Mt 7:21, 24-27 Laying Down A Solid Foundation in Christ

Thursday of the First Week of Advent
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Jesus said to his disciples:  "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 Rock.  As every house requires a solid foundation, so too every human being. 

For dear life we need something solid to hold on to.  What will you hold on to?  Let's choose the Lord.  Let us make Him the rock of our salvation and the rock that anchors our life. 

Life can be crazy, especially when surrounded by crazy people.  I need something - someone - in my life that will keep me steady, so that I am not always flying off the handle.  The Lord is my rock.  He is my fortress, my stronghold.

It's not easy to live with a man.  I am sure that every woman (wife and mother) would agree with me.  Now imagine living with three grown men!  It's not easy at all!  Just this morning I saw something that could have easily put me into a tailspin.  Thankfully, I was running late for Mass, so I didn't give someone a piece of my mind.  But I was still thinking about it, even while I began the Mass.  It took the Gospel passage - Christ's words - to remind me:  relax.  Take it easy.  Breathe in.  Breathe out.  

Whoever listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool... 

Wow!  Holy, Holy, Holy Lord!  Do I act like a fool?  Do I act like some crazy bird, smashing into the window over and over again?

I need a rock.  I need some solid ground.  I need a role model.  I need an example that I can look up to, a star I can point to.  Christ is the center of my life.  He is the standard and the model of my life.

Now what I find most amazing about the Lord is his brilliance and lack of any specialized education.  He didn't go to Greece to learn philosophy and art.  He didn't go to Rome to learn oratory and civility.  He didn't study business at Harvard.  He didn't study medicine at John Hopkins.  Instead, He stayed in Israel and taught civility, philosophy, while practicing medicine and speech.  And if you don't know it by now, He is the inspiration and founder of one of the largest "organizations" in the world that has spread throughout the world by plowshares, not by swords. 

Only when the time had come, did He reveal himself to the world:  I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.   And it never went to His head.  Before that, He would break bread with sinners.  After that, he would break bread with sinners.  Today, through His Vicar on Earth, He sneaks out of his palace to break bread with the homeless.

Jesus is greater than any political leader that ever lived and any modern military leader that ever won, for he conquered friends and foes in a manner that is no less than "revolutionary":  through love.  The Lord's men and women conquered an entire empire in a manner that is no less than a miraclous:  by the sign of His Cross.   

The Lord is truly a rock, for his words remain as true and as relevant as the first day he spoke them.  Don't you love it?

Now "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. 

Amazing!  Absolutely amazing!  Like a true leader, it doesn't matter to Him if we give Him credit.  What matters most is that we get the job done.

Advent is all about getting to work and laying down a solid foundation in Christ Jesus.