Deacon Larry

 

Thursday of 12th Week in Ordinary Time

Gen 16: 6b-12, 15-16; Mt 7:21-29

Dc. Larry Brockman

Why the emphasis on a foundation other than pure Faith?  After all, isn’t Faith itself the foundation on which we as Christians build our lives?  And certainly, all of us here are believers, people of Faith.  We are among those who proclaim, “Lord, Lord”.   

Yet Jesus says “Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven”.  That’s a very sobering statement that Jesus makes.  Because Jesus is telling us that the foundation on which we build our lives is not just a statement of Faith  It is the conversion that accompanies our statement of Faith, and that conversion must result in a positive response to the will of God for us, one which is motivated by a love of God and a desire from the heart to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. 

Now many people confuse the idea of work for the sake of the doing good with doing God’s will.  For sure, God’s will includes good works.  But there is a difference between a conversion of the heart, one which calls us to do the will of God for us, and a response that results in a lot of involvement, involvement that seems to mark one as a member of the Church of believers, but may not be from your heart.  If your involvement is motivated by a desire to belong, or serves to build up your own status, or a host of other motives not related to a call from the heart, then it is not clear these works are following the will of God.  That could be likened to the folks who Jesus said cast out demons and did mighty deeds in the name of the Lord; and yet, the Lord said he didn’t know them.   

Jesus talks about the winds that blow and the floods that come, and refers to the dire consequences for those who don’t have the proper foundation.  Indeed, all of us experience these winds and floods in our lives.  They are especially evident now, in these times of high unemployment and economic uncertainty.  Our focus is essential- is it on the God of our Faith?  That means we hold the church’s moral teaching, which flows from our understanding of the will of God, as paramount in our response to the wind and floods just outside our door.  If we build our lives on that foundation, then we can survive the turmoil.  It is not sufficient to just proclaim that we believe. 

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