December 05, 2013

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.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved http://www.usccb.org/bible/approved-translations

Contemplatives in Action

I want to do God's will, but how do I know what God's will for me is? Every day we are confronted with seemingly endless options for how to spend our time: what to do, what to eat, what to read, how to interact with the people around us. Add to these decisions the bigger questions about our life, career, and family, and we have a lot on our plate to discern! How can we manage to know and follow God's will in all these decisions?

In the Gospel today, Jesus invites us to do God's will. Thankfully, he gives us not only an invitation but also a strategy: first, listen to his words, and then, act on them. Or in Jesuit-speak: be a contemplative in action. Both parts in the process are essential. In our lives, we spend so much time doing, but how much time do we spend listening?

I often get so caught up in all the things I need to do that I forget to (or make excuses not to) spend time listening to Jesus. And when I do make time for prayer, I often end up voicing my own needs and desires rather than silencing myself in order to hear what God might have to say.

Perhaps Jesus is inviting us this Advent to spend a little more time quieting ourselves in prayer so we may listen to his words in scripture and in our hearts. As we hear and feel deeply Jesus' love and invitation, we will find ourselves living out of that love each day. We will find ourselves doing God's will.

How will you listen to Jesus' words and act on them this Advent?

—Thomas Bambrick, S.J. is a Jesuit scholastic in First Studies, studying philosophy at Fordham University, New York.

Prayer

We ask, Lord, for the grace to never stop praying and to never lose the faith. We ask to remain humble, and so not to become closed, which closes the way to the Lord.