“Being a ‘convinced and committed’ Christian!”

(Based on 2 Kgs 24:8-17 and Mt 7:21-29 – Thursday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)

In the year 1974, under the oppressive Soviet regime, the famous Russian writer and Nobel Prize Laureate, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn knew that his arrest by the ruling regime was only a matter of time.

The system demanded conformity.
Everyone was expected to repeat what the State said…
… even if they no longer believed it.

But before he was arrested and exiled, Solzhenitsyn released one final message.

The essay was called, “Live not by lies!”

Solzhenitsyn understood that many people outwardly professed values they no longer truly believed…
… because they wanted comfort, security, or acceptance.

His challenge remains relevant for Christians today: Do we merely say “Lord, Lord,” or do we actually live according to the Lord’s will

Are we “convinced and committed Christians”…
… or are we “convenient and compromising Christians?”

The Gospel of the Day is a bold reminder and warning to us Christians from possessing such kind of a “colour-changing attitude”…
… professing one thing and living something else to suit the surroundings!

Jesus declares, “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the Kingdom of heaven, but he who does the Will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 7:21)

This Gospel passage is the conclusion of the spectacular Sermon on the Mount which began from Chapter 5 of the Gospel of St Matthew.

This great discourse and the brilliant exposition of the Christian teaching is concluded with two fundamental exhortations by Christ:

Be a doer of the Word, not just a listener
Have a strong foundation built on Him, rather than on the world!

Christianity, for some, becomes a soothing philosophy and a relaxing religion.

The mercy of the Lord… the love of the Father… the providence of God
… they become easy escape routes to avoid duties and responsibilities
The pious practices…the devout rituals… the spiritual exercises
… they sometimes get reduced to mere ‘relaxing’ techniques or ‘lifeless’ customs

It gets easy to merely say ‘Lord, Lord’ – but to live a life in witness to the Lord becomes a pain in the neck

It feels good to say, “Jesus, Jesus” – but to orient our actions and deeds, worthy of our vocation becomes a hard reality.

But this is the challenge that the Lord invites us to rise up to…

Being a person who seriously lives ones profession of faith and makes life a truly witnessing one!
Being a person who consciously makes efforts to be holy and saintly in order to give glory to the salvific act of the Lord, who shed His blood for us!

Towards this end, Jesus says that we need to have our faith and life built on the strong foundation of the Lord Himself!

To all who place their entire hope on worldly treasures or self-capabilities – like the house build on sand – are sure to collapse!
To all who build their entire trust on Jesus and His grace and goodness – like the house built on rock – are sure to remain firm!

Being a Christian is an exciting adventure.

There is lot of contentment… loads of peace… bundles of joy!

But there is also the danger of being snared by the pleasures or riches or temptations in the world…
… which constantly entices us to move away from the Lord and identify ourselves with the world.

Jesus says, “They do not belong to the world anymore… ” (Jn 17: 16)

St Peter says, “Your enemy, the devil, is prowling round, like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat. Stand up to him, strong in faith…” (1 Pt 5: 8-9)

Let us “live not by lies” but “in the Truth, in the Lord!”

Let us examine our Christian lives and check…

Am I a “committed and convinced” Christian?
… am I a “convenient and compromising” Christian?

God Bless! Live Jesus!