Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
Like everything else that is worth our attention, faith requires discipline, courage and perseverance. It is not awarded to the faint of heart for being nice people. Nice people are a-dime-a-dozen, but truly faithful people are rare.
Our response today – “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” -- echoes the Sanctus from our Mass, and is based on Psalm 118, verse 26. But it also recalls the shout of Jerusalem as Jesus entered the city, five days before his Passion. If the citizenry was excited about his coming, it was not prepared to walk to Calvary with him. Because of that incident, the acclamation is tinged with irony and reminds us of Jesus’ warning:
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.
In our Office of Readings, last week we read the Second Letter of Saint Peter and I noticed, as if for the first time, the Apostle’s harsh words for faithless Christians:
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions. They will even deny the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
With these words Saint Peter reminds the faithful their salvation is not assured; they must guard against the false prophets and their false teachings.
We must build our house of faith on the solid rock of Jesus’ gospel; we must be disciplined by the practices of penance, prayer and obedience. Advent invites us to quiet, intense and penitential preparation like that of a household preparing for a baby about to be born: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.