9th Sunday in Ordinary Time - March 6, 2011: Building A House on Rock

Click Here for the Mass Readings for the 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time - March 6, 2011 (Year A):

"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."  (Mt 7: 21, 24)

In this Sunday's Gospel passage we hear Jesus' final lesson from the "Sermon on the Mount".  His words are clear, strong, and spoken with the utmost seriousness.  Nothing could be clearer: putting His words into action means wisdom, while not acting upon them means foolishness.  With a few simple words Jesus makes it clear that God is no fool.  He will not be manipulated, nor tolerate His gifts to be used as a pretext for evil.  Instead, Jesus calls His followers to listen to Him with an open heart and act upon His words so the tempests of this life, which threaten our salvation, may not sweep us away to destruction.

Jesus unambiguously declares in the opening of the Gospel passage that doing the will of God is the indispensable key to gaining entrance to heaven.  He even dispels the most common arguments man so often uses to cloak his evil deeds: "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?'"  Prophesy, like the other gifts mentioned, such as driving out demons (exorcisms) and mighty deeds or miracles, are signs of God's power over all creation; gifts which Jesus promised to His disciples.  But here, Jesus warns that the gifts of God are not enough.  With the grace of God we must seek to know and fulfill the will of God in our day to day life - denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following the Lord in the concrete moments of our daily life.  The gifts and favors from God are meant to build up the faith, hope, and charity of all.  They are not meant to be abused or provide a "religious cloak" under which one can hide a heart closed to the will of our heavenly Father.

In the last half of this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus makes some very relevant points as He concludes the Sermon on the Mount with a brief analogy: "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock....And everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand."  As we see, simply listening to God and knowing what He said needs to be supported by a life lived in accord with God's will.  We cannot just listen and then never act; that is Jesus' definition of a fool.  So when we go to Sunday Mass and listen to God's Word, or read the Bible on our own, we should be asking God for the grace and wisdom necessary to put that word into action throughout the coming week.  We need to act on His Word.

Lastly, Jesus' analogy of the house being built on sand or rock teaches us another important fact of life.  If you reread this section of the Gospel passage carefully, you will see that irrespective of whether the house was built on rock or sand, both houses were subjected to the same disasters: "The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house."  The only difference is that one house falls and the other remains standing.  This is a very relevant point for all of us.

We may not notice it, but it's easy to fall into a sort of "calculated Christianity", where we pray, go to church, try and do good, and because of our actions we expect God should somehow be in debt to us - or at least spare us the big troubles, pain, and difficulties of life.  This is a dangerous, yet subtle, mentality that doesn't normally manifest itself until the storms of life begin buffeting "our house".  It is when the rain falls, the floods come, and the winds beat against the house that we can feel God is dealing unjustly with us.  Often times we then become angry, "disillusioned", or disappointed with God for not protecting us from the trials and sorrows of life.  In these situations we should recall that both the wise man and the fool underwent the same trials and storm.  There was never a promise that those who love God, listen to His words and put them into action would be spared pain and suffering - the lives of Jesus and Mary offer sufficient proof.  Indeed, the Lord allows storms in our lives to bring us light, reveal the quality of our "foundation", and free us from different forms of superstition so we can turn and seek Him in true faith.  What the Lord does promise us, however, is that our house will never collapse or be destroyed by the storms of life if we listen to Him in faith and sincerely strive, with the grace of God, to do His will.  Have a blessed Sunday!

(Photo of "The Cup of Christ's Passion" courtesy of Dcn. Lawrence Lew, O.P. )