Today's Gospel reminds us of what the following of Jesus really means. People often confess that they have not said their morning and evening prayers or that they have not been to Mass. To neglect prayer is certainly not a good thing but perhaps we should listen carefully to what Jesus tells us today: "It is not those who say to me, 'Lord, Lord', who will enter the kingdom of heaven..." Saying prayers is a good thing but the following of Jesus is something more. It is above all, as Jesus says, doing God's will in my life. What is that will? It is that we identify fully with God's desire that his will be done in this world - by us. This means that we have constantly to find and recognise God's presence in every part of our world. And we have to help others to be aware of that presence also and we all work together to make this world the kind of place God wants it to be. We will not do that only by piously calling on God's name while ignoring the needs of our brothers and sisters. To do that is to build our house on sand.

That is not to say that prayer is not important. We cannot effectively do God's work unless we spend time listening to and responding to his Word. But our prayer is only genuine when it becomes the spur for us to go out and bring something of God's love and compassion into our world - especially that world in which we find ourselves.