Mt 7:21, 24-27
Jesus said to his disciples:
"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.
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."
"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.
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."
OK, I don't know how relevant this is going to be, but I just have to share; tonight we had communal reconciliation at St. Leo's. For anyone not familiar, it's a prayer service with music, scripture and a reflection and then people are given the opportunity to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation by confessing their sins to a priest, praying the act of contrition, and receiving forgiveness and grace. It's a beautiful sacrament. I've been to communal reconciliation at a lot of retreats, but I've never been to it at St. Leo's and I was in for a surprise! Father got done with his part and sent the 5 priests off to their "places" to begin meeting with people individually, they didn't so much as get seated in their chairs when all the sudden almost the entire congregation was on their feet swarming to the priests. In just a matter of minutes the lines were 20 or 30 people long waiting to meet with Jesus in the sacrament. Once those left in the pews realized what was happening, they hurried to jump in line too!
Now, I couldn't help but let out a little chuckle as I was watching all this happen, and I thought, "I am either witnessing something very beautiful or very sad." Because I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, we're going to say I witnessed something very beautiful tonight. That the people in that church were so moved by the scripture, so moved by the love of their Father and so eager to be reuinted with Him that they couldn't wait even one more second and they had to get up and run to Him. I think what happened in that church tonight is exactly what would happen if Jesus physically walked into the church. I think we would jump up, swarm to him, wanting nothing more than to embrace Him, and feel his healing touch. I doubt anybody would be thinking, hurry up and get to him first so we can go home first. I guess this does go right back to building our houses on rock or sand. Do we see our encounters with Jesus as tasks to check off our list, or as important as the air we breathe? The things I place importance in tells me where I'm building my house. Where I spend my time is where I choose to build my house. The words I use, the way I prioritze my life, the way I treat my family, the way I treat strangers, the way I celebrate Christmas....they are all decisions that set me either on the sand or the rock of Christ.
Now, I couldn't help but let out a little chuckle as I was watching all this happen, and I thought, "I am either witnessing something very beautiful or very sad." Because I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, we're going to say I witnessed something very beautiful tonight. That the people in that church were so moved by the scripture, so moved by the love of their Father and so eager to be reuinted with Him that they couldn't wait even one more second and they had to get up and run to Him. I think what happened in that church tonight is exactly what would happen if Jesus physically walked into the church. I think we would jump up, swarm to him, wanting nothing more than to embrace Him, and feel his healing touch. I doubt anybody would be thinking, hurry up and get to him first so we can go home first. I guess this does go right back to building our houses on rock or sand. Do we see our encounters with Jesus as tasks to check off our list, or as important as the air we breathe? The things I place importance in tells me where I'm building my house. Where I spend my time is where I choose to build my house. The words I use, the way I prioritze my life, the way I treat my family, the way I treat strangers, the way I celebrate Christmas....they are all decisions that set me either on the sand or the rock of Christ.
I have heard His words, there are no excuses there, how am I going to act on them? I'm starting with Christmas Stockings. Following the footsteps of St. Nicholas, filling our stockings with good deeds. Filling our own stockings with slips of paper with all the good deeds we did for others that day. Filling each others stockings with prayers we are offering for them, kind words, encouragement, and treats. Hopefully they are STUFFED by the time Christmas is here!
Jesus, thank you for the blessings you give us in the sacraments, most of all the opportunity to meet with you in an amazing way. Help me to remember each sacrament, each prayer, each moment of the day that you are present with me. It is so easy to let other less-important things get in the way and seem more important. When that happens, remind me, and re-focus my heart. Amen.
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