The Heresy of Universalism

Gospel Reflection for August 24, 2025 - Luke 13:22-30

Aug 24, 2025

And he went through the cities and towns teaching, and making his journey to Jerusalem.
And a certain man said to him: Lord, are they few that are saved? But he said to them:
Strive to enter by the narrow gate; for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter, and shall not be able.
But when the master of the house shall be gone in, and shall shut the door, you shall begin to stand without, and knock at the door, saying: Lord, open to us. And he answering, shall say to you: I know you not, whence you are.
Then you shall begin to say: We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
And he shall say to you: I know you not, whence you are: depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
And there shall come from the east and the west, and the north and the south; and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
And behold, they are last that shall be first; and they are first that shall be last. (Luke 13:22-30 DRA)

The Gospel reading for this Sunday, coupled with the preceding antiphon from John 14:6, presents a special challenge for people today. In previous centuries of Christian history, not only for Catholics but for Orthodox and even for most Protestants, Our Lord’s words would have been stirring, but not especially difficult or surprising: of course He is the one and only way to salvation, our unique Savior without whom we cannot enter Heaven! And they knew not only this, but it was also clear in their minds that Hell was a real possibility for each one of us, that Heaven is guaranteed to no one. How many people today believe either of these two statements?

In our pluralistic, liberal age, the first statement is routinely denied. Even from the highest leaders of the Church it is said that ‘God wills all religions’ and that not only do all religions contain some truth and goodness, which Catholics have always believed, but that they are part of God’s ‘plan for salvation’ and can even ‘worship with us’ the one true God. This muddled mentality which denies Christ’s unique role as our one and only Savior has led to widespread religious indifferentism in the Church and a wholesale abandonment of evangelical efforts, what are now commonly labeled as ‘proselytism.’ What once drove our ancestors in faith to risk martyrdom to evangelize the Germanic and Celtic tribes, the Islamic jihadists, the peoples of the Orient and even the natives of the Americas, as Isaias prophesied in the first reading, has been almost entirely forgotten. If people can come to God and be saved through their own religions, without any explicit faith in Christ, why evangelize? Why risk social stigmatization, persecution and martyrdom for something unnecessary? Isn’t Christ so merciful that He will accept whatever devotion we prefer to give, so long as we’re religious of some kind?

This leads to the second statement, one even more prevalent than the first. How many Christians today genuinely believe that they or anyone else, excluding the most publicly hated figures (Hitler, racists, etc.), have a real chance of going to Hell? Many will offer excuses for why they don’t: Once saved, always saved; God’s merciful, He wouldn’t damn anyone; we should follow God out of love, not fear! Etc. But the truth is, Hell is a real possibility for all of us, and it motivated our Christian predecessors both to evangelize the world fervently and zealously, and to mortify themselves with the severe discipline called for by the Epistle today, to accept all of our trials and sufferings in life as disciplinary penance and correction from God. Now, people see life’s difficulties as unfair: I’m already saved, since God’s love overcomes even free will, so why should I still have to suffer? But for Catholics in the past, this was an easy question: you suffer because you’re a sinner and because God loves you. He wants to purify you, to eliminate the dross so that you will be forged into a pure ingot of gold suitable for Heaven, and suffering is the greatest means of purification. It teaches us that we are made for Heaven, not this fallen world, and that our worldly attachments can easily become distractions to the absolute priority of loving God and loving our neighbor for His sake.

But today, not only are people unable to cope with suffering, resorting to drugs, promiscuous sex, pornography and even suicide to avoid it, they also fail to discipline their children, as anyone can see from an ordinary interaction with the public. But why has discipline faded from parenting? Is it merely that parents today are just so much more caring and merciful than parents of past generations? Quite the opposite. If parents loved their children as God loves us, they would discipline them, correcting their sins and instilling virtue into them, so that they can be prepared for the trials of life and protected from the threat of Hell. But again, if all religions are acceptable to God, and if Hell is possible only for the most wicked (if anyone), why discipline ourselves or our children? Why not live in ease and comfort and simply wait for our assured entrance into Heaven? That way, we don’t have to risk offending anyone by evangelizing them! We can just coast together-together to our promised salvation! This mentality is also why so few Catholics go to Confession today: if I’m guaranteed of Heaven, why go through the discomfort of vocally confessing my sins, much less doing the (today, usually very light) penance assigned for me?

In today’s Gospel, Christ shows us that these standard modern beliefs are a grave perversion of the truth of the Gospel. He is the one and only Way to salvation, our unique Savior in whom explicit faith is necessary for all. If we deny Him, or fail to live in the charity He gives through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, we will be damned. This is a real possibility for each one of us, no matter how much we try to deny it to ourselves or others. The entitlement, the worldly self-assurance, the vain superficiality, the sexual depravity and the haughty disdain that are so rife in our culture today all result from these two errors: religious indifferentism and universalism.

Indeed, we are not called to live in fear, as St. Paul makes clear. (Rom 8:15) But fear of the Lord is a gift of the Holy Ghost and a constant refrain in Scripture for a reason. This is why Ecclesiasticus teaches, “For he that is without fear, cannot be justified: for the wrath of his high spirits is his ruin.” (Ecclus 1:28) It is a first step on the path to holiness. Eventually, servile fear of punishment can be transformed into filial fear, when as children of God our only fear is to disappoint the One we love or to fall out of love for Him. This is the state of perfection of the saints – but for us, and especially for those in our non-Christian pagan culture today, a renewed fear of God, as Him “that can destroy both soul and body in hell”, (Mt 10:28) is a necessary first step toward genuine love of God.