Gospel: June 26, 2025
June 26, 2025 (Thursday)
12th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 4 / (Green)
Ps 106:1b-2, 3-4a, 4b-5
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
1st Reading: Genesis 16:1-12, 15-16
(or 16:6b-12, 15-16)
Gospel: Matthew 7:21-29
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. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not speak in your name? Did we not cast out devils and perform many miracles in your name?’ Then I will tell them openly, ‘I have never known you; away from me, you evil people!’ “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!” When Jesus had finished this discourse, the crowds were struck by the way he taught, because he taught with authority, unlike their teachers of the law.
Reflection:
“Christ is our rock.”
Recent natural disasters have shown the importance of good foundations, as we have seen pictures of whole houses being swept away by flash floods or being reduced to matchwood. Jesus uses the image of building on rock to show how we are to build our lives on him, rather than on the shifting sands of fashionable ideologies or social trends. Christ is our rock.
He is the one who gives solidity and purpose to life, preventing us from being swept away by attitudes that are self-centered or driven by emotion. But how do we build our lives on Christ? By building up our relationship with him. This means that we know him, rather than just about him.
We get to know Christ personally through daily prayer, and not simply from knowing our catechism or from hearing an occasional sermon. Christ teaches that he will say, “I have never known you; away from me,” even to those who have carried out good works in his name.
They have used his name, but they didn’t know him, since they did it for themselves rather than for Christ. May our knowledge of Christ grow ever deeper, and our union ever stronger.
