God is Our Everlasting Rock (Thursday, Advent 1, St Francis Xavier)

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Introduction

Isaiah and Jesus are calling us to trust in God our everlasting rock. Francis Xavier heard the word of God from St Ignatius of Loyola; and from that moment he chose to build his “house”, his faith on the word which he heard. Today even as we celebrate him, his “house” is still standing; his legacies still unshakable; his reputation still rocklike and his faith-filled life still inspiring many. By his intercessions, may we choose to build our faith, our life and our all on God the everlasting rock who never fails, Amen!      


Homily Proper

The Bible has very deep images for us to reflect upon and think about so that we can understand our Christian life better. Yesterday, we reflected on the “MOUNTAIN”. Today, we have a word which appeared in the two readings: “ROCK”. In the first reading (cf. Isa. 26:1-6), Isaiah composed a prayer-song that will be sung in Judah on that day of the Lord. In that prayer, he says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in the Lord. Trust in the Lord always for the Lord God is an everlasting ROCK”. In the gospel (cf. Matt. 7:21.24-27), Jesus described the man who built his house on a rock as wise and the one who built his house on sand as foolish. 

Rock is known to be hard. It is not grainy like sand. Any house built on rock stands the elements (the storms of wind, water, etc) but the one built on sand must surely collapse. To trust the God our everlasting rock is to believe that His words and promises shall surely come to pass. He does not promise and fail; His words, His promises are always true and just. If we believe that His words are true, then we should be ready to keep those words. 

A Christian who has built his own life on a rocklike foundation trusts in God come what may. He is not like those who say “Lord, Lord! But don’t do what God has commanded to be done”. Such a Christian is one who seeks to do the will of the Father in every situation he/she may find himself/herself. Such a Christian does not just profess allegiance to Christ; he/she puts into practice what Christ has taught us. If we really want to have God as our rock on whom we can rely in every situation, then we cannot just remain at the realm of words. We must make efforts to put our faith into practice and transform our words into deeds.       


   


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