Built his house on rock

THURSDAY 5 DECEMBER (Mt 7.21-24-27)

Our rock is the Father. Rock of the Father, in the Holy Spirit, is Christ Jesus. Rock of Christ Jesus, always in the Holy Spirit, is the Church, but not every Church, but only the Church founded on Peter. What the Psalmist says of God, the Christian must say it of the Church, founded on Peter: “I love You, O Lord, my strength.” The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me. The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears. Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry. Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet” (Ps 18(17) 1-10). The Church founded on Peter must be this eternal rock on which everyone might build his house, without either fear or dread that it can collapse due to winds and rain.

When is the Church a true rock of salvation? When she is the true Word of Christ Jesus as Christ Jesus is the true Word of the Father. When every minister of the Word might say like Lord Jesus: “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day, because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me” (Jn 12,44-50). If the Church, in her Apostles and ministers of the Word, might not make this confession of faith, she will condemn the whole world to build its house on the sand of falsehood, lies, deceit, injustice and the thought of Satan. The responsibility is very high, because it is of eternal life, but also of eternal death. If the Church is the rock of Christ, whoever builds on her Word builds an eternal house. If she is not Christ’s rock, he who builds on her builds for hell.

“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.”

If the minister of the Word wants to be the rock of Christ, as Christ is the rock of the Father, he must preach with the same apostolic courage as Paul: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests through us the odor of the knowledge of him in every place. For we are the aroma of Christ for God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to the latter an odor of death that leads to death, to the former an odor of life that leads to life. Who is qualified for this? For we are not like the many who trade on the word of God; but as out of sincerity, indeed as from God and in the presence of God, we speak in Christ” (2Cor 2,14-17). Haggling the Word, selling and selling off Christ is useless. It is an illusion to think that we can build the house of the world on peace, excluding Christ. The Prince of Peace is Christ, and Peace, the true one, is built in Him, with Him and for Him.

Mother of God, Angels, Saints arrange that every Christian is the Rock of Christ Jesus.