(Vatican Radio) (Vatican Radio) In his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis spoke
about the words of Jesus from the day’s Gospel: “Strive to enter through the narrow
gate.”
The Holy Father noted that Jesus was responding to the question of how
many people will be saved. But, the Pope said, “it is not important to know how many
are saved. Rather, it is important to know what is the path of salvation.” Jesus Himself
is the gate, a gate “that allows us to enter into God's family, into the warmth of
the house of God, of communion with Him. This gate is Jesus Himself.”
Pope
Francis emphasised that “the gate that is Jesus is never closed . . . it is always
open and open to everyone, without distinction, without exclusions, without privileges.”
Jesus, he continued, does not exclude anyone. Some people might feel excluded because
they are sinners – but Pope Francis definitively rejected this idea. “No,” he said,
“you are not excluded! Precisely for that reason you are preferred, because Jesus
prefers the sinner, always, in order to pardon him, to love him. Jesus is waiting
for you, to embrace you, to pardon you.”
We are called to enter the gate that
is Jesus. “Don’t be afraid to pass through the gate of faith in Jesus,” Pope Francis
said. Don’t be afraid “to let Him enter more and more into our lives, to go out of
our selfishness, our being closed in, our indifference toward others.”
Jesus
speaks about a narrow gate not because it is a “torture chamber," but “because it
asks us to open our hearts to Him, to recognize ourselves as sinners, in need of His
salvation, His forgiveness, His love, needing the humility to accept His mercy and
to be renewed by Him.”
Finally, the Holy Father emphasised that Christianity
is not a “label” – it is a way of life. Christians must not be Christians in name
only: “Not Christians, never Christians because of a label!” he said. He called us
to be true Christians, Christians at heart. “To be Christian,” said Pope Francis,
"is to live and witness to the faith in prayer, in works of charity, in promoting
justice, in doing good. For the narrow gate which is Christ must pass into our whole
life.”
At the conclusion of his Angelus, the Holy Father greeted the many pilgrims
from around the world who had gathered in Saint Peter’s Square, with special greetings
for a number of groups from Italy and Brazil, and for priests and seminarians from
the Pontifical North American College. Noting that many people are nearing the end
of their summer break, he offered best wishes for a peaceful and committed return
to normal daily life.
Listen:
Here
is the full text of Vatican Radio’s translation of Pope Francis’ Angelus address:
Dear
brothers and sisters, good morning.
Today's Gospel invites us to reflect on
the theme of salvation. Jesus is going up from Galilee to the city of Jerusalem, and
along the way, says St. Luke the Evangelist, someone asked him, “Lord, will only
a few people be saved?” (13:23). Jesus did not answer the question directly: it is
not important to know how many are saved, but rather, it is important to know what
is the path of salvation. And so Jesus responds to the question by saying, “Strive
to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but
will not be strong enough” (v. 24). What does Jesus mean? What is the gate by which
we enter? And why does Jesus speak about a narrow gate?
The image of the gate
recurs several times in the Gospel and is reminiscent of home and hearth, where we
find safety, love and warmth. Jesus tells us that there is a gate that allows us to
enter into God's family, into the warmth of the house of God, of communion with Him.
This gate is Jesus himself (cf. Jn 10:9). He is the gate. He is the gateway to salvation.
He leads us to the Father. And the gate that is Jesus is never closed, this gate is
never closed, it is always open and open to everyone, without distinction, without
exclusions, without privileges. Because, you know, Jesus does not exclude anyone.
Some of you might say to me, “But Father, surely I am excluded, because I am a great
sinner. I have done so many things in my life.” No, you are not excluded! Precisely
for that reason you are preferred, because Jesus prefers the sinner, always, in order
to pardon him, to love him. Jesus is waiting for you, to embrace you, to pardon you.
Don’t be afraid: He’s waiting for you. Be lively, have the courage to enter through
His gate. All are invited to pass through this gate, to pass through the gate of
faith, to enter into His life, and to allow Him to enter into our life, because He
transforms it, renews it, the gifts of full and lasting joy.
Nowadays we pass
many doors that invite us to enter, that promise a happiness that then we realise
lasts but a moment, which is an end in itself and has no future. But I ask you: which
gate do we want to enter? And who we want to through the gate of our lives? I want
to say emphatically: don’t be afraid to pass through the gate of faith in Jesus, to
let Him enter more and more into our lives, to go out of our selfishness, our being
closed in, our indifference toward others. Because Jesus illuminates our life with
a light that never goes out. It is not a firework, not a “flash”! No, it is a soft
light that always endures and that gives us peace. That is the light that we meet
if we enter through the gate of Jesus.
Certainly, it is a narrow gate, the
gate of Jesus, not because it is a torture chamber. No, not because of that! But because
it asks us to open our hearts to Him, to recognize ourselves as sinners, in need of
His salvation, His forgiveness, His love, needing the humility to accept His mercy
and to be renewed by Him. Jesus in the Gospel tells us that being a Christian is not
having a “label”! I ask you, are you Christians because of a label, or in truth? And
for each one the answer is within. Not Christians, never Christians because of a label!
Christians in truth, in the heart. To be Christian is to live and witness to the faith
in prayer, in works of charity, in promoting justice, in doing good. For the narrow
gate which is Christ must pass into our whole life.
We ask the Virgin Mary,
the Gate of Heaven, to help us to pass through the gate of faith, to allow
her Son to transform our existence as He transformed hers, in order to bring everyone
the joy of the Gospel.
[After the Angelus, the Holy Father appealed for
peace in Syria (see separate story) and went on to greet pilgrims in attendance in
Saint Peter's Square.]
I affectionately greet all the pilgrims present:
families, the numerous groups and the Associazione Albergoni. In particular
I greet the Sisters of Santa Dorotea, the youth of Verona, Syracuse, Nave, Modica
and Trento, the candidates for Confirmation of the Unità Pastorale of Angarano
and Val Liona, seminarians and priests of the Pontifical North American College, the
workers of Cuneo and the pilgrims Verrua Po, San Zeno Naviglio, Urago d'Oglio, Varano
Borghi and Sao Paulo. For many people, these days mark the end of the summer vacation
period. I wish you all a peaceful and committed return to normal daily life looking
to the future with hope.
I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week! Buon
pranzo, and arrivederci!