The Will of God – Sermon by Father Levine

Fr. Joseph Levine; Holy Family Catholic Church and Missions, Burns, Oregon; September 27, 2026

The basic message of today’s Gospel is quite clear: it is not a matter of words but of deeds, not a matter of lip service but of actually doing God’s will, which is the same as doing the will of the Son of God made man, Jesus Christ, for the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God. So, Jesus says elsewhere, 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) Then he adds that everyone who hears these words of mine – referring to the whole Sermon on the Mount in particular – and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock. (Mt 7:24)

It is so important to do the will of God that often holiness is identified precisely with that. Nevertheless, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton teaches that we should not do the will of God in a lackadaisical manner, but in the manner he wills it and because he wills it. (Cf. Liturgy of the Hours, Vol I, pg. 1691) The first son in today’s Gospel is an example of repentance, but not of promptness in doing the will of God. Rather, we should consider the example of the holy angels about whom the Psalmist sings: Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will. (Ps 102[102]:20-21) When we pray ‘thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,’ we are begging for the grace to do the will of God with the promptness and perfection of the holy angels.

That, however, leads to the question, “What is the will of God? How do we know what he wants of us?” For it seems that some are under the impression that life should be a matter of asking God at each moment, “What should I do know?” and hearing a voice in reply, “Do this, avoid that.”

Yet, that is hardly necessary, since God has made known what he wants of us.

First of all, that we believe in his Son, Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, who gave his life on the Cross, dying for our sins and rising for our justification. Believing in Christ means both believing that he is the Son of God, our Savior, and entrusting our lives to him. Then, we must obey his law, the law of the covenant, given us in the Ten Commandments, expounded in depth by Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, interpreted under the guidance of the Holy Spirit through 2,000 years of the Church’s tradition, and summed up by him in the two-fold commandment to love God above all things and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Believing in Christ and obeying the commandments requires that we practice virtue, cultivating thereby the three theological virtues, faith, hope, and charity, and also the moral virtues, grouped around the four cardinal virtues, prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Christian fortitude requires embracing unavoidable suffering in union with Christ, in accordance with God’s will.

We do not do the will of God alone,  but living together in the covenant community of the Church, seeking to be united in the faith of the Church and sharing the love of Christ: being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or vain glory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others.

This is further specified according to the circumstances of each individual as defined by what are referred to as the duties of their state of life. The duties of a priest are one thing, of a monk, another. The duties of a husband and father are one thing; the duties of a wife and mother, another. So also a child has duties. Further, all of us live under some sort of authority, and so our duties are in some measured specified by the legitimate commands of those in authority over us.

All of this provides us with what me might call general guidance in understanding the will of God, but it leaves us still with much to decide when it comes to our concrete actions here and now. That leaves us with the indispensable role of the virtue of prudence. Prudence is not mere caution, playing it safe, though a reasonable caution is part of a prudent judgment. Rather, prudence is the virtue by which the mind judges how the commandments, virtues, and duties of our state of life are to be practiced concretely, here and now. Prudence is not infallible, but it is the mind’s best judgment in the circumstances. Yet, prudence does not hem and haw; rather, having made its best judgment, prudence acts, entrusting the result to God, aware that the best plans can go awry. This is what God wants of us. Prudence requires prayer before and after, but it is not as though we should expect to hear a voice saying, “Do this, avoid that.”

If we think about it, during each day we make many quick judgments about various things to be done. The more we pray, the more we try to live according to the teaching of the faith, the more we habitually examine ourselves, the more habituated we will become to making good judgments on the spot. Then there are the times when we are faced with a particular difficulty or challenge that requires serious thought and reflection on our part; we might even do well to ask advice of another. Again, we must pray for guidance, apply our minds, and make our best judgment, offering that to God, praying for the strength to carry it out well.

If we consider how little control we have about what we actually think and how difficult it can be to recall at the right time things we actually know, prayer is necessary that we might think the right thing, at the right time, so as to do the right thing.

Yet, even our best efforts, guided by faith and prayer, are not always sufficient without some special assistance through the Holy Spirit’s gift of counsel. We witness the most dramatic example of this in the case of St. Joseph, who, faced with his wife’s pregnancy, was perplexed about what God might be expecting of him, and after careful thought, the just man thought it best humbly to bow out in the face of such a mystery. (cf. Mt 1:19 RSV2CE) That was his prudent judgment, but the will of God required something more of him, which was then revealed by the angel in a dream: Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, for what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Mt 1:20-21, RSV2CE)

Yet, even in the face of an angelic message, prudence is still required; hence, when the Angel appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary, she asked a question, seeking better understanding of what was required of her (cf. Lk 1:34), before declaring, Behold, the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word. (Lk 1:38)

Now, I spoke about the will of God being made manifest through the duties of our state of life, which then requires the judgment of prudence in its application.

There is one special circumstance in the early part of life that always requires “discerning” the will of God, and that is in discovering one’s vocation in life, first of all either to the celibate or married state, then within the celibate life, there is for men the possibility of the priesthood and for men and women, the possibility of the religious life. Once a person is committed, the will of God requires fidelity to the commitment.

For discerning one’s vocation, prayer and prudent judgment again are necessary, as one must consider the objective good marriage, the priesthood, and the religious life, as well as one’s own circumstances, gifts, inclinations, and yes, even desires or attractions, as these might come from God.

One must also consider the objective impediments, obstacles, and difficulties, without forgetting that with God’s help we can overcome all obstacles, but in the case of certain grave obstacles we should not presume upon his help. For example, it would be one thing for a man to recognize that he has some bad habits that he would need to overcome, but with the help of God can overcome, in order to become a priest, and so choose to pursue the priesthood, and another for a man struggling with severe mental illness to choose to pursue the priesthood.

In this matter of discerning a vocation, there are mysterious lights and graces, or providential circumstances, that prove decisive, but no one should immediately discount the possibility just because he does not recognize any such thing in his life. I would say that any young Catholic man or woman should, at some point in his youth, pose the question to God and to himself, “Am I called to the celibate life for the kingdom of God, or am I called to marriage?”

Of course, in the case of a vocation to marriage, one might be faced with a painful question as the years go on, without having found a spouse, “What then is God asking of me in my life?” So, also, one might think he has discerned a vocation to the priesthood or religious life and find that he is turned down, in which case he must re-evaluate and ask painful questions. In any circumstance, a person should nevertheless trust that God does indeed have a plan for his life and that what might even seem lost time to his perspective might play a role in God’s plan.

Other matters of discernment that follow a similar pattern, but do not involve the whole of life, would be matters like changing jobs or moving.

In all this, we must always look to Christ as our model and teacher. In all this, we must pray to be conformed fully to the attitude of Christ as revealed by St. Paul in today’s 2^nd reading. To do the will of God, we must share the attitude of Christ, the Son of God.

He is most important, as God is most important, but becoming man, he did not present himself, either in the manger or when he began his work preaching and working miracles in Galilee and Judea, by saying, “Worship me!” Rather, he came among us as a servant, obeying the will of God, his Father, even to death on the Cross. We worship him now, not just because he is God, but because, as man, through his obedience, he won his exaltation at the right hand of the Father. He does not compel our hearts by force, but wins our hearts by the persuasion of his love, his example, his teaching, and his wisdom.

If we follow his path of humble obedience to the will of God, if we place ourselves at his service, then in due time we will be exalted with Christ forever.