June 23, 2016 Thursday
12th Week
in Ordinary Time
1st Reading:
2 Kgs 24: 8-17
Gospel: Matthew 7:21-29
Jesus said to his disciples, “Not everyone who says to me: ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my heavenly Father. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not speak in your name? Did we not cast out devils and perform many miracles in your name?” Then I will tell them openly: I have never known you; away from me, you evil people!
“So, then, anyone who hears these words of mine and acts accordingly is like a wise man, who built his house on rock. The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house, but it did not collapse because it was built on rock. But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not act accordingly, is like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house; it collapsed, and what a terrible fall that was!”
When Jesus had finished this discourse, the crowds were struck by the way he taught, because he taught with authority unlike their teachers of the Law.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Thoughtless words never qualify for a prayer. Shakespeare said the same thing when he wrote: “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; words without thoughts never to heaven go.” (Hamlet). Essentially today’s Gospel says the same thing.
Tragic times bring reluctant people back to church. As “returnees” to the habit of prayer they use so many flowery words to win God back. But after they get what they want, they are gone until their next crisis.
When people are in crisis, they cry out, “DIYOS KO! DIYOS KO!” When people are in prosperity, they go “DISCO, DISCO”! This “dyosko-disco” spirituality remembers Jesus in times of crisis but “dismembers” his “body” in times of prosperity. “Dismember” pertains to the nature of the Body of Christ, the Church. The “diyosko-disco” spirituality dismembers the Body of Christ because the “returnee” jumps out of the fence as soon as he gets the favor he is praying for. God is “re-membered” in times of crisis but “dismembered” in times of prosperity.
Jesus warns: “Not everyone who says “Lord! Lord!” will enter the kingdom of heaven”. Who are those who say “Lord, Lord” but will not enter the kingdom of heaven? They are those who call on God only in times of crises but never in times of prosperity. No matter how flowery their words of prayer toll, still it is as if they haven’t prayed at all. Words without thought never to heaven go! – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM., MMExM., MAPM., REB. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.
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