Daily Gospel Reflection
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October 29, 2025
Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply,
‘I do not know where you are from.’
And you will say,
‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
Then he will say to you,
‘I do not know where you are from.
Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God
and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God.
For behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last.”
Today’s passage provokes us to ask: “Lord, who will be saved?” The one posing the question wonders if there might not be many, based on his understanding of Jesus’ teachings. At the same time, we know from 1 Timothy 2:4 that God “desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” So what is it? Is heaven easy to get into? Hard? Does it really matter if I am a Christian or not, if God loves me?
Instead of offering straightforward statistics, Jesus points out that many will seek to enter, but will not be strong or capable enough. Furthermore, Jesus warns of the final moment when the door will be shut and the time will be closed for choosing to belong to the kingdom, or to those outside of it. How are we meant to interpret this?
Thomas Aquinas, in the opening pages of the Summa, acknowledges that many seek the truth about God and the meaning of the universe, and while it is technically possible to rationally know God’s existence and many moral truths, it is exceedingly difficult to find that path on our own. “Spiritual seekers,” while honest about their doubts, are in a tough position: very few of us have the time, philosophical training, and even moral strength to fully discover and enter into the way of truth on our own. Does that mean the fate of most people is to be lost outside locked doors, separated from God in the darkness?
The householder’s response gives us a clue as to what Jesus wants us to know: “I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!'” We might be strangers to the truth on our own strength, but we don’t need to be strangers to Jesus, who is the truth. Will we choose to be strangers to the truth, or will we choose to draw close to the Lord, however he might be revealing himself?
Prayer
Gracious Lord, we strive to do your will, although we often stumble and fail in our efforts. Help us in our weakness to know the path we should walk, and help us in our journey to find the narrow gate. Grant us, in your great love, the strength to enter into your kingdom where you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit. We ask this in your holy name. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Blessed Chiara Luce Badano was a young Italian teenager who was beatified in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. She was chosen by the bishops as one of the patrons for the 2018 Synod on Youth.
Chiara was born on October 29, 1971 in a small town in northern Italy, to Ruggero and Maria Teresa Badano, who had longed to have a child for many, many years. Chiara was a loving and exuberant child, and, despite her headstrong and sometimes defiant temperament, had a close relationship with them. When she was nine, Chiara attended her first meeting of the Focolare Movement. Focolare is a lay ecclesial movement established in Italy by Chiara Lubich, intended to promote ecumenical and global unity on a local level and to build peace through developing relationships. Chiara enjoyed not only strong friendships and community through Focolare, but was particularly attracted to the image of Christ that the group promoted. She began to foster a strong love for Jesus throughout her involvement with Focolare. Chiara developed a profound spirituality through Focolare that caused her high school classmates to teasingly call her "Sister."
Chiara was a supremely ordinary teenager: she loved sports, such as tennis and swimming. She loved hiking, and she loved listening to pop music and dancing with friends. When she was sixteen, Chiara went to Rome on a summer trip with the Focolare community. On that trip, she met the founder of Focolare, Chiara Lubich, and they began a correspondence. Chiara was full of fire for her faith and her love for Christ burned radiantly in her heart. Chiara Lubich gave Chiara a new nickname, "Chiara Luce," meaning "clear light."
Later that summer, Chiara felt a sting in her shoulder when she was playing tennis. At first, she thought it was simply fatigue or tendinitis. But, as the pain persisted, Chiara underwent a series of tests and discovered she had a rare form of bone cancer. When she entered treatment for the cancer, Chiara refused all morphine. She wanted to have a lucid mind to understand what was happening to her. Chiara embraced her sufferings as an opportunity to offer up her life more radically for Christ. For the next two years, Chiara underwent difficult chemotherapy and slowly prepared herself for death as operations failed to slow down her cancer and as she eventually lost both hope of remission and the ability to walk.
Chiara offered up everything—her disappearing hair, her pain, and her sadness at leaving her parents—to Christ. In the hospital, as she prepared for an operation, Chiara described her heart as "filled with an immense joy and all fear left me. In that moment, I understood that if we're always ready for everything, God sends us many signs of his love." Chiara continued to be a bright light of faith and joy for the doctors, for fellow patients, for her friends, and for her devastated parents.
Chiara died after receiving the sacraments, surrounded by the prayers of her family and friends, on October 7, 1990. Chiara's great love for others spilled over into their great love for her—thousands of people attended Chiara's funeral, effectively shutting down her small hometown of Sassello. Chiara was declared a blessed on September 25, 2010, in Rome, and her feast day has been celebrated on October 29 since then.
Chiara Luce is a beautiful witness to the joy that living with and for God brings to the human spirit, and how that joy, if fully embraced, can completely transform even the darkest of circumstances.
Blessed Chiara Badano, joyful witness to holiness and great lover of God—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Bl. Chiara Badano is available for use in the public domain under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public domain Dedication. Last accessed October 4, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
