A Penitent Blogger
What we do with God’s words
Today’s readings remind us that the word of God is not just something to be read or heard.
Today’s Gospel (Matthew 7:21-27) begins with our Lord’s warning about giving mere lip service to God’s word. No matter how effectively and powerfully we may wield God’s word (or even the precious name of Jesus), it avails nothing if we do not reflect God’s word in our hearts and in our lives.
“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.”
The second reading (Romans 3:21-25, 28) reminds us that this is about more than just doing the good things God’s word bids us do, but that rather we are...
…justified freely by his grace
through the redemption in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as an expiation,
through faith, by his blood.
For we consider that a person is justified by faith
apart from works of the law.
The first reading (Deuteronomy 11:18, 26-28, 32) begins by exhorting us with unique symbolism:
“Take these words of mine into your heart and soul.
Bind them at your wrist as a sign,
and let them be a pendant on your forehead.”
There are some who follow this last part with a strange literalness: wearing little boxes of Scripture on their wrist and forehead.
The symbolic meaning of this verse is, of course, much more powerful.
The word of God should be manifest in all the works of our hands and we should come to know God’s word like the back of our hands.
The word of God should always be at the front of our minds and our fidelity to God’s word should be as obvious as if it were written on our foreheads.
Finally, today’s first reading ends by presenting us with an ultimate choice:
“I set before you here, this day, a blessing and a curse:
a blessing
for obeying
the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin on you today;
a curse
if you do not obey
the commandments of the LORD, your God,
but turn aside from the way I ordain for you today,
to follow other gods...”
May we choose the way of blessing: in our minds, in our hearts, in our words, and in our deeds.
Today’s Gospel (Matthew 7:21-27) begins with our Lord’s warning about giving mere lip service to God’s word. No matter how effectively and powerfully we may wield God’s word (or even the precious name of Jesus), it avails nothing if we do not reflect God’s word in our hearts and in our lives.
“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.”
The second reading (Romans 3:21-25, 28) reminds us that this is about more than just doing the good things God’s word bids us do, but that rather we are...
…justified freely by his grace
through the redemption in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as an expiation,
through faith, by his blood.
For we consider that a person is justified by faith
apart from works of the law.
The first reading (Deuteronomy 11:18, 26-28, 32) begins by exhorting us with unique symbolism:
“Take these words of mine into your heart and soul.
Bind them at your wrist as a sign,
and let them be a pendant on your forehead.”
There are some who follow this last part with a strange literalness: wearing little boxes of Scripture on their wrist and forehead.
The symbolic meaning of this verse is, of course, much more powerful.
The word of God should be manifest in all the works of our hands and we should come to know God’s word like the back of our hands.
The word of God should always be at the front of our minds and our fidelity to God’s word should be as obvious as if it were written on our foreheads.
Finally, today’s first reading ends by presenting us with an ultimate choice:
“I set before you here, this day, a blessing and a curse:
a blessing
for obeying
the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin on you today;
a curse
if you do not obey
the commandments of the LORD, your God,
but turn aside from the way I ordain for you today,
to follow other gods...”
May we choose the way of blessing: in our minds, in our hearts, in our words, and in our deeds.
posted by Penitens | 8:42 AM
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