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Gospel: Matthew 7: 21, 24-27
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.
“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.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Today’s Gospel is the conclusion of a long sermon by Jesus, centering around a person choosing to live either a moral or an immoral life.
Throughout his sermon, Jesus juxtaposes two different images: a wide gate versus a narrow one; sheep versus wolves; a good tree versus a rotten tree; true disciples versus false ones; and today, a house build on rock versus a house built on sand.
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Why must our foundation be solid rock, instead of sand?
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Both surfaces can be built upon… until the floods come rushing in.
The rock withstands the force, while the sand is washed away grain by grain, splitting whatever was built upon it. Such is the person who lives an immoral life. They snap under pressure, give into temptation, and ultimately succumb to divine judgment.
Notice Jesus never guarantees his disciples a pain free life; everyone will experience an occasional storm. And, in some cases, our suffering only increases when we choose to follow him.
Walking the steep path of virtue can be trying; trusting in God demands patience; building our lives upon divine mysteries is difficult.
But the truly wise in this world not only recognize the divinity of Christ; they also recognize him as their firm foundation, so much so that no trial sweeps away their character, their hope, or their faith. Rather, they stand upon solid rock.
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When did I face a storm or crisis in life? Was Christ my firm foundation? What difference did it make?
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May the Lord grant us the grace, not only to hear his Word, but also to build our lives upon it so that nothing, not even death, can sweep us away.
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Image credits: (1) theLLabBB (2) House Built on Rock, Debbie Clark, Etsy (3) Adobe stock