Category: Uncategorized

***

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.

***

***

Part of the genius of Jesus was his ability to take ordinary things – a mustard seed, a fig tree, a sheep, a gate – and use them to describe heavenly mysteries like divine judgment, redemption, and eternal life.

In today’s Gospel, the Lord uses another simple image – a house built upon either rock or sand – to determine the fate of an individual.

Those listening directly to Christ’s teachings would’ve understood the point well. In ancient Palestine, the wadis and valleys were bone dry during the summer, providing a soft, easy surface to build a home upon.

However, anyone who did so would suffer from two fatal flaws: laziness and shortsightedness. When the winter rains came rushing in, the house – and the owner within – would be washed away.

On the other hand, a person who put the hard work of chiseling into rock would be able to withstand the buffeting winds and rain.

***

Notice the Lord does not say if a storm comes, but when.

We’ve all known the cold rush of “winter rains” – loss, unemployment, anxiety, trial or tribulation in some form. 

When trials come, those whose faith is rock solid will find the grace to withstand, enduring whatever may come with God’s patience and peace. Those who haven’t put the work into their spiritual life risk being swept away.

***

Can you think of a time when your faith sustained you in a storm? When did God grant you the grace of endurance?

***

May the words of the Psalmist also be our own, “The floods of water may reach high, but you they shall not overcome. You are my shelter, my hiding place, O LORD. In you I find my refuge.”

My house is built upon you, my Rock.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Adobe Stock (2) Freepik (3) Our Daily Bread, Pin Page

***

Isaiah 25: 6-10

On this mountain the LORD of hosts
will provide for all peoples
A feast of rich food and choice wines,
juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
the veil that veils all peoples,
The web that is woven over all nations;
he will destroy death forever.
The Lord GOD will wipe away
the tears from all faces;
The reproach of his people he will remove
from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.

On that day it will be said:
“Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!
This is the LORD for whom we looked;
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”
For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain.

The Word of the Lord.

***

***

Mountains are one of the most popular images used in the bible, appearing more than 500 times. The writers of both the New and Old Testaments were greatly familiar with them, as they dotted the terrain where the scriptures were written.

Mountains were seen as a meeting point between God, who dwells in the heavens, and his creation, dwelling here on earth. Thus, some of the most important passages in the bible occur on mountains. 

***

In the Old Testament, Moses received the 10 Commandments on a mountain. Jerusalem, the holy city containing the Temple – God’s dwelling place on earth – is also built upon a mountain.

In the New Testament, Jesus is tempted by Satan on a mountain. He preaches his first public sermon, the Beatitudes, on a mountain. He is transfigured before Peter, James, and John, upon a mountain, and is later crucified upon the mount of Calvary.

***

It’s fitting, then, as we begin our journey through Advent that the Church provides us with this vision from the prophet Isaiah in our first reading, who sees what happens at the end of time. 

God and his creation will commune together, sharing a heavenly meal on a mountain.

“On this mountain,” he says, “the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines… He will destroy death forever… and will wipe away the tears from all faces. On that day it will be said: Let us rejoice and be glad that God has saved us!’”

***

What a beautiful image of hope!

As we await that glorious day when we are one with God and one another, the Lord provides a feast of “rich food and choice wine” at Mass, his very own Body and Blood from the mount of this altar, to console and strengthen us on our pilgrim way.

May Jesus, who has loved us and given himself for us, guide us along the way of peace, as we journey together towards the eternal mountain of the Lord.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Bible Art (2) Rare Historical Photos, Mountains of the Holy Land, 1915 (3) Isaiah 2:1-5, YouTube

***

Isaiah: 11: 1-10

On that day,
A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A Spirit of counsel and of strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,
as water covers the sea.

On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the nations,
The Gentiles shall seek out,
for his dwelling shall be glorious.

The Word of the Lord.

***

***

We are constantly reminded in scripture that God does the impossible.

When darkness seems overwhelming, suddenly a light appears.

When hope is nearly lost, a door is opened.

Or, using the imagery from our first reading, when a tree is cut down to its roots, a shoot sprouts up, a bud blossoms. 

Life continues.

***

These words come from the prophet Isaiah while Israel is living in exile. Their land has been invaded, their homes destroyed, their king dethroned.

As the Psalmist cries out, “You have rejected and spurned your anointed. You have hurled down his throne to the ground. How long, O LORD?”  

Israel has been cut down like a tree to its stump. 

But the Lord promises them, “a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse.” Life will continue. A king will come, ushering in divine justice and everlasting peace.

***

We see this promise fulfilled in Jesus, the king and ruler of all. When God takes on flesh, he does the “impossible.”

When nailed to a tree and placed in a tomb, he does the impossible again, rising from the dead.

Time and time again, when God’s people are cut down to their roots, a shoot sprouts up, a bud blossoms. Life continues.

***

What’s the “stump” in my own life? What part of me seems cut down?

***

Advent is the time for us to renew our faith in the Lord, that whenever we feel reduced to our roots, a shoot shall sprout, a bud shall blossom.

New life is coming.

Come, Lord Jesus.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Kelley Lorencin (2) iStock (3) Pinterest