Francis said at the Angelus that new foundations can be found for a respectful and peaceful coexistence. “With the image of the narrow gate, Jesus tells us that to enter salvation we must go through him, welcome him and his Word.”
Vatican City () – “I am closely following, with concern and pain, the situation in Nicaragua, which affects people and institutions”, said Pope Francis at the end of the noon Angelus he addressed today, as usual, from the study window in the Vatican Apostolic Palace. To the faithful and pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican he said: “I want to express my conviction and my hope that through open and sincere dialogue the foundations for a respectful and peaceful coexistence can still be found. Let us ask the Lord, through the intercession of the Purisima, to inspire this concrete will in the hearts of all”. The pontiff referred to the increasingly harsh repression against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which led to the nightly raid last Friday, when the police broke into the bishopric of Matagalpa, forcibly taking nine people, including Bishop Rolando Alvarez. The bishop is now under house arrest at his residence in the Nicaraguan capital, while the other eight are still detained in the barracks. “We persevere in closeness to the beloved Ukrainian people who are experiencing immense cruelty,” Pope Francis added, recalling once again the war in Ukraine.
Before the Angelus, the pontiff commented on the passage from the Gospel of Luke from this Sunday’s liturgy, when the Lord exhorts us to “enter through the narrow gate.” “The narrow door is an image that could frighten us, as if salvation were destined only for a chosen few or for the perfect ones – Francis said -. But that contradicts what Jesus taught on many occasions.” Indeed “the door is narrow, but it is open to all!”, continued the Pope. To better understand the image of the narrow gate, Francis explained that in the time of Jesus, at nightfall the gates of the city were closed and only one, smaller and narrower, remained open through which one could pass to return home. When Jesus says: “I am the door: whoever enters through me will be saved”, he means that to enter into the life of God, into salvation, one must go through him, receive him and his Word”, the Holy Father affirmed.
Just as to enter the city one had to “measure” oneself with the only narrow door that remained open, in the same way the life of the Christian is “made to the measure of Christ”, founded and modeled according to Him, according to the Gospel. Therefore, it is a narrow gate not because it is destined for a few, but because “being of Jesus means following him, offering life in love, service and giving of oneself as He did, who passed through the narrow gate of the cross”. The key, then, is to enter into God’s project, overcoming presumption, pride, arrogance and laziness to go through the risk of love, even when it involves the cross.
The Holy Father then invited us to think about those daily gestures of love that we carry out with difficulty: “In the parents who dedicate themselves to their children with sacrifices and giving up time for themselves; in those who care for others and not only their own interests; in those who give themselves in service to the elderly, the poorest and the most fragile; in those who continue to work hard, enduring hardships and perhaps misunderstandings; in those who suffer because of their faith, but continue to pray and love; in those who, instead of following their impulses, respond to evil with good, find the strength to forgive and the courage to start over”. In fact, all those who have dedicated their lives to love “will be recognized by the Father much more than those who believe they have already been saved and in reality are “workers of injustice” (Lk 13:27)”.
“Which side do we want to be on? the Pope finally asked. Do we prefer the easy path of thinking only of ourselves or the narrow door of the Gospel, which makes us give up our selfishness but allows us to welcome the true life that comes from God? May Our Lady, who followed Jesus to the cross, help us compare our lives with his, so that we can enter into full and eternal life.”
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