Gospel (Mt 7:21.24-27)

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew: they broke into that house, but it did not fall because it was founded on rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand; And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew: they rushed against that house, and it collapsed and its ruin was tremendous.

Commentary

In the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly speaks about the coming of the Kingdom of God. Some of his contemporaries thought that this was to be a political kingdom, the restoration of the ancient power of the kings of Israel. But our Lord makes clear that it is another type of kingdom, which is already present here: “the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Lk 17:21). As Origen said, Jesus is the kingdom in person. He himself is the "mystery of the kingdom of God" that is offered to his disciples.

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus tells us how we can come into contact with him personally. It is not what we say but what we do that matters. Someone who only speaks but does nothing, who is satisfied with only calling himself a Christian, will not enter the kingdom.

Those who hear Jesus’ words and put them into practice are the ones who will enter his Kingdom. A specific way to hear his words, to listen to God’s will, is to read the Word of God, with an attentive reading of the Gospel every day. And then, to try to put into practice what we have heard or read, making the life of Christ our own.

“Do you want to accompany Jesus closely, very closely? Open the Holy Gospel and read the Passion of our Lord. But don’t just read it: live it. There is a big difference. To read is to recall something that happened in the past; to live is to find oneself present at an event that is happening here and now, to be someone taking part in those scenes.”^[1]

The image of building a house on rock graphically represents what happens in the life of every person. All houses need to endure rain, floods and wind, but only lives founded on the rock of the Life of Christ will be able to endure hardships and suffering.

^[1] Saint Josemaría, The Way of the Cross, Ninth Station, no. 3.