Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7:21

Today’s Gospel message is about being honest with the Lord or putting His word into action. Which would you prefer? The person who says “yes” when the outcome is “no” or the person who says no when the outcome is yes? The second response is more genuine, because it is honest. The person who does the right thing even when it hurts is more to be admired than the person who merely gives lip service to what is right but has no intention of doing what he or she says. That is why the first son in Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 2:28-32) who did his father’s will is more to be admired than the second son who said “yes” to his father but did not do his father’s will.

Action speaks louder than words and, in today’s message, the Lord commends action. “It is not the person who says,” Lord , Lord….who will enter the kingdom of God but rather the person who hears the word of God and keeps it.” Rhetorical slogans about our faith are not good enough. We must be willing to deliver on the promises we make. It is not good enough to say yes on your wedding day. You must say yes to the demands of love in marriage every day. It is easy for a parent to say yes at the baptism of a child but it takes true courage to say yes to all the things a parent should do for a child during the years of a child’s upbringing: such as bringing the child to church, helping him or her understand the good news of the Gospel, giving Christian example in the home, and supporting the child physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Saying ‘yes’ is what the Gospel is all about. This positive response to the demands of God’s word leads to conversion as in the case of the first son in Matthew’s 21:28-32 who did the right thing even when he felt like doing the opposite. Conversion means change; the kind of change that makes the doing of God’s will our way of life. Conversion also means getting into the habit of saying “yes” to God’s will even when all around you people are in the habit of saying “no” to God’s will.

As Christian we must be willing to say without reservation, “yes, Lord, not my way but yours!”

Fr. Hugh Duffy