Sometimes I listen to testimonies of those who used to belong to different sects and
converted to Catholicism. For example, they said that they heard some false preachers telling
their congregations that by belonging to them they were automatically saved.
Maybe the man Jesus talked to in today’s Gospel had a similar mentality.
For him it was obvious that only Jewish people would be admitted to God’s Kingdom. Unfortunately
for him and all those who have similar ideas today, that is not what Jesus was talking about.
He warned his followers that they could be excluded from entering the Kingdom of God.
In today’s gospel we read, “Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try
to enter and will not succeed” (Lk 13:24). Jesus is that door through which we enter God’s Kingdom.
In saint John’s Gospel we read, “I am the gate.
Anyone who enters through me will be safe” (John 10:9). Four chapters later he declared,
“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6).
We are called to strive to enter eternal happiness by the narrow door every single day.
We need to do our best and imitate Jesus’ lifestyle. That means we must follow his teaching.
If we do what we like disregarding what Christ wants from us, we might find ourselves knocking
on the door and saying, “Lord, open to us, but he will answer, I do not know where you
come from” (Lk 13:25). And maybe we would say, “We once ate and drank in your company;
you taught in our streets, but he will replay, I do not know where you come from.
Away from me, all you wicked men!” (Lk 13:26-27).
Sometimes I hear people saying that everyone will be saved regardless of their behaviour or belief.
Well, we have to remember that “there’s no other name in which you are saved” (Acts 4:12) but
in Jesus’ name. You can ask, “what about all those who have never heard about God?”
If people truly want to know God, He will surely make Himself known to them. In his Letter to the
Romans St Paul wrote that all people will be accountable to the Heavenly Father whether or
not they heard about him. Why? Because he has revealed Himself to the world not only in Jesus
but also in nature (see Rom 1:19-21). Moreover, he made Himself known in people’s hearts!
Saint Paul said that “pagans who never heard of the Law but are led by reason to do what
the Law commands, may not actually ‘possess’ the Law, but they can be said to ‘be’ the Law. They
can point to the substance of the Law engraved on their hearts – they can call a witness, that is,
their own conscience – they have accusation and defence, that is, their own inner mental
dialogue” (Rom 2:14-15). Therefore, if people reject God and his Son Jesus Christ, they will
not inherit the Kingdom of God. That is not my personal theory. That is our Saviour’s teaching.
That is the teaching of the Bible and the Church. Some people are too arrogant to accept this.
Let us pray for humility in our journey of faith. Let us be like the little ones Jesus
was thinking about when he said, “unless you become like little children, you will not enter
the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:3). I pray that you who are listening to me right now choose
eternal life, not a place “where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth” (Lk 13:28). Please,
accept Jesus’ gift of salvation and be prepared to enter his kingdom by the narrow door of his cross.