Will of God

Today’s Gospel Text:  "Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.' 24 "Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; 25 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; 27 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it." 28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. Matt 7:21-29

Reflection: Wish it was that easy to know and do the will of the Father.

How easy it really is to know the will of the Father that we can live as good Christians? People often struggle to know it. 

You ask a man on the street and you will have some attempts made to answer it; either they will talk about doing good or loving one another and loving their neighbor, or talk about kindness, etc.

Does these kind of activities fit in with God’s will or is God’s will something more than these things?

These activities may fit in with God’s will but they are not primarily his will.

If we miss out on the primary aspect of God’s will then we could miss out on all the other aspect of God’s will and may even go astray, some even earnestly out of goodwill.

The primary aspect of doing God’s will is to do the work of God and this is brought out by John’s gospel as thus, when the people asked him; “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" John 6:28

And Jesus’ reply was:"This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." John 6:29

This above explicit will of God is not just a Johanine revelation but is well brought out by the synoptic too and it is well attested with the voice of the Father saying: “ "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" Luke 9:35 (also Mt. 17:5; Mk. 9: 7)

From the above text it is evident that once the primary aspect of God’s will is accepted then we are moving on the secondary path of truth, otherwise  we are moving on the path falsity.

From this primary truth we need to move on to the secondary and so on, with the divine grace and gifts to assist us, whether these gifts be the church or the sacraments or the sacramental’s they are there for our salvation. 

Prayer:  Lord, I believe that you send Jesus your son as our savior and redeemer so that we may listen to his word and live by it, even unto eternity.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Bring in Jesus

Today’s Gospel Text:  As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of man. 27 They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was in the days of Lot - they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them all -  30 so will it be on the day when the Son of man is revealed. 31 On that day, let him who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away; and likewise let him who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other left." 37 And they said to him, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "Where the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together." Luke 17:26-37

Reflection: One clear sign for the day of the Lord; “They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage” (vs. 27)

“…they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built” (vs. 28)

What is so extraordinary about this sign that Jesus mentions or is there anything extraordinary about this prophetic revelation of his?

We eat, we drink, we get married, we buy and sell and plant and they are all necessary activities of life and hence what is so special about what Jesus is revealing.

Nothing and yet the message is as strong as the void it communicates. 

In the routine activity of life where we find comfort, solace, satisfaction, joys and hope we have to be careful and learn that Christ presence is never in it. No matter how beautiful and noble it maybe, we shouldn't be so enamored as to see God in it. 

He is not in the joys and hopes of daily routine as some would proclaim it but he needs to be brought into it by turning over our lives to Jesus and thus sanctifying these daily and routine activities of life.

If we do not then these things will reign and rule over us and our actions. And just as these earthly things will be destroyed on the day of Christ, making way for a new heaven and new earth, so also our souls attached to these daily routines of life.  

So today if you are eating or drinking or getting married or buying or selling or razing it down or building or whatever you are doing, ask yourself: Is Christ Jesus in it or not?

If not then bring him in into all your actions.

Prayer: Lord, may I co-operate with your grace and thus be your instrument to thank and praise you in all things and for everything.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us