06/23/2026
From the Desk of Fr. Fred
June 23, 2026
The Book of Deuteronomy speaks of a way of life and a way of death. The difference is whether we seek to follow our own will or God’s will. Jesus in today’s gospel at Mass [Matthe 7:6, 12-14] uses a different image to say the same thing. There is a narrow road to life and a wide road which leads to death:
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 narrow road might be described as the road that includes the cross in our lives. For instance, a dying woman told a priest:
Father, those who do not taste the cross do not desire heaven; without the cross, there is no heaven.
The woman was only stating what Jesus has told us in the gospel about following him as a disciple. For instance, as Jesus was about to embark on his journey to Jerusalem and suffer his passion and death, he defined discipleship for us:
if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?
Saint John Paul II used the image of a culture of life versus a culture of death instead of the image of a narrow road. The pope stated in his gospel of life encyclical that the eclipse of the sense of God – where God is immaterial to our daily lives and daily decision – results in a culture of hedonism or seeking the greatest amount of pleasure in life. Obviously, this pleasure-seeking lifestyle is the opposite of what Jesus states for those who wish to follow him.
The narrow road that Jesus describes includes the Golden Rule, which is mentioned in today’s gospel:
Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
Following this rule would certainly restrict some of the actions that we take and decisions that we make in the moral order of discipleship. I am always saddened when a young child confesses a sin like hitting his brother or sister. I will ask them if they have ever heard of the golden rule. Sadly, they look at me with a blank stare. What is the golden rule? When growing up, I recall the teachers in public school drilling the golden rule into our heads. No so anymore? Living by the golden rule might harm someone??
The first reading at Mass [2 Kings 19:9-11,14-21,31-36] teaches the importance of trusting God if we want to walk the path of life and follow the narrow road that leads to life. Assyria has conquered the Northern Kingdom, Israel, and also parts of the Southern Kingdom, Judah. Sennacherib, the general of the Assyrian army, wants the king to surrender or else. Fortunately, at that time, Judah had a wise and holy king in King Hezekiah. He was known for his holiness and liturgical reforms so the nation worshipped God and God alone.
If we were king and saw the Assyrian army about to destroy us, how would we react? Flee? Get the army ready? Hezekiah choses to seek God’s guidance as to how to deal with the threat to Jerusalem, In chapters 18 and 19 of 2 Kings, 19 times the theme of trusting in God is mentioned. Instead of trusting in himself, Hezekiah will trust in God. He begins by seeking God’s will in prayer in the temple:
he went up to the temple of the LORD, and spreading it out before him, he prayed in the LORD’s presence: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned upon the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth. Incline your ear, O LORD, and listen! Open your eyes, O LORD, and see!
The prophet, Isaiah, enters the picture and encourages Hezekiah to trust in God’s protection:
He shall not reach this city, nor shoot an arrow at it, nor come before it with a shield, nor cast up siege-works against it. He shall return by the same way he came, without entering the city, says the LORD. I will shield and save this city for my own sake, and for the sake of my servant David.
During Advent, Isaiah will tell another king, King Ahaz, to trust in God, but Ahaz will not trust in God’s protection. Again the Southern Kingdom will be threatened by a coalition of nations to join in opposing Assyria. Does the king trust God’s protection or not? I think that we are familiar with the situation. Isaiah will tell the king to ask God for anything and God will respond in order to manifest God’s trustworthiness. But Ahaz refuses:
Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, "I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!" Then he said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. [Isaih 7:12-14]
Trust is a life-long journey for us. Our trust in God will grow if we do what Hezekiah did and seek God’s guidance and strength when confronting the problems of life. Trust will grow if we acknowledge that Jesus’ teachings lead us to the abundant life that God wants for us. However, the road to this abundance may require sacrifices on our part and walking the way of the cross. If we do, we can trust that there is a companion, Jesus, walking with us.