The Gospel and Rosary Tell Us to do Good Works

The Gospel for Sunday, March 6, 2011 is from Matthew 7:21-27. Jesus tells His disciples that those who hear His message but do not act on it will not enter His kingdom of Heaven. He calls on all of us to think beyond our earthly existence and realize that we have eternal souls that will live forever in either Heaven or in Hell. Whenever we pray the First Glorious Mystery of the rosary, we recall that Jesus rose to new life and desires all of us to join Him in Heaven. But we must make the conscious decision to live for Heaven in this life by staying in a state of grace lest we hear these words from the Gospel, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.”

The Gospel tells us that we must not only “talk the talk,” but also “walk the walk.” Jesus says that it is not enough to hear God’s Word and just proclaim that you love Him. We must back up our words with actions that put into practice Jesus’ teachings. What is interesting about this Gospel is that Jesus says He will deny some people entrance into Heaven although they did good works here on earth. What Jesus means is that those who are cut off from God’s grace by mortal sin will not enter Heaven despite their good deeds. You cannot erase mortal sin through good deeds alone. Jesus does not keep a list of ways sins can be forgiven like this:

Missing church = Give $100+ to charity
adultery = 12x volunteering at a soup kitchen
Cursing = Help a senior citizen cross the street

You could donate a million dollars to charity and that still will not absolve you of sin and bring you back into God’s grace. The only way to come back into God’s grace is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This sounds harsh, but Jesus wants us to love God first and have good works flow from that grace. Loving God above all else is what matters, not individual acts of charity.

We must remember that Heaven is our goal. When we pray the First Glorious Mystery of the rosary we recall that Jesus’ earthly death was not the end but only the beginning of His eternal reign as King of Heaven. Whether we like it or not, we do have souls that will live forever in either Heaven or Hell. We cannot opt for a third, neutral option. And the option between Heaven or Hell is just too important for anyone to leave it up to chance. I am often scared how relaxed some people are about where they will ultimately end up. Many believe that if they just live a neutral life, a little good and a little bad (but not too bad), Jesus will cut them a break. And while Jesus does show mercy, His teachings do not say that people can just live on auto-pilot and just slide into Heaven without a lot of effort. I’m not saying that we need to constantly stress out about going to Heaven or Hell, but we do need to realize that our actions in this life do determine where we spend all eternity.

Jesus told us that the wise ones will build on solid foundations while the foolish will not. In other words, the ones who live on solid, moral principles and do good works according to His teachings will see His Heavenly kingdom. That isn’t difficult to comprehend but can be hard to put into practice. So when you think about this Gospel or pray the rosary, really question where your focus lies. Are you focused on living for God’s kingdom by striving to be in a state of grace or for Satan’s kingdom by living in sin? Or, if you have not set a goal for where to spend all eternity, do you not think it’s time to start?