Here is an excerpt from today’s gospel reading, Matthew 7:21-27.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

So there it is.  Only the one who does the will of the Father will enter the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus doesn’t say that people who go to daily mass will go to heaven, or that people who pray the rosary daily will go to heaven.  Frequent mass, prayer, and devotions are admirable, but also meaningless unless the decisions of our everyday lives are framed by the teachings of Christ — the Word made flesh.  This is the easiest way for the non-mystical among us to discern the will of the Father — by his Word!

Unless we attempt to live the gospel, reading it is pointless.  Conversion isn’t something that is experienced solely in the privacy of one’s own home.  If we read Scripture and yet fail to live it, then we are nothing more than hypocrites.

The priest visiting our parish from India reminded us today that, “You may be the only gospel that someone ever reads.” Work to live the gospel, and you will surely plant the seed of conversion within someone — probably without even knowing it.