Today is Oct. 30, Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time.
In the Gospel at Mass today, someone asks Jesus an important question: “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” (Lk 13:23).
There’s an old quip that the Dominican model of evangelization is to get people to heaven by making them saints, but that Jesuits are content to fill purgatory.
I don’t know how true it is. I’ve met plenty of purgatorial-minded friars and plenty of heaven-focused Jesuits. But what I like about it is that the one-liner raises a question, an urgent question. “How many of us will make it to heaven, Lord?” I want to know. Who doesn’t want to know?
But Our Lord’s response is key: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate” (Lk 13:24). He doesn’t tell us. He doesn’t indulge our curiosity. Jesus tells us gently, in his own way, “focus on your own business.”
It would shock us a bit. The thought of the number of the saved being few is a difficult thing. We should meditate on that possibility and let it rouse us from our complacency or indifference. In fact, the word “strive” is the English translation of the Greek word “agonizomai.” Recognize that word? To agonize, we’re told. To struggle, we might say; to keep fighting.
We can’t earn our salvation; ultimately, only God’s grace carries us to heaven. But we can get out of the way. We can cooperate with that grace and allow it to transform our life, both now and hereafter.
Today, let’s pray for the grace to continue striving:
Almighty ever-living God, increase our faith, hope and charity, and make us love what you command, so that we may merit what you promise. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
My Daily Visitor spiritual reflections are a dose of daily Catholic inspiration from Our Sunday Visitor magazine.
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