NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Year A

Readings

First Reading
Dt 11:18, 26–28, 32

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 31:2–3, 3–4, 17, 25

Second Reading
Rom 3:21–25, 28

Gospel
Mt 7:21–27

Meditation on Today’s Readings

Taken from the Vatican II Sunday and Weekday Missal
Written by Celia Sirois

It is generally acknowledged that the setting and structure of the Sermon on the Mount are patterned on Moses’ giving of the Law (Torah) to Israel on Mount Sinai (cf. Ex 19:20, 23:33; Dt 4:44, 26:19). The choice of an excerpt from Deuteronomy to accompany today’s Gospel, the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, calls attention to this relationship between the texts. Just as Moses sets two possibilities before his people—a blessing or a curse, for keeping or not keeping the commandments of the Lord—so does Jesus confront his disciples with two possibilities. They can build their lives on the secure foundation of his teaching or, failing to do that, they can build their lives on shifting sand and be utterly ruined.

In the teaching of both Moses and Jesus, blessing and curse, security and ruin all depend on doing the will of God. Paul insists in Romans that we are not saved by the law; but neither are we lawless. Crying, “Lord, Lord” is not enough. Only by doing the will of the heavenly Father can we, Jews and non-Jews alike, enter the kingdom of heaven.

The copyright for the Sunday Missal Introductions is:
Copyright (c) 2001, Daughters of St. Paul
The copyright for the Weekday Missal Introduction is:
Copyright (c) 2002, Daughters of St. Paul