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"Lord, Lord!"
Jun
1
Written by:
Sunday, June 01, 2008
9th Sunday Ordinary Time
June 1, 2008
"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."
Matthew 7:21
In this Sunday's gospel, Jesus advises us to look at life like this: each of us is building some sort of house here on earth. Many of these "structures" around us have faulty blueprints, or do not have good foundations, or are built poorly, and in a time of distress they will collapse. Others, built on firm foundations, will stand. The trick in knowing how to build is to allow God to give us his divine perspective, and this is called following the will of God.
There are any numbers of foolish builders around us. For example, many of us wish we had had the foresight to have purchased a car that gets better mileage now that gas is $4.00 a gallon. Others may wish their mortgage weren't so high and may be in danger of foreclosure. You can no doubt think of other foolish decisions from your own lives.
There are two and only two ways to build in the spiritual life: a life based on MY will, or a life based on GOD's will. Most of us are, of course, a mixture of the two. Many times we in effect lay a foundation in sand: people who do this tend to insist on the own will, their own way. They will not listen to God, the scriptures, or the church, because they do not want to be told what to do. Instead, their conscience is unwittingly formed by the secular media, advertizing, and by the culture around them. Their main interest is, ultimately in themselves and their own self-interest. They may follow some Church teachings, but only the ones that suit them. We must all be careful where we are laying the foundations of our spiritual life, because foundations such as these will collapse during personal, financial, or national crises.
The best foundation we can lay is by having as our fundamental desire to always strive to do the will of God. This is accomplished in the day-to-day, moment to moment choices that you and I make on a regular basis. We are encouraged to think of ourselves as builders who learn from our mistakes and the inevitable collapses that occur along the way. Our blueprints will be the Scriptures, the Catholic Catechism, and our conscience that is informed by good quality information about our faith. Then we won't have to cry out, "Lord, Lord!" on the last day like those whose structures have collapsed because we will have been Christ's friend all along the way by striving to do his will.
Father Gary
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