21th Sunday of Ordinary Time

To The Epiphany Community 

The Narrow Door is Christ Himself — Entered by Love, Stripped of All Excess 

(21 Week in Ordinary Time, Luke 13: 22-30, 24 August 2025) 

Today’s Gospel reading (Luke 13:22-30) presents Jesus Who passes, teaching, through cities and villages, headed for Jerusalem, where He knows He must die on the cross for the salvation of all of us. In this context, there is the question of a man who addresses Him, saying: Lord, are only a few people going to be saved? The question was debated at that time – how many will be saved, now many not – and there were various ways of interpreting the Scriptures in this regard, according to the texts they took. However, Jesus overturns the question – which focuses on the quantity, that is, are they only a few? – and instead positions the reply on the level of responsibility, inviting us to use the present time well. Indeed, He says: Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 2019) 

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ of the Epiphany-A priest once visited an old monastery in Europe where the doorway to the chapel was unusually small and narrow. To enter, even the monks had to bow low and set aside whatever burdens they carried — tools, baskets, even books. The priest asked why the door had been built that way. One monk smiled and said: It teaches us every day that to enter God’s house, we must bow down and lay aside what we cling to. That is exactly what Jesus means by the narrow door. It is not about how many will enter, but about whether we are willing to lower ourselves, let go of pride, and shed what does not fit in the Kingdom — so that we can pass through Him, the Door, into life. When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, only Joshua and Caleb from the first generation of the Exodus made it through (Numbers 14:30). The rest, though they had seen God’s wonders, did not enter because of their lack of trust. The way was not closed, but it was narrow — requiring faith and perseverance. In the same way, Jesus tells us: it is not about how many will be saved, but whether we choose, like Joshua and Caleb, to trust, obey, and walk through the narrow door today. 

Today’s Gospel places us before one of the most penetrating questions of the human spirit: Lord, are only a few going to be saved? It is a question about destiny, about the ultimate meaning of life, about the horizon toward which all our days move. Beneath it lies a philosophical tension: the universal desire for salvation, and the fear of exclusion. Humanity longs for fullness, for eternal communion, but at the same time trembles before the possibility of loss. Notice, however, that Jesus does not satisfy curiosity with statistics. He does not speak of numbers or percentages. He shifts the ground entirely. Instead of answering how many, He replies with how to: Strive to enter through the narrow door. Philosophy here meets theology: the question of metaphysical quantity is redirected toward the moral quality of our response. The narrow door is not a physical gate but a symbol of the decisive orientation of life. A wide road invites us to comfort, to self-sufficiency, to a diluted faith that adapts itself to convenience. But the narrow door asks for vigilance, sacrifice, authenticity. It is the passage of truth rather than appearance, of humility rather than pride, of love rather than selfishness. 

Theologically, this door is none other than Christ Himself. In John’s Gospel, He proclaims: I am the door of the sheep (John 10:7). To enter through the narrow door is to conform our lives to Him who walked the way to Jerusalem—the way of the Cross. Here salvation is not a matter of belonging to a group or carrying a religious label; it is a matter of personal configuration to Christ crucified and risen. We might say that the narrow door is the existential threshold of freedom. Each person stands before it daily. It demands decision. It asks us not merely to speculate about the eternal fate of the many or the few, but to assume responsibility for our own present. Time is the arena of freedom. Eternity is shaped by the way we live this moment—whether we allow our days to be diluted in distractions, or whether we orient them toward the good, the true, and the beautiful, which in their fullness converge in God. Thus, Jesus teaches us: salvation is not a spectator’s question. It is not about curiosity concerning others. It is a summons to vigilance, to conversion, to urgency. 

Many will seek to enter, He warns, but will not be able. Why? Because the door cannot be forced at the last moment. It is opened in the daily fidelity of small choices, in the humble perseverance of love, in the hidden sacrifices of trust. 

The Narrow Door: A Portrait-The narrow door stands as one of the most profound symbols in Scripture, a threshold between human temporality and divine eternity. It is not simply an image of difficulty or restriction, but of truth, responsibility, and communion with God. 

The Door of Freedom-The narrow door is the limit that reveals freedom. It reminds us that existence is not infinite in its earthly form: time, choice, and moral action are finite. The narrowness signifies discernment: not every path leads to fulfillment. The wide road of dispersion—the life of distractions, self-indulgence, and su-perficiality—offers ease but not depth. The narrow door, however, reveals that authentic freedom is costly: to pass through, one must let go of excess, pride, illusions. It requires a stripping-down, a purification of desire. In this sense, the narrow door is the existential point where freedom is confronted with truth. 

Christ as the Door-Theologically, the door is not an abstract law but a Person: Christ Himself. I am the door; if anyone enters by Me, he will be saved (John 10:9). The narrowness reflects the singularity of His Cross. Salva-tion is not a vague universal mechanism but a passage through the Paschal Mystery. The wood of the Cross narrows the way—not to exclude, but to reveal that love requires self-gift. Only those who conform their lives to Christ’s pattern of humility, service, and sacrifice can pass through, because only in Him is the true passage to life. 

The Door of Responsibility-The narrow door confronts humanity with responsibility. Jesus redirects curiosity (Are there few who are saved?) to commitment (Strive to enter). This is an invitation to the vigilant use of time. The door is narrow because procrastination, presumption, and empty religiosity cannot squeeze through. It is entered not by external badges—heritage, rituals alone—but by the inner reality of a heart shaped by grace and lived fidelity. 

The Door of Destiny-Finally, the narrow door points to the eschaton, the ultimate destiny of humanity. A door can open or close. It is narrow, but it remains open in Christ. Yet it will not remain so indefinitely: there comes a time when the Master rises and shuts the door. The symbol thus binds together both God’s mercy—always offering entrance—and God’s justice, which respects the seriousness of human freedom. 

Dear Epiphany, the Gospel today places before us not a closed door, but an open one—a door that is narrow, yes, but open, awaiting our response. Christ Himself has gone before us through that door, carrying the Cross, so that we might enter after Him. To ask how many is to remain at a distance; to ask how must I live today is to step forward. Let us, then, not waste time in speculation, but embrace the grace of the present. Let us al-low ourselves to be shaped by Christ, who alone is the door of salvation. For in Him the narrow way becomes the way of life, and the small door opens to the infinite breadth of God’s Kingdom. The narrow door is there-fore a portrait of Christ as Truth, of the human person as responsible freedom, and of salvation as an urgent and concrete decision. Narrow not because God wishes to exclude, but because truth cannot be diluted, love cannot be faked, and eternity cannot be entered by half-measures. To pass through the narrow door is to live in the radical simplicity of the Gospel: humble trust, authentic love, and fidelity to Christ crucified and risen. 

God’s Blessings to One and All of the Epiphany! 

Fraternally 
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC, Pastor