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Fr. Steve Mateja is a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit. He was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on May 26, 2012 by Archbishop Allen Vigneron. He currently serves in Macomb County MI at St. Francis-St. Maximilian in Ray Twp and St. Mary Mystical Rose in Armada.  

FatherSteve2012@gmail.com

Aug 26, 2013

Jesus tells us that the gate is narrow and that few will be welcomed in and through.  Fr. Steve propoeses that the gate is indeed hard and narrow, but in fact it is harder to stay "in" the gate once in.  To know Christ is to enter the narrow gate and to stay in the gate is to follow Him--thus we must follow Christ as His disciples and never turn our backs on Him in this difficult and backwards world.  

Below is the quote that Fr. Steve read at the beginning of his homily from St. Leonardo of Port Maurice:  

"Brothers and sisters, I want to send all of you away comforted today. So if you ask me my sentiment on the number of those who are saved, here it is: Whether there are many or few that are saved, I say that whoever wants to be saved, will be saved; and that no one can be damned if he does not want to be. And if it is true that few are saved, it is because there are few who live well. 

As for the rest, those who are not saved, compare these two opinions: the first one states that the greater number of Catholics are condemned; the second one, on the contrary, pretends that the greater number of Catholics are saved. Imagine an Angel sent by God to confirm the first opinion, coming to tell you that not only are most Catholics damned, but that of all this assembly present here, only one will be saved. If you obey the Commandments of God, if you detest the corruption of this world, if you embrace the Cross of Jesus Christ in a spirit of penance, you will be that one who alone is saved.

Now imagine the same Angel returning to you and confirming the second opinion. He tells you that not only are the greater portion of Catholics saved, but that out of all this gathering, only one will be damned and all the others saved. If after that, you continue your usuries, your vengeances, your criminal deeds, your impurities, then you will be that one alone who is damned."