Jesus quite skilfully turns people's questions into occasions for teaching without actually answering the questions. Implicitly he seems to be telling us that the questions in themselves are not of any real importance and the answers are actually quite irrelevant to our relationship with God, or to put it more bluntly, the answers are none of our business, for the answers are known only to God.

Today's Gospel reading contains a good example. "Are they few in number who are to be saved?" We should, of course, be concerned about the salvation of others and, where possible, help them to know Jesus and lead good lives. Jesus reminds us that we should strive to ensure our own salvation by being the kind of person to whom God would never say "I do not know you."

The notion of a "narrow door" may seem somewhat threatening, as if to say it is extremely difficult to attain to eternal salvation. At least there is a door through which we can strive to enter and that door, narrow though it may be, is nevertheless God's gift to us. Let us never take God's gifts for granted, but diligently cooperate with God's grace.