Well Shiver Me Tenders.....

Hi Folks,

I was awoken this morning by the sound of storms coming through Cecilia. I turned on the TV and saw that I was not in much danger, but that there were tornadoes in Southern Indiana, in Eminence, Kentucky, and perhaps in Adair County. Later in the morning the news channels were already showing pictures of flattened houses. When I got to the office and read this weekend’s readings, about the houses that were built on rock and sand, it made me think again of my early morning wake up call.

The folks that help promote Habitat for Humanity say that the houses that they build are better built than other houses. There proof is that, when Hurricane Hugo blew ashore just south of Miami, the only houses that survived the devastation were the Habitat homes. There thinking is that both the volunteers that built the houses were so inexperienced at building homes, that when a joint called for two or three nails to be hammered there, they would hammer in 4 or 5 nails. They also believed that their houses were built on the faith in God of those same volunteers. I’m sure that the Habitat homes in Homestead, Florida were built on sandy ground, just like every other building in Florida is built on sandy ground. But, the reason why the Habitat homes survived in areas where no other homes survived has to be their true foundation.

Again the Gospel of Matthew calls us to build our lives on a trusting relationship with God. “Anyone who hears my Words, and puts them into practice, is like the wise man who built his house on the rock.” We can say we are faithful all that we’d like, but until we are willing to take the risk of living our faith we are just making noise. We say that the Church or somebody needs to do more to help others; or it needs to be more involved in respecting all human life; or we need to invite back those who have left the Church because of the abuse scandal or for some other reason; or we need to be more spiritual, or more forgiving, or more responsible, or more aware or the needs of all of its members and the needs of the community. Guess what? If you think that it needs to be done, DO IT! Make it important by committing to it. If it is meant to be then the Holy Spirit and the helping hands of others will make sure it gets done.

Our faith has been built upon the faith of many saints and relatives going before us. We are called today to be the faithful rock for the next generations.

paz,
Fr. Chuck