“for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter”

In 1896 there was a religious tract published called The Roads to Heaven and Hell by R.J. Stock, Cincinnati, Ohio. This tract was a reminder to the people at the time as well as to us that there are two ways. This lesson is Part 1 of 4 in which the tract will be explained in the light of today’s Gospel.
 
Detailed pictures from the tract will be in this lesson. To see the tract in its entirety please go to the packet page and click on The Roads to Heaven and Hell link.
 
At the bottom of the picture there is a small crowd of people, this crowd has set before them two paths, one narrow, one broad. There are two scenes that they immediately see before them; one that characterizes the narrow path, and the other a broad path.
 

 
 
A. Give us this day our Daily Bread
 
Discussion: What do you notice on picture A as compared with picture B? On the “narrow path” picture is a man and a woman sitting at a table. On the tablecloth is printed, “Give us this day our daily bread”. This couple is older and is praying. They have chosen to live out the Lord’s Prayer in reliance upon God for their basic necessities. They eat a meager meal, and give thanks to God just as we give thanks to God when we pray the Prayer before meals: Bless us O Lord and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive, from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
 
What does the prayer before meals tell us? In the prayer before meals we acknowledge God. Our body hungers and thirsts for food and drink, our soul hungers for God. In this prayer we acknowledge that it is not just our body that is in need, but our soul as well, and we ask God to bless us body and soul. We ask God to bless the gifts (food and drink) before us, and we acknowledge that without God we would not have these gifts. We finally acknowledge that all gifts come through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the door the gate [i], the way, and no one comes to the Father but through the Son. [ii] The Father gives all gifts to man, through the Son, and in that same pattern, man gives the gift of himself to the Father, through the Son. Jesus is truly the way, the means, in which God comes to man, and man goes to God.  “His [Christ’s] humanity is the first step down and the last step up on the beautiful spiral of Creation.” [iii]

God giving to man is a sacrifice. Man giving to God is a sacrifice. These sacrifices are united at each and every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. “The Eucharist is the sacrifice of the whole Church; it is not exclusively the priest’s sacrifice, but property of the faithful also. The priest alone performs the sacrificial act itself, for only his hands are anointed and consecrated to offer sacrifices. He offers in the name of the faithful and for their benefit. Thus priest and people are at the altar bound together in a communion of sacrifice, and they offer not only the host and chalice, but themselves also. ‘The Mass will be a sacrifice for us to God, when we have made an offering of ourselves’ (St. Gregory the Great).” [iv]
 
This is why the priest prays, “Brethren, pray that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Father almighty” and the people respond, “May the Lord receive the sacrifice from thy hands for the praise and glory of His name, for our welfare and that of all His holy Church.” [v]
 
Jesus offered Himself to the Father for the salvation of souls. When we assist at Mass, assist at this offering and in deed offer the gift of our self; with, in, and through Jesus Christ we enter into the work of redemption. In other words, any time we enter into Liturgy (the Divine Liturgy [Mass], the Liturgy of the Hours, the Sacraments of the Church, Liturgical processions, etc.) we are entering into and participating in the “the work of God”, which is the salvation of souls. We are walking on the narrow path.
 
“The word ‘liturgy’ originally meant a ‘public work’ or a ‘service in the name of / on behalf of the people.’ In Christian tradition it means the participation of the People of God in ‘the work of God.’ Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church.” [vi] To walk the narrow path is “work”; it is not easy. In the illustration  The Roads to Heaven and Hell the path to heaven is very steep and difficult while the path to hell is flat and at the end turns into a slide, a slippery slope into a fiery pit.
 
There is perhaps no greater example of the choice before man than at the Cross, when two criminals, the good and bad thief were given a choice. The choice they had was to offer them self along with Christ to the Father. Each Christian is also given this choice. The choice becomes clear at every Mass when each person in the pew is offered the choice to offer himself along with Christ to the Father.
 
What choice will we make? Will we offer our self with Christ to the Father? Servant of God Fulton Sheen made the analogy that each small host represents us, and the large host is Christ. While both the large and small hosts are the Body of Christ, the large host is the head (Jesus) of the Body, while the small hosts are the members (us) of the Body. The bad thief mocked Jesus and His offering saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” [vii] Jesus was saving him at that very moment, but the thief could not see this and did not accept salvation. The good thief, Saint Dismas, however came to Christ’s defense and said to the bad thief, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but his man has done nothing criminal. Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” [viii]
 
What do we worship? Who do we give our self to?
Discussion Question: What do you see between the two pictures?
What are the similarities and differences?
   
 
On the narrow path is a woman (C) who has decided to worship God and to follow the teachings of Christ to deny self, pick up your cross, and follow Him. On the broad path to hell is a man (D) who has decided to worship self and everything that the world has to offer. The worship of self is in direct opposition to the command of our Lord. Instead of denying self we give in and even become a slave to the flesh (our senses). We choose not to embrace the Cross of Christ but instead listen to the teachings of the world and instead of following Jesus Christ, true God and true man, we follow Satan, the father of lies.
 

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[i] John 10:7
[ii] John 14:6
[iii] Fr. Christopher Rengers (source: quotecatholic.com)
[iv] Roman Catholic Daily Missal (1962); The Orate Fratres
[v] The Order of the Mass (Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite; The Orate Fratres)
[vi] CCC - 1069
[vii] Luke 23:39
[viii] Luke 23:40-42