Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 372

“Enter through the narrow gate;
for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,
and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few.”

The story was told among seminarians of the old, retired priest who prayed daily for "perseverance in my vocation." The younger men wondered what the old fellow was worried about. Didn't he have it made in the shade by now? 

Having attained the status of semi-retired -- which is to say, as busy as my energy will allow and opportunities present -- I find the challenges of faith and communal life still daunting. And opportunities to slack off remain. By this time, I can't reasonably expect much in the way of self-improvement; it's mostly maintenance against the inevitable, with frequent slippages and less-than-complete recoveries. 

I remember conversations with patients in the hospital who had, through frequent alcohol abuse, brought dementia upon themselves. They often suffered severe loneliness and daunting questions about the meaning and purpose of their life. But, despite their intense feelings and intelligent questions, they could no longer receive reassurance or encouragement, much less participate in meaningful spiritual conversation. And most had access to guns. 

And I've known friars who rarely used alcohol or nicotine, but they also slipped into dementia. Their interests were few; and their conversations, circular. They didn't complain but they appeared helpless, intellectually and spiritually. Perhaps they were passing through the narrow gate all unawares, as the rest of us watched helplessly. 

This growing old in America is tiresome business. The elderly hope to burden no one but are not so able or eager to carry the burdens of others. Prayer may be satisfying, but that was never the purpose of prayer. Isn't there something more? If, as C.S.Lewis said, "God is easily pleased but difficult to satisfy," we wonder what more we should do. 

The Lord urges us to pass through the narrow gate; but, despite Woody Guthrie's song, you don't have to walk through it by yourself. We walk hand in hand with the Lord, with our dear Mother Mary, the saints and martyrs, and many lovely people in our church. If we feel lonely, we are in good company with many lonely individuals, and always with the Lord.