1st Week of Advent - Thursday (6 December 2018)
Isaiah 26:1-6. Psalm 118:1,8-9,19-21,25-27. Matthew 7:21,24-27.
“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.”
We establish ourselves in this world through concrete activities. To say “Lord, Lord” isn’t sufficient. Neither is writing your plans and good intentions on sheets of paper, or feeding them into a computer (or your FB or your WhatsApp). Actions certainly speak louder than your plans and good will. Mere lip service is anything but useful.
Everyone knows how easy it is to talk about what should be done for the poor, the homeless, the orphaned, the drug users, and even society in general. We all know how comforting it is to be counselled about problems with your loved ones, your children, your parents, your past, and your addictions. But at a certain point the talking has to give way to action. To say only “Lord, Lord!” is really not sufficient.
Yet, more precisely, prayer and action are two sides of the same coin. One should not be divorced from the other. Prayer and mission go hand in hand; contemplation and action go hand in hand. Here the most important word is neither contemplation (prayer) nor action (mission) but "and." If either of the aspects is lacking, then it is not an authentic effort from our part. Passion for God is the same movement as compassion for humanity. There is no separation whatsoever.
As we say the devil lies in the details. But also, God lies in the details. Doing God's will is always rooted in the details of ordinary life. Our acceptance and allowing of God's steadfast love will spontaneously lead us into compassionate action. It is about living our lives with the awareness of the holiness of creation and the boundlessness of God’s mercy always and everywhere. This is the awareness that flows into loving service towards all beings. Therefore, to modify a statement from our Spiderman, with great love comes great responsibility. When we love, we are acting according to our deepest being, our deepest truth. We have to try to represent the Divine in all things and activities, and to stand up for justice and the dispossessed in a brutal society.
God is in the details. God is all that is happening at every moment. God is all that is.
For another reflection on the gospel passage,
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