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Who’s up? Who’s down? Who’s in? Who’s out?  We spend a lot of time and energy wondering, even obsessing, about these things.  Who’s ranked #1 in the college football polls? Who’s going to make the major league baseball playoffs? What celebrity has just broken up with their spouse?  What celebrity has a new romantic partner?  What video is going viral on Tik Tok? What is the approval rating for that elected official?  How is this candidate doing in the polls before the election?  And on and on and on it goes.

It’s kind of a tabloid mentality, to wonder about the rise and fall of other people.  And when we start doing that about people in our close circles, at work, in organizations and at home, it’s also kind of a gossipy mentality, and that’s not good.

But long before tabloids and American popular culture, those who followed Jesus in today’s Gospel fell prey to the same temptation. “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” someone asked at the beginning of today’s passage.

Jesus was having none of it.  He didn’t answer the question, and just shut it down.  Instead, he directed his answer right back at his listeners – including us – to STRIVE.   Strive is a word that implies the use of a lot of energy, persistence, determination.  It’s easy to think, for example of ascetics and athletics as two types of people who strive, for example.

And we can further envision of striving to enter through the narrow gate as an ongoing effort to keep to the discipline of discipleship.  The narrowness implies some sort of austerity and emptying. Maybe a narrow moving walkway is the best image for this narrow gate – in part you are walking, you are exerting yourself to be a good disciple, but in part you are being carried forward by the providence and love of God.

Someone mentioned in our Lectio Divina session this week that “there’s a stairway to heaven, but a highway to hell.”  Meaning, it takes more of an effort to ascend a staircase, while with cruise control we can easily navigate a highway.

As we come to the end of the summer vacation, we are reminded that there’s no vacation from our vocation to be a disciple of Christ.   It’s not good enough just to be in the vicinity of the Master’s teaching and fellowship – those folks found themselves on the wrong side of the door.  We’ve got to be in the middle of that striving to be closer to God and others every single day.