Acting on the Word

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

Today's Gospel passage falls easily under the old maxim, "Actions speak louder than words."

I am not certain what the origin of the word is, but perhaps you have heard the term "schmoozer" or "schmoozing." Although the terminology may be new, the connotation of the word is as old as the hills. There have always been certain people who fawn over celebrities or people of importance. It is to these types of people that Jesus is speaking in today's Gospel passage. "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." (Matthew 7:21) He goes on to describe the person who acts as opposed to the person who simply speaks the right words using the metaphor of the builder who fails to provide a strong foundation.

The context of this passage is the end of the chapters which are familiarly known as "The Sermon on the Mount." Throughout the so-called sermon, Jesus has challenged the hearers to go beyond the traditional expectations of the Law, to remember the heart of the Law, as it is expressed in the Hebrew word "hesed" (loving kindness). A major theme in St. Matthew's Gospel is the notion of acting on what is heard. The true disciple is the one who not only hears but who acts on what he/she has heard.

In this context it is especially important to recall the universal call to holiness. While it is important to spend time listening, a prayerful attitude indeed, it is just as important to bear the fruit of that listening as we heard in yesterday's Gospel passage. That can only be done through acting on the Word we hear in prayer. This is the path to holiness, the narrow and constricted path of which Jesus spoke in Tuesday's Gospel passage.