Who may enter the kingdom of heaven?

Not all that says “Lord, Lord”will necessarily enter His Kingdom.

Those who do the will of the Father will, Simply offering lip service to faithfulness is not enough.

Witnessing to our faith with our lives is necessary.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Isaiah 26:1-6

On that day

This song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city, he himself has set up walls and fortifications to protect us.

Open the gates!

Let the righteous nation enter, she who is firm in faithfulness.

 You keep in perfect peace the one of steadfast mind, the one who trusts in you.

Trust in Yahweh forever, for Yahweh is an everlasting Rock.

He brought down those who dwell on high, he laid low the lofty city, he razed it to the ground, leveled it to the dust.

Now it is trampled; the poor and the lowly tread upon it.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Jesus said to his disciples, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my heavenly Father."

 

"Therefore, anyone who hears these words of mine, and acts according to them, is like a wise man, who built his house on rock.

The rain poured down, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house. But it did not collapse, because it was built on rock.

 

But anyone who hears these words of mine, and does not act accordingly, is like a fool who built his house on sand.

The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house; it collapsed, and what a terrible collapse that was!"

 

Ps 118:1 & 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"Jesus' true disciples."

Advent season is a time that invites us to examine our life as followers of Jesus. We are given four weeks to grow more in terms of our knowledge of Jesus,

the Word who became flesh. Moreover, Advent is also a time for us to practice what we already know about Jesus and his teachings.

The Gospel passage for today tells both of correct teaching and correct practice.

 

 

The Gospel pericope appears as the ending of the Sermon on the Mount that is found in Matthew 5-7.

It is in these Matthean chapters that the so-called Jesus' teachings on discipleship are found.

Today's Gospel, in no uncertain terms, tells that the one who does the will of the heavenly Father will enter the kingdom of heaven.

The true disciples will be the ones to enter the heavenly kingdom.

 

This indicates that there are also false disciples.

Those who may know the teachings taught by Jesus but do not practice them are the false disciples (cf. Mt. 21:30).

As we continue with our journey of faith this Advent, we bear in mind that Jesus' true disciples are

the ones who not only know Jesus' good teachings but also emulate Jesus' good example.