WOLF AT THE DOOR


“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 then who hears 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 beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”

Whenever I read this I am reminded of the fable about the Three Little Pigs. Do you know the story? Three pigs built houses for themselves. One makes it out of straw, another out of sticks, and the third out of bricks. A Big Bad Wolf comes and he huffs and he puffs and he blows the first house down and gobbles up the pig. He does the same thing to the second house and the second pig. But he is unable to destroy the third pig’s house. And whenever I think of this fable I am reminded of Peter’s advice to “be alert and sober at all times because our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (cf. 1 Peter 5:8). 

I imagine the devil to be like the Big Bad Wolf huffing and puffing trying to blow our houses down. And our houses, if not solid, will fall down and he will devour us. So how do we make our houses strong? Paul tells us.  In his first letter to the Corinthians, he writes (and I paraphrase): “By the grace of God, I laid a foundation as a wise builder. But every one should build with care because you can’t lay a foundation other than one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. One day this will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work” (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15).

Jesus has to be the foundation of our houses, which of course, is a euphemism for our lives. Which means he has to be the Lord of our lives. It isn’t enough that we say, “Yes, Lord!” We have to do what he asks us to do. But unfortunately, we tend to be very selective about what we do, don’t we? If it suits us, we are only too happy to do what he asks us to do, but if it doesn’t, Jesus could take a hike. The danger is that WE might end up taking a hike, to destinations we would rather not go to. 

As Jesus says, “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.” And then he says this, although it is omitted from today’s reading. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!

The wolf is at the door. How strong is your house?                                                          

Watch a  video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/H6Ms_KoTZ_k



 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let’s Get Healed - A Reflection on Matthew 18:21-19:1

Image
  Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, an
Read more

Patience - A Reflection on Luke 2:33-35.

Image
  And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”   This is probably the shortest passage that we have reflected upon this year. In it, we find a man named Simeon making a prophecy about three things. One, about Jesus. Two, about the people of Israel. And three, about the pain that Jesus’ mother Mary would go through. We have seen all his prophecies came true. But who is Simeon? And what can we learn from him? Ok. On the 40th day of his birth, Jesus is taken by Mary and Joseph to the temple to be officially inducted into the Jewish faith. When they were there, a man named Simeon came in to see them.   He is described as “righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the H
Read more

What’s In It For Me? - A Reflection on Matthew 19:23-30

Image
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, “Then who can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Then Peter said in reply, “Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the la
Read more