“NOT EVERYONE WHO SAYS TO ME, 'LORD, LORD,' WILL ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN"
Mt 7, 21-27
Rev. Alexander Diaz
This Sunday’s liturgy, as previous ones, is challenging and defiant, above all, it is a clear invitation to a self and personal reflection, also it challenges us to listen attentively to the Word of God, to meditate carefully the Gospel, not to be deaf and indifferent to it
s’ call.
The Servant of God and in a few days, Blessed John Paul II, talking about this, affirmed the following: “Truly are “blessed those who listen to the word of God, keep it and obey it, because they will experiment this particular grace, in virtue of which the word of God will not fall among thorns, but on fertile ground, and will bring forth plentiful fruits. "The obedience of faith" (Rom. 13:26; see 1:5; 2 Cor 10:5-6) "is to be given to God who reveals, an obedience by which man commits his whole self freely to God, offering the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals," (4) and freely assenting to the truth revealed by Him.
To make this act of faith, the grace of God and the interior help of the Holy Spirit must precede and assist, moving the heart and turning it to God, opening the eyes of the mind and giving "joy and ease to everyone in assenting to the truth and believing it." (5) To bring about an ever deeper understanding of revelation the same Holy Spirit constantly brings faith to completion by His gifts” “They are blessed because, discovering and obeying God’s will, they will constantly find the solid foundation of their lives” (Dei Verbum, 5).
And that is precisely what the modern man has lost and because he does not say it, he has forgotten the word of God, it is not to hear it, just by hearing, hence it helps us build our interior life, our life of faith, that starts to grow in our insides. Saint Paul talked to us about the Word of God being fulfilled from the Cross.
We are call to listen to this Word, which is One and indivisible, so we can really understand what God is telling us about our own history. It is hard to believe, that there are so many, that calling ourselves Christians, believing we are committed, are not able to build our own interior lives. It gives me the impression that we are not really listening or paying attention to the Word.
Jesus very clearly affirmed that, to listen to the message of life is very important and He affirms this with authority. “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 has been set solidly on rock”. Mt 7, 24-25.
I like it a lot and it calls me to meditate on the word “wise”, because a “wise” person is the one who will take all precautions at hand to safeguard his life and the life of others. A wise person is the one that takes everything seriously and with precaution. Living here in the United States, I noticed that the laws in this country try to be very wise, very cautious in order to safeguard everyone’s life.
For example, transit rules, emergency exits, the capacity of public places, rules on environmental health, sometimes they seem to overdo it. But it saddens m
e that they are not wise enough in their spiritual or interior lives.
If we were wise in taking care of our souls, our spiritual and evangelical values, we would lead solid lives and be solid in our coexistence, we would have solid relationships and solid friendships, we would have a solid marriage and solid families, we would be solid in the construction of our future society, solid in our education with strong Christian values, but sadly, we are not wise in the spiritual, and God does not count in this aspect or in our lives.
Everything in this modern society is very important, even the animals, they are well taken care of and protected, they have rights, and I think that is great, I am not against any of that, but I ask myself, ¿Why are we not giving the same importance to the basic aspects of our lives? We do not protect the life of the unborn, we do not respect the life of the weak and defenseless, we kill the innocence of our little ones, we become impatient and do not tolerate spiritual values.
Everything is permissible, not to cause a trauma or a psychological problem, but it is prohibited to talk about God or to mention the name of Jesus in any form, be it in the public schools or any public place where our young ones go for social activities.
Because you cannot force them to believe, because we deprive them of their rights and liberty, faith gets involved with their development. I stop to think, how ignorant we are to what helps us to be better developed.
In one of the massacres brought about by students in one of the schools in this country, a teacher was shown in the news asking herself, what was wrong with the education system? She questioned herself, why all these things were happening? And she said: ¿Where is God when these things are taking place? And I thought to myself, we took Him out of the schools a long time ago, we will not allow Him to stay and share with us, we think that His presence in our children’s education is inappropriate because it will cause confusion.
It hurts to say it, but are we being unwised in the construction of the Kingdom, this may sound pessimist, but that is how I feel. I am heartbroken to know that the spiritual life is not taken seriously, that we are very unwise when we listen to the Word of Jesus, the Gospel is not soaking thru us as it should in our lives. We are building on sand, we are sinking our own existence. John Paul II in his last message to the Youth in preparation for the 20th World Youth Day will inspire them with these words that I think are very appropriate, not only for the young people but also for us:
“do not yield to false illusion and passing fads which so frequently leave behind a tragic spiritual vacuum. Reject the seduction of wealth, consumerism and the subtle violence sometimes used by the mass media. Worshipping the true God is an authentic act of resistance to all forms of idolatry. Worship Christ, He is the Rock on which to build your future and a world of greater justice and solidarity. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, th
e source of forgiveness and reconciliation, who can make brothers and sisters of all the members of the human family” (Castengandolfo August 6, 2004)
I want to end my Sunday reflection, asking you a simple question: ¿Where are you building your spiritual life? ¿Are you being wise in the listening of the Word and putting in practice the Gospel? Remember, it is worth to put in practice the great call Jesus is making us, to build His Kingdom. Help Him build it, you are call to be an authentic Apostle. Amen!!
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