Daily Inspiration

Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, 'Lord, open the door for us.' He will say to you in reply, 'I do not know where you are from.' And you will say, 'We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.' Then he will say to you, 'I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!' And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”-Luke 13:22-30
 
There is a false teaching that states, "Once saved, always saved," but Jesus corrects that notion in this passage.
 
How can we be saved if we eat and drink with Our Lord, listen to His teachings, but then leave Him to return to our sinful and evil ways? Sin builds a callus on our souls, and the longer we let sin build upon us, the more that callus grows. A soul covered in sin will not fit through the narrow gate. It must be stripped bare to pass through. 
 
No one has enough strength to break away from sin on their own, but evil fears Christ. Sin cannot stand to live in His light, so it flees. We do not need to be strong enough to overcome sin; we only need to be strong enough to remain in the light of Christ, so that when the door is locked, we will still be with Him.
 
Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez, pray for us.
 
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Jesus, I trust in you.