In the Gospel, Jesus warns, " 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." Do we hear the Word of God and put it into action or do we hear but never follow through? The story of the house built on rock and the house built on sand illustrates what can go wrong when we go rogue and not follow His commands-when we do not put His words into practice.
God is faithful to His warnings. In spite of the warnings from the prophets, Judah continued in idolatry, unfaithfulness and injustice. They heard the words of the prophets but refused to live by them. They still went to Temple, offered sacrifices and still prayed but they had allowed themselves to drift away from God's Word. The consequence of their sins was the Babylonian exile- the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed, the treasures of the Temple desecrated and the Jewish people were taken into captivity in Babylon.
We, too, are warned by God. Our Lady of Medjugorje appears on a regular basis requesting fasting, praying the rosary and keeps reminding us to repent. Our Mother Church has daily Masses, confessions, great homilies; social media has videos on the bible, saint stories. PAPA has FACE ZBS where we critically think the Gospel of the past Sunday . Daily we have novenas, devotions, prayers at 3 PM of Divine Mercy.
On the outside, we all do and pray the same prayers, attend Mass daily, pray the rosary. But amidst our trials, temptations, sufferings, sufferings and the storms of life that befall us, will we have the right foundation of life to survive?
Remember, God did not abandon His people in exile and He does not abandon us now. Do as St Augustine taught, "It is not enough to hear; we must do. Our foundation is secured not by listening but by obeying His Word".
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