"Not Everyone Who Says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' Will Enter the Kingdom of Heaven"
Sunday, June 1, 2008

Readings for the 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1: Deut. 11:18, 26–28, 32

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 31:2–3, 3–4, 17, 25

Reading 2: Rom. 3:21–25, 28

Gospel: Mt. 7:21–27

Link to Readings

By Father Robert Pecotte

The Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time marks a transition from specific solemnities that express central doctrines of the Faith into what can be called “ordinary Ordinary Time.” We move from the central mystery of the Faith, the Holy and Undivided Trinity, to the Eucharist, the source and summit of the Faith, to the central theme of the ministry of Jesus: the reconciliation of man to God through the obedience of the Son and the subsequent obedience of His followers.

“I set before you a blessing and a curse. . .” Moses, in issuing the Law to the people, explains to them quite clearly that the way of the Lord is a blessing to those who follow it and a curse to those who do not. If they keep the commandments, they will be blessed by God; if they do not, they will suffer the just consequences for walking outside of the covenant.

This is the overarching theme of the entire Old and New Testaments, the choice for God or the choice against God. In the beginning, man received positive commands from God (be fruitful and multiply; subdue the earth; till the Garden and keep it) and a negative command (don’t eat the fruit of that tree!). Man chose the path of disobedience to the Law of God and has suffered the just punishment and effects of that disobedience. Jesus comes to restore the order of holy obedience to the Father, which will establish reconciliation between Man and God and give all peoples the opportunity to enter into a family bond (covenant) with God. This means that we, too, must become obedient to God and follow His commandments in order to share in the justification of the Son.

Immersed in Christ Jesus

Wait a minute, Father! Didn’t St. Paul just say that man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith? Didn’t he just say that we are justified freely by the grace of God won via the expiatory sacrifice of Christ Jesus?!

Yep, he sure did, and Paul never once thought that that meant all you had to do was say that you believed in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and then your salvation was guaranteed. Ah, how I love the writings of St. Paul! But, as St. Peter said (2 Pet. 3:16), they can be hard to understand, and the ignorant and unstable can twist the meaning of Paul’s writing (along with all of Sacred Scripture) to their own destruction.

Paul taught that sanctifying grace (the grace that justifies us before God) was a free gift from God brought about by Baptism (1 Cor. 6:11 and Rom. 6:3–4), which immersed one into the life, death, and Resurrection Christ Jesus. Once one was baptized, he was justified in the sight of God, but he needed to maintain his baptismal covenant (c.f. Rom. 1:5 and 16:26, the obedience of Faith) in order to inherit eternal life.

Jesus says, “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’” (Mt. 7:21–23).

Can it be said that a person who prophesies, drives out demons, and does mighty deeds in the name of the Lord doesn’t have faith in Him? Yes, it can and must be said if we are to believe Jesus. Faith isn’t the simple belief in someone or something; it also includes the logical and necessary actions that follow the particular belief.

If I believe that water is necessary for life, doesn’t it follow that I need to act on my belief and actually drink water in order to live? Yes, of course it does! I can’t just say that I believe in the life sustaining principle of water and then ignore my thirst; if I do I will die. The best approach would be to regularly drink the water so that I never thirst . . . So too with faith in Jesus Christ. I must acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior, but then I must do as He tells me or eventually I will die. How can I call Him Lord and not do as He commands?

Build Your House on Rock!

“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 rains fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock” (Mt. 7:24–25). What words? We are reading from the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5–7), which is full of positive and negative moral commands. By way of a list: the Beatitudes, rules for anger, wealth, the following of the Ten Commandments, adultery, marriage and divorce, oaths, revenge, forgiveness, love of enemies, almsgiving, prayer, fasting, the service of God or Mammon, false judgement, profaning the holy, living without worry, the Narrow Gate, false prophets, self deception, and so on. . . .

Jesus insists that we must do what He tells us if we wish to stand with Him in justification on the day of judgement. If we go about doing miracles, but do not go about in the obedience of faith, then we are deceiving ourselves and deceiving others. That is why the Church has never declared anyone to be a saint based on miracles alone. The saint must have a lived a life that testified to the righteousness of God through the obedience of faith. For sanctity does not consist in power, but in the humble obedience known as Love.

If you desire to follow Christ, then make sure that you’re actually dwelling in His house and abiding by His rules. The wise man builds his house on rock. “And I tell you, you are Peter [rock] and on this rock I will build my church and the powers of death shall not prevail against it” (Mt. 16:18). Jesus is the Wise Man, and Peter is the rock on which He built His house. My brothers and sisters in Christ, let us love the Scriptures (which means that we will read them a lot!) so that we no longer go about in the darkness of ignorance but in the light of faith! Let us remain in the house that Jesus built, through our humble obedience and steadfast faith to Holy Mother Church. Then we can say to all who ask if we are saved: that we are on the Way, by living in the Truth through the obedience of faith, which will give us life on That Day.

Robert Pecotte is a priest of the Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota.

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