December 07, 2017

Gospel: Mt 7:21, 24-27
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord! Lord!‘ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my heavenly Father.
“Therefore, anyone who hears these words of mine, and acts according to them, is like a wise man, who built his house on rock. The rain poured down, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house. But it did not collapse, because it was built on rock. But anyone who hears these words of mine, and does not act accordingly, is like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house; it collapsed, and what a terrible collapse that was!“

REFLECTION:
The readings from Isaiah and Matthew speak of the comparison of strength between a house built on solid rock and the one built on sand. The house on the solid rock does not fall. While the house on sand, is easily carried by flood and blown by wind.
We are joyfully expecting and hoping for Jesus to come. We want Him to come on Christmas as we celebrate His birthday. Why do we expect him? Why are we waiting for Him? What will He bring to us?
Jesus is the rock and the solid foundation of our life. Experience taught us many times, we stood up on our beliefs, on peoples‘ promises, on our strength, on our knowledge, at the end of the day we regretted, we failed. Jesus will come to teach us to build on Him and on His teachings.
How should we build our foundation of life? Jesus teaches: “anyone who hears these words of mine and does not act accordingly, is like a fool who built his house on the sand, the rain poured, the wind blew, it collapsed.“ Jesus is telling us today, what is the use of buying a car if we do not use it? Why go to a doctor if you will not follow his prescription and diagnosis? Jesus and His word is our solid rock foundation. St Augustine told us of his findings in life: “My soul is restless until it rested on God.“