Today’s Gospel is a hard one. Our Lord addresses the fewness of the saved. I reflected on this Gospel a while back, and you can find that here.
I want to bring up just a couple of things from that reflection and consider them today.
The question is asked of Our Lord:
“Someone asked him,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.”
Luke 13:23-24
Our Lord’s answer reminds us that heaven is not a guarantee. It is also not something that can just be wandered into or accidentally gained. So many people simply expect to be saved because they are a “good person” in their estimation. Our current thought is that heaven is the default position and only the really evil go to hell. I do not believe that we can read Our Lord’s words here and come to that conclusion. When He uses the term narrow gate, He is indicating that it is hard to enter heaven, and we can only do it through the arduous path.
We must not fall into the sin of presumption by already assuming that we are saved. If that were the case, He would not have spoken in such serious terms. Heaven is not owed to anyone. Faith alone is not sufficient. Being a “good person” alone is not sufficient. Our Lord speaks of those who expect to be saved:
“After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply,
‘I do not know where you are from.’
And you will say,
‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
Then he will say to you,
‘I do not know where you are from.
Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God
and you yourselves cast out.”
Luke 13:25-28
Many will knock on the door and expect to be let in because they ate and drank with the Lord, or they heard His teaching. No. This is not enough. Because they were not conformed to Him in their entirety, they are cast out. Just hearing is not enough. We must be utterly transformed into Christ so that “it is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me…”1 Unless we are conformed to Christ in the virtue of Charity, we will not be saved. This is the narrow gate by which we must enter. Charity is what conforms us to Christ since God is Charity.2
I will end this reflection that same way I did the last time I wrote on this passage, and that is with a reminder to trust in the mercy of God. Yes, we must go up through the narrow gate, but we cannot do it of our own power. We need God. Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange reminds us that we must trust in God’s providence and not dwell on the number of the saved:
“We cannot arrive at a certitude in this question. It is better to acknowledge our ignorance than to discourage the faithful by a doctrine which is too rigid, or to expose them to danger by a doctrine which is too superficial… Let us put our confidence in Jesus Christ, ‘the victim of propitiation for our sins,’ ‘the lamb of God,… who taketh away the sin of the world.’ ‘Let us go with confidence to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace in seasonable aid.”3
For more from Dr. McGovern, visit his Substack at A Thomist, Dedicated to the Theological tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas. Exploring Thomas’ Spiritual Theology and topics in Christology and Mariology.
Galatians 2:20.
Cf. 1 John 4:8.
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, Life Everlasting and the Immensity of the Soul, 203.
Once again you have clarifiedand brought enlightenment on a,difficult passage!!!
What a great reflection, on this Grey monotonous day