The following quotes are from Pope Francis’s Angelus address last Sunday during which he commented on the passage from St Luke’s gospel where Jesus exhorts us to “strive to enter through the narrow door”. (Lk 13:24)

Open to everyone

“The narrow door… this is an image that could scare us, as if salvation is destined for only a few elect, or perfect people. But this contradicts what Jesus taught us on many other occasions. This door is narrow, but is open to everyone. Do not forget this!”

Christ is the door

“Jesus wants to tell us that to enter into God’s life, into salvation, we need to pass through him, not through another one, through him; to welcome him and his Word…. “The Christian door is a life whose ‘measure is Christ’, founded and modelled on him. This means that the rule of measure is Jesus and his Gospel – not what we think, but what he says to us. So we are talking about a narrow door not because only a few are destined to go through it but because to belong to Christ means to follow him, to live one’s life in love, in service, and in giving oneself as he did, who passed through the narrow door of the cross.”

A few examples

“Let’s think, in concrete terms, about those daily acts of love we struggle with: let’s think of parents who dedicate themselves to their children, making sacrifices and renouncing time for themselves; of those who concern themselves about others, not only about their own interests; of those who dedicate themselves in service to the elderly, to the poorest and most vulnerable; of those who keep working committedly, putting up with discomfort and, perhaps, with misunderstanding; of those who suffer because of their faith, but who continue to pray and love; of those who, rather than following their own instincts, respond to evil with good, finding the strength to forgive and the courage to begin again.”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)