Sleeting on Solid Rock

Thursday of the First Week of Advent

Gospel of Matthew 7:21, 24-27
Isaiah 26:1-6

"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.

Arctic Blast  Today the weather reports buzz about the arctic blast  scheduled to arrive in the Dallas area by 6 pm this evening.  Temps will drop into the 20's and even teens with freezing rain, sleet, and ice accumulation on streets. Usually when we experience one of our ice blasts the city totally shuts down.  Nobody can drive in the stuff!  I usually don't mind ice days when work is closed.  However, this particular weekend I have three events scheduled including a Christmas party, an alumni reunion and a university lecture.  Bad timing for a winter ice storm!  If I am stuck inside for three days, I plan to catch up on a ton of reading.  I have three books in process including Pope Francis' new Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium and Saint Catherine of Siena's The Dialogue.

I love these words from Saint Catherine of Siena:

Virtue is proved in difficulty just as gold is proved in fire.  For     if in difficulties we were to give no genuine proof of patience but try to avoid the difficulty...this would be a clear sign that we were not serving our Creator, that we were not letting ourselves be governed by him in accepting humbly and love whatever our Lord gives us.

So if I'm unable to travel to fun holiday events or to work its definitely God's will.  I don't want to be the fool who built his house on sand to have it crash down when the floods came.  If I try to venture out in my car on icy streets, I may just spin out and crash into a median or another car!  Our Lord is solid as a rock.  He's protective and always knows what's best.

"Lord, Lord!"  I can hear people exclaiming their love for Christ.  They all figure they will be accepted into the Kingdom of Heaven:

 "Oh, I'm definitely making it to heaven.  I've been an upstanding citizen and so involved in my parish."
 --This husband is abusing his wife and children.

"Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.  Keep Christ in Christmas.  I see heaven in my future!"
--This mom passes out drunk every night while her child sleeps in a crib.

"Oh, I love Jesus so much!  I pray every night and attend Mass weekly.  Kingdom of Heaven is destined for me."
--This man is embezzling money from his investment firm.

"Lord, Lord!  Pick me!  Pick me!  I want to go to heaven, too!"
--This kid is a big bully in the classroom.

Our Lord frowns on lip service.  We can't "trick" God into admitting us into heaven by hiding our addictions, bad habits, and short-comings.  He already knows what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong.  Yes, we may be able to hide our faults and improprieties from others for a while. However, eventually our sinful ways will come to the surface.  Nothing stays hidden forever.

This Advent Season, let's make preparations to practice virtue and patience.  Let's build our faith on solid rock and not sandy soil.

-J.