Gospel Reading: Mt 7:21-29
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. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’
“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.”
When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
Reflections
Depart from me, you evildoers
Jesus shoos away evildoers. These are people who pray with the community and their voices are heard, but they do not do the will of God. They are not serious with their faith, not having experienced genuine conversion. They are not transformed and cannot transform others. They attend prayer meetings, but then they do their own thing. The Lord is aware of this. They live independent of him. Their prayer is only for show. They lack action. Before some need, they conveniently disappear because they do not want to sweat or to dirty their hands.
They may be using God’s name when doing some apostolate, but God does not believe their efforts since they are not fulfilling God’s will. Jesus compares them to a house dangerously built on sand that can collapse anytime.
We must stay away from these kinds of people who are unreliable. Jesus drives them away from his fold. They pose a danger to the well-being of his true followers.
From a bigger context, evildoers are those who do not put into practice Jesus’ teachings on the ideals of the Kingdom of God contained in the Sermon on the Mount.
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