Jesus said to his disciples: "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."
"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."
REFLECTION
"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."
St Ambrose was insturmental in converting and baptizing St Augustine. He was intimate with the Word of God and with his ability to write and speak, he was able to have St Augustine take an interest in the Catholic faith. St Ambrose as a bishop wrote a lot and his sermons were very lively. Legend has it that he was a prefect before becoming a Bishop. When there was a new bishopric opening, he came to pacify the conflict between the Catholics and Arians. The people insisted that he become bishop himself. He was a layman, not yet baptized, but quickly was baptized, ordained and installed as bishop within a week on December 7, 374.
He gave up his worldy treasures and set about learning theology. He was a true shepherd and teacher of the faithful. Faced with an emperor who killed 7000 people, St Ambrose was able to force the emperor to do public penance. He continued to defend the rights of the Church and with learning, firmness and gentleness, he was able to attack the Arian heresy. (Arianism believed that Jesus was created by God and that he was a mere holy man).
He won people over by the grace of his words. In one of his spiritual writings, he wrote, "Therefore, let your words be rivers, clean and limpid, so that in your exhortations you may charm the ears of your people". He knew the requirements to enter heaven, and in his own way conveyed that very eloquently to all, including St Augustine: Simply, to do the will of God.
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