Mt 7,6.12-14 – Tuesday of the XII Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel page delivers us three teachings thatif taken seriously, they can profoundly change the way we experience relationships and faith. The first concerns precious things: “Do not give holy things to dogs and do not throw your pearls before swine.” Jesus does not invite us to be elitist or distrustful, but to be wise.
In fact, there are very profound realities that cannot be handed over superficially to anyone. Not everything needs to be told to everyone and not everything can be shared at any time. There are experiences, suffering, intuitions and gifts that need to be entrusted to people capable of safeguarding them. Even love, to be authentic, needs discernment.
Maturity also consists of knowing who to open your heart to. The second teaching is the so-called “golden rule”: “Whatever you want men to do to you, you also do to them.” Very often we measure others with harsh criteria and ourselves with lenient criteria. We demand attention, understanding, patience and respect, but we are not always willing to offer them first. Jesus invites us to stop waiting for change to come from others and to become the beginning of that change ourselves. The Gospel does not ask us to react to what we receive, but to take the initiative of love.
Finally Jesus speaks about the narrow door. It’s an image that can be scary, but it actually describes a very concrete truth. Everything that is truly worthwhile in life comes through a challenging choice. Authentic love is a narrow door. Forgiveness is a narrow door. Loyalty is a narrow door. The truth is a narrow door. Not because they are sad or oppressive realities, but because they require a decision that doesn’t simply take the easy way out. The wide door is the one that follows every impulse and every immediate convenience. The narrow door is the one that helps us become the person we are called to be. This is why Jesus invites us to choose it. Not because it is the most convenient road, but because it is the only one that leads somewhere, the others are doors that lead to dead ends.
