In the first reading, Paul gives us one of the most important passages on prayer: "the Spirit helps us in our weakness ¡K" God is in the heart of all our groanings - He knows and sees what is in the deepest recesses of all things. We are often in the dark and we do not see because we are bogged down with our immediate sufferings and disappointments. As God sees, He too gives us what is best for us, just like a parent who will refuse his child a harmful gift. It is a challenge to believe that even the suffering we undergo will work for our good. Everything becomes a means of holiness and we are invited by Jesus in the Gospel to use everything that comes our way as a stepping stone to enter the narrow gate.

The entry to the kingdom can never be automatic but is the result and the reward of a struggle. We can run into the danger of becoming complacent, thinking once a commitment is made we are already there. We will be sadly mistaken if we think so. Our only assurance comes with our willingness to commit ourselves entirely to uplifting the downtrodden, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and making hearts beat with love and freedom again.