Our Venerable Father Daniel the Stylite (493)
Ephesians 2:11-13; Luke 13:18-29
Nativity Fast.
Read Luke 13:18-29
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
I don’t know if you’ve ever had the thought “if only I had been there when Jesus walked the earth in Jerusalem I’d have an easier time in following Him.” Our Lord’s words to us in the gospel today effectively discount this idea. It’s not about proximity to Christ, but by struggling to enter the narrow door. Salvation is not the prize of the privileged few of a particular time, or being “in” with the right crowd. Fitting “in” means changing your life to squeeze through a smaller door. It requires conversion.
In our Byzantine tradition we continually state this with our liturgical actions, indeed, with our very bodies. At various parts of our liturgical services, we perform “metanias,” little bows accompanied by the sign of the cross. These bows (sometimes deeper, sometimes shallower) are us expressing repentance over our sins and struggling to conform ourselves to the life in Christ to which we have been called.
The next time you are crossing yourself and making this little bow, allow the action to have the full effect. Instead of performing it “because that’s what we do at this moment, or that’s what’s expected” picture the narrow door and convict yourself of the change necessary to enter by it!