USCCB - (NAB) - June 25, 2009

USCCB - (NAB) - June 25, 2009:
"Gospel
Mt 7:21-29

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.
Many will say to me on that day,
'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
Did we not drive out demons in your name?
Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?'
Then I will declare to them solemnly,
'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'"

Today's Gospel seems kind of harsh...I mean these people were obviously doing some 'good' things. So, why do you suppose the Lord said 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers?'

I think this goes back to yesterday's message. Just because something is 'good' doesn't mean that it is good for us. We need to be in relationship with Our Lord and listen to His voice and will for our own lives. You have to know Him, before you can know what He wants from you.

Sitting Tight : A Catholic Reflection: "'Go back...and submit.' –Genesis 16:9
God told Abram: 'Don't just do something, sit there.' God did not need Abram to have a son by Sarai's maid to help God fulfill His promises (see Gn 15:4). Then Sarai's maid, Hagar, tried to help God protect her by fleeing into the wilderness. God told her to go back and stay put (Gn 16:9). Sometimes the best thing we can do is nothing. For example, the Lord told Moses that He would fight for the Israelites against the Egyptians. Moses had 'only to keep still' (Ex 14:14). Isaiah prophesied: 'By waiting and by calm you shall be saved, in quiet and in trust your strength lies' (Is 30:15)."

Here is an excerpt from Uniformity with God's Will by St. Alphonsus Liguori: Please go read the entire thing...it is awesome.

"Perfection is founded entirely on the love of God: “Charity is the bond of perfection22 Col. 3:14.;” and perfect love of God means the complete union of our will with God’s: “The principal effect of love is so to unite the wills of those who love each other as to make them will the same things33 St. Denis Areop. De Div. Nom. c. 4..” It follows then, that the more one unites his will with the divine will, the greater will be his love of God. Mortification, meditation, receiving Holy Communion, acts of fraternal charity are all certainly pleasing to God—but only when they are in accordance with his will. When they do not accord with God’s will, he not only finds no pleasure in them, but he even rejects them utterly and punishes them.

To illustrate:—A man has two servants. One works unremittingly all day long— but according to his own devices; the other, conceivably, works less, but he does do what he is told. This latter of course is going to find favor in the eyes of his master; the other will not. Now, in applying this example, we may ask: Why should we perform actions for God’s glory if they are not going to be acceptable to him? God does not want sacrifices, the prophet Samuel told King Saul, but he does want obedience to his will: “Doth the Lord desire holocausts and victims, and not rather that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifices; and to hearken, rather than to offer the fat of rams. Because it is like the sin of witchcraft to rebel; and like the crime of idolatry to refuse to obey44 1 Kings, 15:22, 23..” Theman who follows his own will independently of God’s, is guilty of a kind of idolatry. Instead of adoring God’s will, he, in a certain sense, adores his own."

This next excerpt really spoke to me. I like what he has to say about making use of 'ordinary remedies'.

4. It is especially necessary that we be resigned in corporal infirmities. We should willingly embrace them in the manner and for the length of time that God wills. We ought to make use of the ordinary remedies in time of sickness— such is God’s will; but if they are not effective, let us unite ourselves to God’s will and this will be better for us than would be our restoration to health. Let us say: “Lord, I wish neither to be well nor to remain sick; I want only what thou wilt.” Certainly, it is more virtuous not to repine in times of painful illness; still and all, when our sufferings are excessive, it is not wrong to let our friends know what we are enduring, and also to ask God to free us from our sufferings. Let it be understood, however, that the sufferings here referred to are actually excessive. It often happens that some, on the occasion of a slight illness, or even a slight indisposition, want the whole world to stand still and sympathize with them in their illnesses.