GOSPEL: MT 7:21-29
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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, 29for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
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Jesus teaches the requirement for entering the Kingdom of heaven: doing the will of the heavenly Father. The true followers of Jesus are neither those merely invoking his name nor those given authority to perform miracles. Jesus’ disciples have an intimate relationship with the heavenly Father. This enables them not only to submit passively to the Father but also to do actively the Father’s will. Doing God’s will is more than performing a chore. When we do something without deeper relations, we can easily trade in what we seem to value for something else.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2020,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: books@stpauls. ph; Website: http://www. stpauls.ph.
