3-Dec-15

Gospel MT 7:21, 24-27
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
Reflection:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven."
So, what is "the will of my Father in heaven?"
God's will is that we should love our neighbor and that our love should be demonstrated through our good works.
Prayer is a good thing but, in my view, Jesus is telling us, in today's gospel, that prayer alone does not necessarily lead to salvation.
I think back to 1948 when I was eight years old.
Every morning my mother prayed for Mrs. Frank, the frail 80 year old African American woman who lived on the floor below us.
In the evening, Mom would take me in hand to join her as she cooked for Mrs. Frank and tidied up her tiny living quarters.
As we headed downstairs, Ma would say, "Come on Jimmy, faith without works is dead."
Ma was not a bible scholar; I doubt that she even knew she was quoting James 2:17.
That didn't matter. Ma knew that belief in Jesus Christ carries with it a responsibility to do good for others.
Divorced, she always felt separated from the church.
But, Ma always said her daily rosary to Mary and helped others throughout her life.
The foundation of Ma's Christian life was firmly set on solid rock.

"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35