Twelfth Thursday of Ordinary Time

“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.”

We can do the right things, but for the wrong reasons and this is why Jesus warns us today that not everyone who claims to follow him will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus’ gospel message is about much more than doing the right thing. It is also about doing the loving and good thing. If we have faith and hope without thoughts, words, and works of love, then we have an empty faith and a hollow hope. We must be on guard against feeling holier than others and thinking that our actions alone merit salvation. Only God knows our hearts and sometimes when we honestly reflect on the “good” things we have done, we sometimes will recognize how pride, envy, and other sins have tarnished them. This is not to say that we shouldn’t make the extra effort to do good, but rather that we should not pat ourselves on the back for the good God inspires us to do, especially in light of the good we have failed to do.

Do we do our good works enthusiastically, wholeheartedly, and with humility? Or do we complain, procrastinate, or take excessive pride in what we have done? How can we do both the right and loving thing?

O Lord, help us to love as you want us to so that when we die you might know us and we might know you, too.

Amen.