Reflection for June 27 Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 7:21-29

Gospel: Matthew 7:21-29

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.

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Reflection:

Does a priest have safe passage to heaven? Does a nun have safe passage to heaven? Does a person who always goes to church for Holy Mass have safe passage to heaven? 

The answers to all of these questions are no! Nobody has a monopoly of heavenly dwelling, everyone of us has a chance provided we do the will of God and we live our lives according to how God wants us to live it. 

So, what are we going to do? We have to live what we preach and teach because if we don’t live what we preach and teach, we have no chance of entering heaven someday. Many are only good at teaching and preaching, and it ends there, much like the false prophets who were only good at preaching and teaching but lived unholy lives. 

Jesus himself tells us this: "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). 

Jesus knows everything about us. If to our fellowmen we could sugarcoat our image as Godly with Jesus we cannot. For He knows our deepest secrets, He knows if we are only pretending to be Good, Holy and Godly. 

Jesus knows the secret lives we live and the hidden sins we commit; we can’t hide anything from Him. Therefore, we must reform and leave behind anything that causes us to sin. – Marino J. Dasmarinas