Jesus said in today’s gospel that, “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.”
If you have ever experienced a crisis in your life, then you can certainly relate to today’s gospel. Many people have experienced an episode in their lives when it seemed like everything was falling apart. Sometimes our lives actually do fall apart because of the break up of a relationship, a death in the family, a sudden job loss, or other major, life altering events. It can seem like the end of the world when it happens.
However, when a crisis happens, it can cause a person to realize what they actually valued in life. Did they ‘put all their eggs in one basket’ so to speak? Maybe they put their entire heart into a relationship, a job, financial security, a home, children, a business, etc. If the unthinkable happens, and the very thing that they put their whole life into is unexpectedly taken from them, what’s left?
That’s the point of the gospel today. What is it that we value in life? What have we spent our time, energy and efforts into? Life is always changing, whether we want it to or not. Life doesn’t just continue on the way it always has been, for the rest of our lives. Sometimes, the changes we go through in life can be a smoother transition if we have genuinely placed our faith in God, and in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the most important relationship we have in life. Anything other than God and Jesus Christ, can change during the course of our lives. However, it does help to have a good support network of family and friends, when you transition through a major change in your life.
It also helps to attend Mass regularly and be a part of your faith community. Not just go to Mass every week, but also develop some personal relationships in the church too. If something happened that you lost your spouse, a child, or your best friend, then your faith community can be such a wonderful source of friendship and support. No one goes through life alone, even if you are single or have no family. We are still your family, and will be there to the very end of your life. Our faces may change, but the Body of Christ remains with us, wherever we go.
Saint Paul explained this very beautifully, in the first reading for Mass:
“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the Body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one Body, for we all partake of the one loaf.”
No one is alone. We do not travel through life alone. Indeed we never will. Our transitions in life, will always be supported by God’s grace, and the companionship of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even if we should live a solitary life, Christ is with us. Many saints lived alone in prison cells, or in solitary confinement like Saint John of the Cross, or in the desert, like the desert fathers. Tradition has it that Mary Magdalene spent the remainder of her life alone, wandering in the desert. But, Christ was her constant companion. Jesus was the bedrock of her life, the foundation of her existence, and he was enough. If we lost everything else in our lives, would Jesus be enough for us too?
Daily Mass Readings:
1 Corinthians 10: 14-22 / Psalm 116 / Luke 6: 43-49
