Who Are Saved?

Dear brethren, moved by my deep love for you, I would wish to calm your fears with the prospect of happiness, saying to each of you: “Rejoice, Paradise is yours; the greater number of Christians are saved, so you also will be saved.”

But how can I give you this sweet assurance, if you rebel against God as if you were your own worst enemies? I see that God has the strong desire to save you, and I note in you a marked inclination to being damned. What should I say then? If I speak clearly, I will displease you; if I do not speak, I will displease God.

Therefore, I will divide the sermon into two points. In the first, to fill you with alarm, I will leave it to the theologians and Church Fathers to declare that the majority of adult Christians are damned. In the second, I will endeavour to prove that those who are condemned are so by their own malice, because they wanted to be condemned.

The teaching of the Church Fathers

Is the number of Christians who are saved greater or lesser than those who are condemned? Note that here were are referring only to adult Catholics, of whom, with the liberty of free will, are capable of cooperating in the important question of eternal salvation.

After consulting theologians and examining the matter extensively, Suárez wrote: the most common opinion is that more Christians are condemned than saved.” Add the authority of the Church Fathers to the opinion of the theologians and you will see that their thinking is almost unanimous. This is the sentiment of St. Theodore, St. Basil, St. Ephrem, and St. John Chrysostom. St. Augustine affirms: “It is, therefore few who are saved, compared with those who are condemned.”

What did the Redeemer reply to the curious listener who asked Him: “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” While the question was made by one, Our Lord addressed all those present: “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Lk 13:23-24). Dear brethren, these are the words of Jesus. Are they clear? Are they true?

Where is virtue found?

Is there, in the world, a state more favourable to innocence, more suited to salvation, more worthy of respect than that of priests who are ministers of the Almighty? At first sight, who would not believe them to be excellent, instead of simply good? Yet, to my horror, I hear St. Jerome lament that only one among a hundred priests is good.

Gather all kinds of people of all states or condition of life: married people, widows, children, soldiers and merchants, artisans, rich and poor folk, nobles or plebeians. What are we to think of so many people who, alas, lead such bad lives? Where is virtue to be found? We see everywhere self-interest, ambition, gluttony and excess. Is it not probable that the greater part of humanity is contaminated by the vice of impurity? Accordingly, does St. John not speak the truth in affirming that: “The whole world is in the power of the evil one” (1 Jn 5:19). It is not I, but it is reason that obliges you to acknowledge that among so many people who live so wickedly, very few are saved.

A life that leads to hell

But, you ask, cannot penance profitably repair the loss of innocence? Yes, it can. But how few preserve until the end on the path of penance!

If you consider the Sacrament of Penance, there are so many incomplete confessions! So many weakly made accusations! So much illusory repentance! So many deceptive promises! So many futile resolutions! So many invalid absolutions! Would you regard as good the Confession of a person who repeatedly accuses himself of sins of impurity and does not flee from the occasions of relapse? Or of unequivocal theft with no intention of restitution? Or of injustices, frauds, and other iniquities, into which a person falls again right after Confession?

Now, if you add to all of these false penitents, the sinners caught by sudden death in a state of sin, how can we not conclude that their number does not greatly exceed that of Christian adults who are saved?

This is not my calculation; it is that of St. John Chrysostom. He argues that if most Christians, throughout their lives are on the path to hell, why is it surprising to hear that most of them fall into it?

The conclusion of St. Thomas Aquinas

But is not God’s mercy profuse? Yes, certainly, it is profuse for those who fear Him, says the prophet. But, for those who do not fear Him, great is His justice, resolved to condemn contumacious sinners.

The Angelic Doctor—after weighing all the reasons and motives—also reached the conclusion that most adult Catholics are damned.

Do you understand, or do you not, what it means to be saved or condemned for all eternity? If you understand and do not decide to change your life now, to make a good Confession, to trample the world underfoot, I say that you do not have faith. Eternal salvation or eternal condemnation! To ponder these two alternatives and not do everything within your power to secure the first and avoid the second is inconceivable!

Someone could object: but if Christ wanted to condemn me, why did He create me? Silence, rash tongue! God did not create anyone to be damned. Whoever is damned, is damned because of his own malice, and through his free will.

For a better understanding of this, let us recognize two basic truths: First: God wants all men to be saved. Second: to be saved, all need the grace of God.

Now, if I show you that God wants to save everyone, and, therefore, gives everyone His grace and all the other necessary means to attain this sublime end, we must acknowledge that those who are condemned must attribute their damnation to their own wickedness; and that, if most Christians are damned it is because they want to be.

God peruses the sinner

In countless passages of Sacred Scripture, God reveals His desire to save. “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ez 33:11); “Turn, and live!” (Ez 18:31). He so ardently desired our eternal salvation that He endured death in order to give us life. Therefore, His will to save everyone is not affected, superficial, apparent; it is His authentic, effective and beneficent will, for He actually grants all the necessary means to save us. Moreover, since He sees that without His help we will not make use of His grace, He gives us other aids. And if these fail to produce their effect we are to blame because with the same recourses that we abuse, others practice virtue and are saved. Yes, some can receive a great grace, yet abuse it and be condemned, while another receives a lesser grace, cooperates with it, and is saved.

But for those who do not understand this theological argument, I say this: God is so good, that when He sees a sinner rushing headlong toward eternal perdition, He peruses him, calls, him, entreats him, and accompanies him even to the gates of hell. If, despite all of this, that wretch wants, at all cost, to recklessly hurl himself into eternal fire, what does God do? Forsake him? No. He takes him by the hand, and while the miserable has yet one foot outside of hell, he keeps imploring him not to abuse His graces. Tell me, now: is it not true that this man condemns himself against the will of God, solely because he wants to be condemned?

How, then, can a person say: “If God wanted to damn me, why did He create me?”

I beg you to change your life

Now I turn to you, my brother, my sister, living in the state of mortal sin, in hatred, in the mire of impurity; each day you get closer to the mouth of hell: stop and turn around! Jesus calls you, and through the eloquence of His wounds, He appeals to your heart: “My son, My daughter, if you are damned, do not complain that it was through anyone’s fault but your own. Listen, dearly beloved soul, to My last words: You have cost Me Blood. If despite the Blood that I shed for you, you wish to be damned, do not blame Me, but yourself, and remember this for all of eternity. If you are condemned, it will be because you wanted to be, against My will.”

Could someone here, who despite so many graces, and such help from God, insist on rushing headlong to hell? If so, listen to me:

“Sinners, on my knees at your feet, I beg you through the Blood of Jesus, and through the Heart of Mary: change your life, come back to the path that leads to Paradise, do everything possible to be included in the small number of the elect. Fall at the feet of Jesus, and, with tearful eyes, bowed head and a humbled and contrite heart, say to Him: ‘I confess, my God, that until now I have lived worse than a pagan. I do not deserve to be counted among Thy elect, I acknowledge that I deserve eternal condemnation, but I know that Thy mercy is great. Filled with confidence in the help of Thy grace, I declare that I want to save my soul. Yes, I want to save myself even if this costs me my fortune, my honour, and my own life. I repent, I detest my infidelity, and I humbly beg Thy pardon. Pardon me, my beloved Jesus, and strengthen me so that I may be saved. I do not ask Thee for riches, honours, or prosperity. I only request the salvation of my soul.’”

No one is condemned without wanting to be

If, however, someone insists on asking me if few are saved, this is my reply: whether they are few or many, I say that those who are saved, are saved because they want to be; no one can be damned if he does not want to be; and if it is true that few are saved, it is because few live rightly.

What is the use, then, in knowing if few or many are saved? St. Peter says: “Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election” (2 Pt 1:10). And the Angelic Doctor responded to his sister, who asked him what she should do to be saved: “You will be saved if you want to be saved.”

And if you want an irrefutable argument, here it is: no one falls into hell unless he commits mortal sin, this is an undeniable truth of the Faith; no one commits mortal sin unless he wants to; this is an incontestable theological proposition. Therefore, the legitimate conclusion is indisputable: no one falls into hell unless he wants to. Is this not enough to console you?

Weep for the sins of your past life; make a good Confession, sin no more and you will all be saved. This is no mere opinion, but a solid and consoling truth. May God give you an understanding of it, and may He bless you. ◊

Summary of the Sermon of the Tuesday after the Fourth Sunday of Lent.
In: “Prediche quaresmali”. Assisi: Ottavio Sgariglia, 1806, v.III, p.146-182 –
Translation and titles: Heralds of the Gospel