“Lord, will only a few people be saved?” A question asked back then – a question often asked throughout history – a question still asked frequently today – though much of the time, there is a trend to phrase the question in the most depressing way possible - How many people are in hell?
Some look to God’s Mercy and desire for all souls - Christ came to save us – not just the perfect, not just the few – and as such have a very optimistic case. They are following Origen in the third century, St Gregory of Nazianzus in the Fourth, and St. Maximus the Confessor in the seventh. In the 20th century and there is Hans Urs Von Balthasar and his book “Dare we Hope all are saved?” – a position promoted by Bishop Robert Barron.
Others, St Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas, and most scholastic theologians continuing to today, looking at this very passage along with several others, and see a narrow – a gate that only a few make it through – following this line of thinking, it seems that only a few will be saved – and the Diary of St Faustina seems to confirm this – “The souls fell blindly into [hell]; as they walked, so they fell. And their number was so great that it was impossible to count them” - many will be left out of the banquet their argument goes - Enough about theologians – This question was asked of Christ - How does Jesus answer this question?
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?” – Jesus does not answer the question – He instead talks of how to reach the heavenly banquet – how to reach salvation – As St Cyril of Alexandria puts it – “He is purposely silent to the useless question” – The important question is, are you, are WE saved? How do we go through the narrow gate, that gate leading to the heavenly banquet?
The narrow gate is not an easy task - it is narrow; therefore, it is important to not carry unnecessary burdens; it requires effort and work. One must be determined. It requires discipline. Disciple in practice, doing penance - prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, Acts of Charity - Works of Mercy. It requires making sacrifices and always doing good.
All this points to the fact that the road is hard – If St Cyril is correct, then to enter the narrow gate, we must “possess an upright and uncorrupted faith and then a spotless morality, in which there is no possibility of blame” – after all, it is a call to be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. It seems too, challanging for any of us to do – who finds the way through the narrow gate? - It seems there is no way we can do it – how are we to find the narrow gate?
Indeed, if we try to enter solely based on our efforts – We cannot do it. It is not in our strength alone to enter the narrow gate - If we try and go by our efforts, we will find that the door has been locked. – we will hear, “I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers” - Claim as we might that “we ate and drank in your company” – we went to Mass, followed the rules, - gave alms to the poor, - fed the hunger with meals, provided shelter for the homeless– campaigned for the correct political positions – lobbied for good causes - yet we cannot do these uncorrupted, without the possibility of blame – we can not do them perfectly – we come up short. – It will never be enough.
Our efforts, our strength may – WILL - come up short. But it is not from these works that our salvation comes - salvation is through Christ – The narrow gate is not just an impossible to meet a list of requirements – it is Jesus himself – and this - This is the Christian life – to follow Christ – to live in the grace of Christ. – To know Christ – not just know about Christ, not just list dogmas and doctrine – but to know Christ!
How do we get to know someone? By talking to them – what is prayer other than conversation with God? Prayer is at the center of the Christian life – it is how we know Christ, not just about him – and The Mass, the highest, greatest prayer of the Church – we do not just attend Mass because the Church says so - but participate, we bring our own offerings and prayers – and in receive communion we receive, our Lord himself - we should not merely come to the Lord’s table, but get to know him.
The Christian life is hard – It takes discipline, it takes effort – just as getting to know anyone takes effort and disciple. If the Christian life seems easy, one has to ask if it is truly the Christian life. – but in the end, it is not our strength, but God’s Grace that saves us – it is this grace that makes it possible – not just of the strong, but all who seek to follow Christ and to know him. – Not just about Christ, but know him.
And if in weakness we fail and sin? - well, there is confession, where we are reconciled to God and his Church. Always there, in God’s mercy – there to bring us back to Christ, the narrow gate, if only we come to him.
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?” – Do we know how many are in Heaven or in hell? No – that is not for us to know - but that is not the question to ask – instead – Do we follow Christ? Do We know Jesus, or do we merely eat at his table? – Let us not merely come to his table, know about him, or do good works, but to actually know Jesus of Nazareth – following Christ, the narrow way, following all way to the heavenly banquet.