2022 12 1 Homily Cycle II 1 wk Advent  Thurs Mt 7 21-27 Listen and act build on rock or sand

Focus of homily – be doers of the word

Today’s gospel passage is the end of the Sermon on the Mount considered by many to be the heart of the gospels and the outline of the new righteousness that Jesus has called us to

Jesus presents us with two types of people 

Focus of Homily – be doers of the word

In Today’s gospel passage Jesus presents us with two types of people 

Jesus often presents us with two types of people or two choices to make. For example

The prodigal son and the older son

The pharisee and the tax collector

The narrow gate and the wide gate

The rich man and the poor man

Jesus is calling us to decide what type of person we are more like.

In today’s gospel we again have two people.

both people listen to the word of God

However, one person listens and then acts on the word of God

The other person listens but does not act on the word of God. 

Jesus calls the one who acts in accord with the word of God, one who builds the foundation of their life on rock.

However, the one who does not act according to the word of God Jesus says it’s someone who builds his life on ground without a foundation

The person who listens to God’s word but does not act according to that word is someone like me prior to my spiritual awakening. I went to church. I figured if I gave God an hour on Sunday, I could do what I wanted the rest of the time. My life was no different than the rest of the world. God’s word did not have a big influence on my life.

According to Jesus, both people faced flooding that could take down their house.  Hurricanes either literal hurricanes like Katrina that hit New Orleans in 2005 causing over 1800 deaths or figurative hurricanes like sickness and trial. 

The implication is that whether we follow God or not we will face trials and difficulties in our lives.

So what is the good news here? If it doesn’t matter whether I follow Christ or not I’m still going to face storms in life. The storms of life will come to all of us.

The difference is if we act on God’s words and follow God’s words, God will bring us through life’s storms. 

And so, let us be doers of the word and not just listeners.