9th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Romans 3:21-25a-28
Matthew 7:21-27
“…everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock…”
The lesson of today's readings may surely remind us of the sad past we had with our separated brother Protestants during the reformation. As we look at it today, we are not so much instigated to revive any doctrinal controversy with a polemic attitude as we are inspired to share evangelical thoughts in the spirit of ecumenism. Nonetheless, our apostolic mission requires us to take this as an opportunity to explain once more the faith we have in our catholic orthodoxy.
Today’s gospel brings us to the conclusion of the Matthean version of the Sermon on the Mount. From the lengthy discourse which we practically treated the previous Sundays, the sermon concludes that not everybody cries out “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Today, therefore, we are invited to meditate on faith and good works as the essential and inseparable constitutive of authentic faith.
1. We start our reflection with the second reading. Paul's letter to the Romans is Luther’s favorite. We must remember with enough amount of admiration how zealous Luther must have been in explaining the importance of faith before man's sinful nature. True, even experience tells us how man is so vulnerable. Now and then, he falls. His efforts to be faithful, however great, most often still fail. It seems no hope to this desperate situation, but a strong faith in God's mercy. Not even good works seem a consolation for Justification We are almost tempted to think that salvation is totally independent from any man's doing. And it is at this point that Protestants and Catholics have to take separate ways. While Luther preaches his "sola fide” (faith alone) as the only road to justification, we believe that faith plus good works are the keys to the gates of salvation.
We are justified by faith in Christ. This is one noble truth Paul explains in his letter. But this Pauline justice is not the opposite of kindness and goodness, as Luther probably thinks it is. God's justice includes both. Besides, even in the Old Testament, we discover that God’s justice is contrasted with his wrath. And Paul seems to follow this line of thinking. So, to say that man is totally corrupted inside out, that he is unable to rise by any means of good work, and that only faith in Christ is he justified, seem not to fit into the whole context of Pauline justice. Had this been the case, Paul .would be contradicting himself as he describes the role of good works in the encomium of love (cf 1Cor 13:1-3). And not only himself but other scripture passages which clearly demonstrate both the importance and the necessity of good works. Such is our gospel today.
2. “It is not those who say, ‘Lord, Lord,’ who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.” --- The determinant factor, therefore, is doing the will of the Father. Now, the question follows: what is the will of the Father? Going to mass everyday? Reciting novenas, rosaries and all other devotions? Repeating ejaculations such as “I believe in Christ for only in this belief will I be justified" a thousand times a week?
It is quite interesting to note that the words in today’s gospel run parallel - and in fact carry the same expression - with those of the parable of the sheep and the goats (cf Mt 25:31 ff). And more importantly, the two refer to the same subject; the commandment of love. It is certainly non-conflicting if those devotions we mention above are done out of love. They become acts of love and are counted among those belonging too to the Father's will, at least in the broader sense. After all, they are expressions of piety and religiosity taught by the church. So too, much less is it conflicting to have strong faith in Christ as our personal savior. This is in fact one of the most important messages that runs through the pages of the New Testament.
Notwithstanding their importance and significance,
however, it seems that at the final count down, questions like "How
many masses did you attend, novenas did you pray, rosaries did you
recite?" would not be
the most likely ones the Father would ask.
Not even the question of faith, like “Did
you believe in me?” would
be. Perhaps in the broadest sense, we may enlarge the meaning of it. But going
back to the scripture and reading it in its face value, we discover that the final
question is regarding charity to one's neighbor, and the ultimate gate pass we
can present before heaven's entry is the amount of charity we showed or did to
our neighbor during our life time on earth. And this means giving food to the hungry,
drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, welcome to strangers and visit to
the sick and those in prison. Doing such acts of charity to one’s neighbor is
doing the Father's will. For doing them to a neighbor is just doing the same to
the Lord. "I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the
least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”
3. It
is no wonder, therefore, why Jesus compares the man who hears his words and acts
on them with that sensible fellow who builds his house upon the rock, while the other who also hears but acts not is
likened to that stupid guy who builds his house on sand. The first is just the
man who believes and works, while the second is just him who keeps on believing
and believing without doing anything. This is the evangelic wisdom which St. James
explains so beautifully and intelligently in his own letter: “Take the
case, my brothers, of someone who has never done a single good act but claims that
he has faith. Will that faith save him? If one of the brothers or
one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on,
and one of you says to them, ‘I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat
plenty,’ without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is
that? Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite dead.”
4. The comparison in the parable has one more thing to add. It seems to suggest that authentic faith is something internal. It is something solid as a rock; strongly founded upon a rock. Only with such kind of faith can good works overflow, just as only from a good tree can come a good fruit. Only a faith so strongly founded can sustain and maintain good works amidst the tests of time. Experience teaches us how difficult it is to be good and to do good. And much more difficult is the task of maintaining it. At times, it becomes so tiresome and even discouraging. So, if ever the saints are able to be consistent up to the finish line despite perhaps of the many falls along the road, it is because of the "energy" of faith that keeps them on and on. Strong and deep-seated faith is, therefore, equally important. True, good works are a test of faith. But it is also equally true that faith enables one to perform good works.
“…everyone who listens to
these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his
house on rock..."