21st Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025

When I was a kid, I was a horrible athlete. 

I was small and skinny and uncoordinated. 

I was the guy who would accidentally score points for the other team in basketball, trip over a base in baseball, or be constantly offsides in soccer. 

I dreaded the one thing that came before every game at the park: picking teams.

I can still feel that moment — standing there, hoping I wouldn’t be the last one picked, but deep down knowing that I probably would be. 

That feeling of being unwanted, of being left out, of being “last.”

And then I hear today’s Gospel. Someone asks Jesus, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” 

You can hear the same anxiety: Am I going to be picked? Will I be left out? Will I be last?

Jesus doesn’t give a number, but he does give a challenge: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.”

The narrow gate isn’t about being the fastest, strongest, or most coordinated. 

It’s not about being first in line or having the right résumé of good works. 

It’s about choosing the harder, narrower path — the path of discipleship.

What does that look like?

• Forgiveness — When someone hurts you, it’s easy to hold onto anger. The wide, easy road is resentment. The narrow gate is forgiving, even when it costs something inside of you.
  
  

• Service — The wide gate is living for myself, my comfort, my convenience. The narrow gate is putting someone else first — caring for an aging parent, serving the poor, helping a neighbor when it would be easier to look the other way.
  
  

• Integrity — The wide road says, “Everybody cuts corners — why not me?” The narrow gate is honesty, even when it means admitting fault, taking responsibility, or losing out on an advantage.
  
  

• Faithfulness — The wide gate is to “go along to get along,” blending in with the crowd. The narrow gate is living as a disciple of Jesus even when it’s unpopular — being faithful to Mass, prayer, and the moral teachings of the Gospel in a world that doesn’t always understand.
  
  

The prophet Isaiah tells us that God’s plan is to gather people from every nation and every language. 

The banquet is open to all. 

But Jesus reminds us: it’s not enough to say, “I was around you, Lord. I heard you teach. I was close enough.” 

It’s not about proximity — it’s about relationship. It’s about choosing the narrow gate, even when it’s hard.

And here’s the good news: in God’s Kingdom, the last really can be first. 

Those of us who always felt left out, overlooked, or unworthy — God says there’s a place for us at his table.

So the real question isn’t “How many will be saved?” but “Am I walking toward the narrow gate? 

Am I living in such a way that I’ll recognize the Master when he opens the door?”

The door is open now. 

God’s desire is to gather us in. 

And if you’ve ever known what it feels like to be picked last — then you know just how amazing it will be to hear Jesus say, “Friend, come up higher. Sit with me at the feast.”