Thursday of the First Week of Advent, December 1, 2022

Gospel: Mt 7:21, 24-27 

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.

“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.”

Reflections:

 We are each building a life. The proper foundation for a life is Jesus’ words—not just the hearing of them, but the doing of them, too  

It seems at times that often what the world offers blatantly is set up to make us turn away from God’s words. And often, our own feelings draw us toward doing the exact opposite of what the Bible says. But a wise person usually heeds God's Word, despite struggles, not as a way to “show off”   but because one trusts God. All through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presented Himself as the final authority on and fulfiller of the Law; He ends the sermon with a call to heed His message  find one’s security in Him and his Word. 

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Activity : 

Ask for the grace to be open to God's will