My Dear People, 

While Jesus was walking towards Jerusalem, a man asked Him if only a few would be saved. Jesus Christ did not answer the question directly, because it was not a question that concerned men; only God. How important is it for us to know if there may be only a few who will be saved? For us, it is necessary to be saved! Because we are not predestined to perdition or salvation, to be saved depends on our efforts in doing good and in our filial appeal to divine mercy. 

More than knowing the number of the elect, we need to make an effort to belong to that number! We must not presume to have a privileged position in Paradise because we had it on earth, as part of the chosen people. This is the basic meaning of Jesus’ answer. He exhorted them to enter in Heaven through the narrow door, that is, through the path of renouncing our disordered passions and being faithful to the divine law. 

The world thinks this path to be narrow and oppressive! Jesus calls it narrow in this sense, but in reality the true narrow and oppressive door is of the evil one, because it ties the soul to the toils of a most awful slavery. The gate of heaven appears narrow, but in reality it is  immensely large and beautiful! It is enough to enter it in order to understand. 

The narrow door can be seen as the epilogue of one’s life! When one carries to God what one has done, and if the time of the test has passed, then one cannot do anything to change one’s condition. Divine justice then is like something narrow, in the sense of a precise assessment of a life, self-evident and therefore irrevocable. Many would like in that moment to enter and to change their condition, but they will not be able to do so because the door will be closed.  Their life (in time) has ended, and it is not possible to begin again.

To think, as many foolish people do, that after death there can be another way and a new earthly existence to resume the path of life, is just a dangerous fantasy. When one has arrived, one has arrived; and when the door of earthly life is closed, there is no other alternative. Either stay inside with the Father of the family and rejoice, or remain outside to suffer, in eternal perdition. 

Speaking directly to the Jewish people, Jesus pointed out that their position of privilege among the peoples of the earth did not constitute a claim for the attainment of eternal glory. If they did not do good works, they, too, would be far from God’s eternity, just as surely as the master of the house is far from someone who is completely unknown to him. They will purely and simply be considered as committers of iniquity, and will be condemned to eternal damnation—away from the saints and away from all persons who are saved who will come from all parts of the world. 

Then it will be realized that the “last” called by God to His kingdom will be “first,” and the first, who are part of the chosen people, called by God first, shall be last. 

The way of salvation is narrow because many plot against it and try to put obstacles in its path. There is in the world a strange enmity against all that is good, an enmity that comes from diabolical suggestions, and sometimes even ensnares good people, making them involuntarily instruments of the evil one. 

It is necessary to continue to walk straight ahead and always look towards the ultimate goal we must reach. [Taken from Don Dolindo Ruotolo on reflection on the Gospel of Luke]

Fr. Vincent Clemente