Heart of the Homily
Join us as we revisit Sunday’s Gospel and homily by Fr Vigoa, digging deeper into it’s message and how we can take it from the pew into the rest of our week. We hope “heart of the homily” podcast helps to transform and shape how you pray, think, live and love this week.
Heart of the Homily
Episode 001 - Homily | Striving for Heaven: Moving Beyond Spiritual Complacency (August 24, 2025)
Jesus shifts our focus from wondering how many will be saved to the more important question: are we personally striving to enter through the narrow gate? The path to salvation requires more than just attendance at religious services; it demands a transformed life and genuine relationship with Christ.
• The narrow gate represents Christ himself, and passing through means allowing him to reshape our lives
• Throughout history, Christians have wrestled with balancing God's mercy with our responsibility
• Previous generations sometimes portrayed God as a harsh judge, while today many assume salvation is automatic
• True Christianity isn't a label but a daily friendship with Christ expressed through prayer, penance, and charity
• Like athletes training hard to win, we must strive in our spiritual lives without comparing ourselves to others
• God's discipline isn't punishment but training that helps us walk toward the narrow gate
• The journey is demanding but not impossible—Christ and the saints have walked it before us
Strive to recommit yourself to the daily work of holiness so that one day, by God's mercy, you too may pass through that narrow gate and enter into the joy of his eternal kingdom.
After a long illness, a woman dies and went to heaven. She was waiting at the gates when Saint Peter came walking by. Curious, she asked him St Peter, what do I have to do to get into heaven? Looks so nice. St Peter smiled and said my dear, it's very simple. You just have to spell one word. She said one word. What word is that? He replied you need to spell the word love. She carefully spelled out the word L-O-V-E and St Peter welcomed her into heaven. Very good, you spelled it correctly. And St Peter welcomed her into heaven. Very good, you spelled it correctly. So about a year later, st Peter asked the woman to cover the gate for him. That day You're in charge. While she was standing there, watch.
Speaker 1:All of a sudden her husband appeared Surprised. She said what are you doing here? Her husband answered well, after you passed away, things went pretty well for me. I married that wonderful nurse that was caring for you. I hit the lottery, I bought a beautiful house and we've been traveling the world. And just today I was out water skiing, took a bad fall, hit my head and here I am. So tell me, how do you get into this very nice place? She says to him oh, it's very easy, you just have to spell one word. And he said oh, one word. Yes, what is that word? And she replied Worcestershire.
Speaker 1:I don't usually tell jokes during a homily, it's not my thing. Some guys are able to do it and it works well for them. But it is a funny story, but it makes the point. I make a very serious point. Getting into heaven is not always easier as we may sometimes imagine. That's the very question that was raised in today's gospel when someone asked Jesus, lord, will only a few people be saved? But I want you to notice something very important Jesus doesn't give a number or a percentage or a statistic. He doesn't say, well, most will be saved or only a few will be saved. What does he say? He shifts the focus entirely and tells us strive to enter through the narrow gate. In other words, the real question is not how many will be saved, but the real question is am I striving? Am I walking the path of holiness that leads to eternal life? This question has echoed through all of the centuries. People have been preoccupied with this question.
Speaker 1:St Augustine, our patron saint that we will celebrate on Friday, wrestled deeply with this mystery of salvation. He insisted that salvation is only possible through God's grace. But he also preached that God desired that all people be saved. And if you listen carefully to that reading, the first reading from Isaiah, it's all there God's plan. And then St John Chrysostom, one of the greatest preachers of the early church, warned his congregation not to presume that baptism or church attendance alone guaranteed salvation.
Speaker 1:And in the Middle Ages pilgrims would walk long, very hard, narrow and often dangerous roads to reach holy shrines. It's a physical reminder to them that the way to heaven is uphill, it's very demanding and it's costly, but worth every step. The truth is, at every age Christians fall into opposite camps and I would say, possibly to errors. In my grandparents' generation, the emphasis was always on, was often on how serious is the sin and you must avoid it at all costs, because if you didn't, there was a serious, very serious danger of losing heaven. And this is true. But sometimes this spread an image of God being this harsh judge that was waiting to trample on you.
Speaker 1:In our time, the pendulum has swinged the other way. We emphasize God's love and mercy, which is also true, but often we assume that salvation is automatic, that sin is no big deal, you don't really need to go to confession. You can do it in your bedroom or in front of your mirror in your bathroom, and then at the end it all works itself out and that everyone gets into heaven. Well, the Catholic truth is always both God is love and mercy and desires that all people be saved, but the way, what matters is our response. Salvation is a gift, but it is a gift that must be received, lived and guarded with perseverance and here's the point we must not miss today, with perseverance, and here's the point we must not miss today. Jesus warns that some will stay at the door, and you heard him in the gospel. We ate and drank in your company. Don't you remember me, jesus? And he says I don't know you.
Speaker 1:The issue is not proximity to holy things, but a real relationship with Christ, a life conformed to him, a life that is completely changed and that follows him. We have to ask ourselves am I a Christian just by name or by a label, or by the truth that guides my life? Being a Christian is not a name tag. It's letting Christ know us through a daily friendship, a daily friendship that is expressed in prayer and penance and charity and justice and mercy, that narrow door that Jesus talks about is himself Christ himself passing through means, welcoming him and his words so that he can reshape our lives. In other words, it's possible to be sacramentally near but so spiritually far present at the banquet, yet unchanged by the host today. Today, the Lord asks for more than attendance. He's asking for your allegiance, for your commitment, for your changed heart.
Speaker 1:Here in Miami, being around the University of Miami, being around the campus, we see the football team training under the brutal summer heat, hours after hours, drill after drill, sweat pouring down their faces as they push themselves to the limit. You can ask Jackson Carver all about that. But why do they do this? Why, because they want to win. And if one of those players ever asked one of his coaches hey, coach, how many do you think of us? Who's going to make it to the NFL? Well, that coach would probably not give him a number. He would probably say something like don't worry about that, don't worry about how many. You work hard, you give it everything that you've got. Don't worry about that. And that's exactly, jesus' point.
Speaker 1:Don't waste your time comparing yourself, calculating this or that, or even presuming. Don't despair and don't grow complacent or indifferent. Strive to repent to sin. Strive to forgive when it costs you. Strive to pray when you're distracted and you don't feel like it. Strive to pay attention at mass. Distracted and you don't feel like it Strive to pay attention at mass and listening to the homily. Strive to love your neighbor who annoys you. Strive to carry your cross faithfully, each day. And because striving can feel like a grind, the church gives us guardrails fuel.
Speaker 1:Remember what the Hebrews adds today, what the second reading taught us Discipline from the Lord is not punishment, it's training, it's medicine that heals when it's lame and makes our steps straight. God is not trying to break us. He's trying to make us saints. When we accept his discipline, confession that humbles us, fasting that frees us, charity that costs us, we begin to walk with purpose towards that narrow gate, yes, that narrow gate. The way is demanding, but it is not impossible. Christ himself has walked it before. The saints have walked it, and the same grace that carries them will carry you if you decide to follow and if you choose to follow.
Speaker 1:St Paul once said work out your salvation with fear and trembling, not because God is cruel, but because heaven is worth it. Ask any athlete who has won a championship, whether the sweat, the training, the sacrifices were worth it. And they will tell you absolutely it's worth it, how much more worth it is to be able to enter through that narrow gate and see God's face to face. So the real question this weekend is not how many will be saved. The real question is will I be saved?
Speaker 1:Am I striving? Am I changing my life? Am I giving my complete heart to Christ? Am I changing my life? Am I giving my complete heart to Christ? Am I changing my behaviors and my habits? Today let us hear Jesus call us to strive, to recommit ourselves to the daily work of holiness so that one day, by God's mercy, we too may pass through that narrow gate and enter into the joy of his eternal kingdom. And maybe, just maybe, when we do, st Peter won't ask us to spell a word like Worcestershire. He'll look at us and say I know you, you have loved, you gave yourself, you really truly gave your complete heart to me. Gave your heart to Christ, come on in, enjoy the kingdom prepared by our Father. Amen.