Pastoral Letter on Wealth and the Narrow Gate

Dilexi Te: “The rich must learn to walk barefoot, or they will not pass through the gate.”

To the Wealthy of the World, and to All Who Shepherd Souls
13 October 2025

I. A Word of Warning and Mercy

To those who possess much, and to those entrusted with preaching the Gospel:

We write not to condemn, but to awaken. We write not to shame, but to summon. The misuse of wealth is not merely a social concern. It is a spiritual danger. It is a narrowing of the gate through which salvation must pass.

In this hour, when wealth is flaunted as virtue and poverty is dismissed as failure, the Gospel speaks with thunderous clarity. Pope Leo XIV, in his Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te, reminds us:

“The path to salvation is not widened by wealth, but narrowed by its misuse. The rich must learn to walk barefoot, or they will not pass through the gate.”
— Dilexi Te, §58

This letter is a call to repentance. To conversion. To mercy. It is a mirror held up to those who have built fortresses of comfort while Christ stands outside, hungry and ignored.

II. The Gospel Is Not a Luxury Brand

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a luxury brand. It is not a symbol of success. It is not a reward for the powerful. It is the good news for the poor, the broken, the excluded. It is the cry of the Crucified, not the anthem of the comfortable.

“Faith that does not disturb the rich is not faith in the Crucified. It is a mirror of privilege, not a window to grace.”
— Dilexi Te, §45

When Christianity is used to justify wealth-hoarding, to sanctify inequality, or to silence the cry of the poor, it ceases to be Christianity. It becomes idolatry. It becomes a false gospel. It becomes a sin. It becomes a path to eternal perdition.

III. The Rich Sent Away Empty

The Magnificat is not a lullaby. It is a revolution.

“He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”
— Gospel of St. Luke 1: 52–53, quoted in Dilexi Te, §1

This is not poetic exaggeration. It is divine judgment. The rich are not condemned for their wealth, but for their forgetfulness. For their indifference. For their selfishness. For their pride and vanity. For their refusal to see Christ in the poor, the excluded, the sick, the disabled, the vulnerable…

IV. The Veil of Wealth

Wealth, when hoarded, becomes a veil. It blinds the heart. It numbs the conscience. It creates illusions of safety, purity, and divine favour.

“The rich who cling to their possessions as signs of divine favour risk mistaking comfort for communion. Their wealth, if hoarded, becomes a veil that obscures the face of Christ in the poor.”
— Dilexi Te, §27

This is the danger: not the possession of wealth, but its possession of us. The Gospel calls the rich not to guilt, but to surrender. To generosity. To solidarity.

V. The Poor as Prophets

The poor are not objects of pity. They are prophets. They reveal the truth of our systems, our hearts, and our theologies.

“The poor remind us how uncertain and empty our seemingly safe and secure lives may be.”
— Dilexi Te, §12

To encounter the poor is to encounter Christ. Not in sentiment, but in sacrament. Not in charity, but in communion.

VI. The Danger of Delay

The rich young man went away sad. Not because he was evil, but because he delayed. He hesitated. He could not let go.

“You cannot serve both God and money.”
— Gospel of St. Matthew 6:24

This is not a metaphor. It is spiritual law. The longer wealth is clung to, the harder the heart becomes. The narrower the gate grows. The more distant Christ appears.

VII. A Call to the Wealthy

To those who possess much:

You are not beyond mercy. But mercy demands movement. It demands surrender. It demands that you see your wealth not as reward, but as responsibility.

Sell what you do not need. Give to those who have nothing. Invest in justice, not comfort. Let your homes become shelters. Let your tables become feasts for the hungry.

“The Gospel does not condemn the rich for being rich, but for forgetting the poor. When wealth becomes a fortress, it excludes grace.”
— Dilexi Te, §34

VIII. A Call to the Clergy

To those who preach:

Do not flatter the rich. Do not silence the poor. Do not dilute the Gospel to preserve donations or status. Preach the truth. Even when it costs you.

Let your pulpits thunder with mercy and justice. Let your liturgies reflect the radical hospitality of Christ. Let your pastoral care disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed.

IX. The Narrow Gate and the Sacred Heart

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is not a symbol of sentiment. It is a wound. It is a fire. It is the place where mercy and justice meet. It is the Fountain of Love.

Let no wealth obscure His face. Let no power silence His mercy. Let no gate remain closed to His love.

X. Benediction

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
Wounded by indifference, pierced by greed,
You are our refuge and our fire.

Break the idols of wealth.
Open the gates of mercy.
Let the rich walk barefoot into grace.

Make your Church a shelter for the poor,
A balm for the wounded,
A voice for the silenced.

Amen.

Issued by the Canons Regular of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Durham, United Kingdom
13 October 2025

Sources: Vatican.va – Dilexi Te