Pope Leo: Jesus challenges the presumption of those who think they are saved (Dicastery for Communication)

Reflecting on the Gospel reading of the day (Luke 13:22-30), Pope Leo XIV said on August 24 that Christ’s image of the narrow gate is “meant primarily to challenge the presumption of those people who think they are already saved, who perform religious acts and feel that is all that is needed.”

Jesus “tells us that it is not enough to profess the faith with words, to eat and drink with him by celebrating the Eucharist or to have a good knowledge of Christian doctrine,” Pope Leo told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday Angelus address. “Our faith is authentic when it embraces our whole life, when it becomes a criterion for our decisions, when it makes us women and men committed to doing what is right and who take risks out of love, even as Jesus did.”

“Jesus is the true measure of our faith; he is the gate through which we must pass in order to be saved (cf. Jn 10:9) by experiencing his love and by working, in our daily lives, to promote justice and peace,” the Pope continued. “There are times when this involves making difficult and unpopular decisions, resisting our selfish inclinations, placing ourselves at the service of others, and persevering in doing what is right when the logic of evil seems to prevail, and so on.”

The Pontiff concluded, “Let us ask the Virgin Mary to help us find the courage to pass through the ‘narrow gate’ of the Gospel, so that we may open ourselves with joy to the wide embrace of God our loving Father.”