Enter by the Narrow Gate

one

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches: Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to complete destruction is wide and easy, and many take it; but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Jesus tells us clearly there are two destinations open to us: Heaven or Hell. We go to the one we choose. But how could a person choose Hell? I mean, how could a person see God and reject him?

To grasp this we must Recall how the three powers of the soul, the intellect, feelings and will are designed to work together:

1.  The intellect becomes aware of reality and presents it to the feelings as “Hey, this is right and good for me” or “Hey, this is wrong and bad for me."

2.  Then the feelings respond to what the Intellect presented with, “I like this,” prompting the will to choose it; or “I dislike that,” prompting the will to avoid it.

3.  The will chooses the apparent good and avoids the evil based on the promptings of the feelings, what we like and dislike.

two

How we feel about things affects our behavior...

Because the feelings or desires prompt the will to choose what they like and avoid what they dislike

If we desire or like what is truly good, then the feelings prompt us to do good and avoid evil and we are on the road that leads to life.

On the other hand, when we desire or like what is bad for us, then our feelings prompt us to do evil and avoid what is good for us. In this case our feelings take us down the wrong road, the wide road, the highway to hell. I Never did like AC/DC.

A person can get to the point in which they have a real dislike, a real aversion for the things of God like religion and prayer or Mass or talking about God. This dislike for God causes them to reject God and the things of God in this life.

If this dislike for God continues until death, then when they see God, they will still have this dislike for Him and will not choose him.

They will turn away and walk into hell.

three

We can change the way we feel by how we think. 

If we Mentally focus on the pleasing aspects of what’s good and the displeasing aspects of what’s bad our desires will change. By thinking, imagining, visualizing or anticipating some good thing we actually cause the right feeling, prompting the right action because we desire what looks good to us.

Let’s say, for instance, you really dislike exercise. Your bad feelings are making it really hard. Begin with your thinking. Think and talk about the benefits of exercise, how you feel so much better afterward, you’re more relaxed, less stressed, you have more energy and you think more clearly. If you think and talk about exercise in those terms long enough, you’ll begin to desire exercise which makes it easier to do it. 

We can use this strategy to avoid evil. Say you want to gossip about someone – you can picture in your head how awkward it’ll be if what you’ve been saying gets back to that person. Or you can use St. James’ image, about how a small flame – gossip – can burn down a whole forest of good. Whatever image works to help you realize how deadly gossip is, use that, focus on that, picture that. And eventually your desire to gossip will fade.  

If you get your thoughts in order, your emotions will fall in line.

four

We can change the way we feel by how we act

Chose to do the right action even if you don’t feel like it. If you do the right thing, over and over, eventually you begin to like it – it becomes pleasing to the emotions and then we have a good habit.

Again, most people don’t start out liking exercise, but if they keep at it, if they do the right action even when they don’t feel like it they begin to look forward to their morning run.

People usually don’t start out enjoying prayer, but if they pray anyway, day after day, they get to the point where they can’t do without it.

The same goes for abstaining from bad behavior you’re inclined to. If you have a bad temper, you’ll want to say horrible things when you get angry. But if you resist the urge to lash out and choose to hold your tongue, the anger will fade and the desire to be undisturbed by others will grow.

If you resist the wrong feelings and do the right actions long enough, the bad desires will fade and the right desires will grow – prompting you to the right actions.

five

Fortunately, the path towards virtue is not always an uphill battle.

Our desires, even our vicious desires, aren't set in stone. We can come to feel differently about things, such that eventually we really like doing what is good and actually hate sin.  

The first way that happens is simply by prolonged success in resisting temptation. The more you resist temptation, the weaker those desires tend to get. There's always going to be some level of temptation, but the longer we do the right thing and avoid the wrong thing it gets easier. So hang in there – it doesn’t get harder – it get’s easier as you go because God designed us to have delight, to have pleasure in doing the good.

And that's where the imagination comes in: if we really take the time to imagine the goodness of God, of Heaven, of the fruits of a deep friendship with Jesus in prayer, the goodness of our spouse and our kids and the beauty of God's world, we won't want to return to the vomit of our vice. We won't want to lust, or gossip, or self-aggrandize, or freak out at people. We will delight in the good things God has prepared for us, and the better things He has in store for us.

So meditate on these things, think about them -- work at delighting in these things. And, as always, ask God to give you desires for what is good and right and beautiful. Remember, everything ultimately relies on Him.