NARROW GATE Jesus talks about in the Gospel today. . .

The NARROW GATE, which are the things that matter to God, the reason God gives us

grace so that we will get it right:

Grace to be merciful, instead of being cruel.

Grace to be kind, instead of being mean or brutal.

Grace to be compassionate, instead of being hard-hearted or unfeeling.

Grace to be generous, instead of being selfish and building our bigger barns.

Grace to acknowledge and serve the least of our brothers and sisters, rather than passing them by and leaving them in the ditch.

Grace to live with contentment and gratitude, instead of never being satisfied or taking things for granted.

To encourage us in our journey through the narrow gate, is our friend, Douglas, and his

Story of choosing to do what is right.

Hey guys, it’s me again, Douglas. Just when you thought you were rid of me, here I am

again. But I have to say, you have always been hospitable to me when I have shown up.

Since I last saw you, I have been learning all kinds of cool things about animals.

I just love learning animal facts, it’s really fun to learn about all the cool things God has

created! So I found out that animals have instincts. Do you know what an instinct is?

An instinct is something that you know how to do, and really want to do, with little thought put into it. It happens automatically, and all animals have them. Like baby horses. They have the instinct to get up and get moving, running when they are hours old, where it takes a little baby person awhile to be able to do that. They can’t do anything for a while, then they crawl, and eventually get up on their feet. But it doesn’t take long for a little baby horse because it’s just inside them. They know that’s what they want to do, and so they do it. And like birds. . . a lot of birds, without anyone telling them, have the instinct, the inner knowledge to fly south for the winter. Scientists are still trying to figure that one out, how do they know how to do that – it’s instinct.

And, you know, some people want to say we humans are just like animals, and I kind of

agree with that. We, too, have instincts, like breathing. . . do you ever have to think about

breathing, I don’t think so. . . But unlike animals who cannot change their instincts, we humans can, through the grace, the help God gives us, which we first receive at

our Baptism. We can re-program ourselves to act differently. We can change our priorities to act more like Christ, which is our super-power, to be more like Christ through the Grace God gives us, and it all comes down to the choices we make.

God created both humans and animals, but here is the big difference between us.

We can choose to listen to our hearts and souls and the Holy Spirit, and instead of just doing what our bodies want us to do, we can choose to do good. We can choose to enter

through the narrow gate. You know, a monkey just wants a banana. And their instinct tells them to do whatever it takes to get a banana. That’ s like us in our natural state. We want what WE want, and sometimes we don’t care how we go about getting it. BUT WE ARE NOT MONKEYS! We are super-human, created in the image and likeness of God.

So there is always a right way to do things and a wrong way. There is a right way to live,

which is the way God wants us to, and a wrong way to live, which is the way the world wants us to live…totally focused on ourselves.

We CAN go against our instincts, to steal, to lie, to cheat, to do whatever it is we have to,

to get what we want, by choosing to show kindness, and to share and to love.

God has given us the ability to have self-control so we can do the things God wants us

to do. So my challenge to you today is to live according to the Spirit, to do what God wants you to do, and to show self-control.

Choose to strive to enter through the narrow gate that leads to eternal life. Choose to pray every day: thy kingdom come, thy will be done not our will, but God’s. Because God gave us the ability to be so much more than an animal. You and I are children of God, and we are kingdom bound!