Advent Day 5: Challenging Jesus

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TODAY’S GOSPEL READING (Mt 7:21, 24-27)

From Matthew 7:21:

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.”

From The Navarre Bible: St Matthew, page 84:

“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 a 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).
…
“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 León 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).”

From Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: The Gospel of Matthew, page 121:

“The point is that religious confession is no substitute for a personal relationship with Jesus and the obligation to obey his Father’s will. If our creed and our conduct are out of alignment, then our profession of Jesus as Lord is not a true submission to his lordship.”

My take

Particularly, as a teacher, this passage and the associated commentary really hit home for me. Day in and day out, I endeavor to faithfully and clearly expound on the truths of Catholicism. But it requires frequent prayer, penance, reflection, spiritual reading, and of course recourse to the Sacraments, to even come close to practicing what I teach and preach — and not without a struggle and frequent stumbles. I especially appreciated the nod in Navarre to the letter of James, my favorite New Testament epistle due to its practicality. James, again:

So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (Jas 2:17)

A message I find plenty of opportunities to convey to my students is that with the Catholic Faith there is no “easy-believism.” Saying, “I believe in Jesus,” and thinking that is enough to be saved, is poppycock. Jesus did not spend years teaching for nothing. He speaks of hell often, letting us know how one can find himself there, and what it takes to avoid it. The message of our Lord is not for lightweights; it is a challenge that we face daily. Only with the grace of God can we overcome the lure of sin and gain perseverance during trials so as to maintain a right relationship with the Lord.

Are you ready to meet the Lord should He come calling today? Am I?

ADVENT RESOURCES

ADVENT/CHRISTMAS READING

Christ Enthroned (1505) by Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano

God bless!

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