DAILY GOSPEL COMMENTARY: DOING THE WILL OF GOD AND BUILDING ON ROCK
(Mt 7:21-29).
Gospel of Thursday, 12th week in Ordinary Time
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.
Gospel Commentary from the Navarre Bible, Commentary to the Gospel of St. Matthew (with permission)
Doing the will of God
21-23 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.’
- To be genuine, prayer must be accompanied by a persevering effort to do God’s will. Similarly, in order to do his will it is not enough to speak about the things of God: there must be consistency between what one preaches — what one says — and what one does: “The kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power” (1 Cor 4:20; “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (Jas 1:22).
- Christians, “holding loyally to the Gospel, enriched by its resources, and joining forces with all who love and practise justice, have shouldered a weighty task on earth and they must render an account of it to him who will judge all men on the last day. Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of the Father, and who manfully put their hands to the work” (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, 93).
- To enter the Kingdom of heaven, to be holy, it is not enough, then, to speak eloquently about holiness. One has to practise what one preaches, to produce fruit which accords with one’s words. Fray Luis de Leon puts it very graphically: “Notice that to be a good Christian it is not enough just to pray and fast and hear Mass; God must find you faithful, like another Job or Abraham, in times of tribulation” (Guide for Sinners, book 1, part 2, chap. 21).
- Even if a person exercises an ecclesiastical ministry this does not assure his holiness; he needs to practise the virtues he preaches. Besides, we know from experience that any Christian (clerical, religious or lay) who does not strive to act in accordance with the demands of the faith he professes, begins to weaken in his faith and eventually parts company also with the teaching of the Church. Anyone who does not live in accordance with what he says, ends up saying things which are contrary to faith.The authority with which Jesus speaks in these verses reveals him as sovereign Judge of the living and the dead. No Old Testament prophet ever spoke with this authority.
22 ‘That day”: a technical formula in biblical language meaning the day of the Judgment of the Lord or the Last Judgment.
23 This passage refers to the Judgment where Jesus will be the Judge. The sacred text uses a verb which means the public proclamation of a truth. Since in this case Jesus Christ is the Judge who makes the declaration, it takes the form of a judicial sentence.
Building on rock
24-27 “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.”
- These verses constitute the positive side of the previous passage. A person who tries to put Christ’s teaching into practice, even if he experiences personal difficulties or lives during times of upheaval in the life of the Church or is surrounded by error, will stay firm in the faith, like the wise man who builds his house on rock.
- Also, if we are to stay strong in times of difficulty, we need, when things are calm and peaceful, to accept little contradictions with a good grace, to be very refined in our relationship with God and with others, and to perform the duties of our state in life in a spirit of loyalty and abnegation. By acting in this way we are laying down a good foundation, maintaining the edifice of our spiritual life and repairing any cracks which make their appearance.
28-29 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.
- Jesus’ listeners could clearly see the radical difference between the style of teaching of the scribes and Pharisees, and the conviction and confidence with which Jesus spoke. There is nothing tentative about his words; they leave no room for doubt; he is clearly not giving a mere opinion. Jesus spoke with absolute command of the truth and perfect knowledge of the true meaning of the Law and the Prophets; indeed he often spoke on his own authority (cf. Mt 5:22, 28, 32, 38, 44), and with the very authority of God (cf. Mk 2:10; Mt 28:18). All this conferred a singular force and authority on his words, such as had never been known in Israel (cf. Lk 19:48; Jn 7:46).
- Chapters 8 and 9 of St Matthew deal with a series of miracles worked by our Lord. The first Christians had vivid experience of the fact that the glorified Jesus was still present in his Church, confirming its teaching by signs, by miracles (Mk 16:20; Acts 14:3).
- And so, St Matthew, after giving the nucleus of Jesus public teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7), goes on now to gather a number of miracles to support our Lord’s words. Some commentators call this section — chapters 8 and 9 — “the works of the Messiah”, parallelling what they called “the words of the Messiah” (the Discourse on the Mount). In chapters 5-7 we see Jesus as the supreme lawgiver and master who teaches with divine authority, a unique authority superior to that held by Moses and the prophets. Now, in chapters 8 and 9, he is shown as endowed with divine authority over disease, death, the elements and evil spirits. These miracles worked by Jesus Christ accredit the divine authority of his teaching.
VIDEO COMMENTARY
The Sermon on the Mount ends with this final exhortation from Jesus who tells us to listen to His teachings and assimilate them in our lives so that we will remain strong and unwavering in the face of difficulty.
Many of us have committed to follow Christ. But the commitment has been VERY SHALLOW AND FRAGILE MOSTLY BASED ON WHAT MAKES SENSE as far as we are concerned and WHEN IT IS CONVENIENT.
It is like an electrician who converted a gas stove into an electric stove, but he did not have enough time to adjust it. He had to do it the next day. So he took a piece of cardboard and wrote on it, “Converted but not adjusted.”
If we do not strive to deepen our faith by understanding and practicing our Catholic beliefs, we will start to have DOUBTS AND QUESTION our own tenets and doctrines (on the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints, the Pope and his infallibility, confessing to a priest, praying for the dead, etc) that may lead us to unbelief. When it is NOT CONVENIENT to pray, go to mass, pray the rosary and do our scripture readings, we postpone or dismiss them altogether. This self-absorption and half-hearted faith of ours may leave us electrocuted because we have not been truly adjusted and transformed.
Fr. Dennis Paez, SDB, once told us that before the rainy season starts, the Salesian priests would cut the branches of their trees in their retreat house in Batulao, Batangas, on the ridges of the famous Taal Volcano, which sits on the largest lake inside a volcano in the world. They did this so that the roots would dig deep into the soil and become a sturdy foundation when strong winds brought about by typhoons would sweep across the land.
What will make us holy? In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus started off with the Beautitudes, exhorting us to have poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, mercy, purity of heart and peacemaking (5:2-11). He then goes on to tell in greater detail:
• To let our light shine for others to see our good deeds and glorify God in the process (5:16);
• To keep and practice the commandments (5:17-20);
• To deal with anger, resolve conflict and be reconciled with those who hurt us (5:21-26);
• To maintain proper marital relationships, avoid adultery and divorce (5:27-32);
• To speak honestly without fanfare or oaths (5:34-37);
• To act in generous and loving ways—even toward our enemies, praying for our persecutors (5:38-48);
• To give alms and to pray, doing both in secret (6:1-6);
• To forgive so that God will also forgive us (6:14-15);
• To seek first the kingdom of God and not to worry as He will provide (6:24-34);
• To refrain judging others because we do not know their circumstance and so that we too will not be judged by our Father (7:1-5)
The righteousness that Jesus desires from us is anchored on our trust in God and having a right relationship with Him. A solid interior life built around prayer and scripture, watered by the sacraments, fertilized by good deeds and pure intentions blessed by the grace of the Holy Spirit will make us truly holy.
Hurricane Ike, a category 4 hurricane at its peak (209-251km/hr) traveled along the Gulf of Mexico, slowed down as it hit land but still killed 195 people on Sept. 2008 across North America. Not long after the hurricane swept through, one picture surfaced that caught the world’s attention. It revealed a yellow house that was standing almost unscathed in the midst of miles of coastal rubble. Because it was built to hurricane standards, when Ike unleashed its fury, the house remained standing when everything around it was flattened. (From Ann Graham Lotz of Giving You Jesus)
Someone once said, after coming from a retreat, “I felt like I was on top of a mountain. But when I experienced tragedy, it seemed like the mountain was on top of me.” If we want to withstand the emotional, psychological and spiritual storms of life, let us heed and obey the Sermon on the Mount.
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Thanks and God bless you and your loved ones! Fr. Rolly Arjonillo.
