Gospel (Lk 13,22-30) - At that time, Jesus passed through cities and villages, teaching, while he was on his way to Jerusalem. A man asked him: "Lord, are there few who are saved?" He replied: “Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter there, but will not succeed. When the master of the house gets up and closes the door, remaining outside, you will begin to knock on the door, saying: Lord, open to us. But he will answer you: I don't know you, I don't know where you are from. Then you will begin to say: We ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets. But he will declare: I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity! There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth there, when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you cast out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and from the south, and will sit at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and some who are first who will be last."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Jesus walks among men looking at those he meets, listening to those who call him, consoling, healing, exhorting and announcing the imminence of the kingdom of God. The goal is Jerusalem. In this context, the question of such a regard for the number of those who are saved takes on importance. It was evident that in this way the salvation of the entire people of Israel was called into question. In a Jewish apocrypha, for example, we read: "The Most High made this age for many, but the future one for few" (IV book of Ezra). Jesus opens up a different perspective: one does not enter the kingdom of God simply by belonging to the people of Israel, to a nation, to an ethnic group, to a culture, and so on. It is faith that saves. And salvation is for those who decide to join the kingdom of God. This is what the judgment will be. On that day there will be no need to assert rights of ethnic or religious belonging. The criterion of salvation passes through adherence to the Gospel of love. Jesus further clarifies that "they will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south and will sit at table in the kingdom of God". What matters is choosing to follow the Lord, now, before it is too late. This is the meaning of the image of the narrow door: when faced with the preaching of the Gospel, we must not postpone listening, we must not delay the time of choice. If the Gospel is rejected it is like arriving at the house mentioned in the Gospel passage when the owner has already closed the door. Those who remain outside, those who do not listen, remain at the mercy of the prince of evil and will feel the bite of the cold of sadness and the bitterness of loneliness. Jesus' statement about those "last" who will be first - the text refers to pagans - underlines the "primacy" of listening: whoever welcomes the Gospel into their hearts and puts it into practice becomes the first in the kingdom of heaven.