Saturday of Week 23 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
1 Corinthians 10:14-22 | Psalm 115:12-13,17-18 | Luke 6:43-49
In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that our faith must be built on a firm foundation, in order to withstand the tempests of evil. I’m reminded of an old hymn we hardly sing any more:
Christ is made the sure foundation,
Christ, our head and cornerstone,
chosen of the Lord and precious,
binding all the Church in one;
holy Zion’s help forever,
and our confidence alone.
But if Christ is to be an integral part of our foundation, who helps us lay the whole thing?
In the building world, you’d want a skilled construction crew, able to pour the concrete properly and smooth it out, without air pockets and other defects that could cause the building above it to crumble unexpectedly.
In personal terms, we’re looking at the company we keep: our friends, colleagues, bosses, priests, lay ministers and everyone else who plays a part in our lives. Each person can either teach us by example to be better Christians, or seduce us to the Dark Side. The quality of our faith is derived from the sum of all these influences, and we should be wary of any “Swiss cheese” areas, situations in which we are beset by Satan’s wiles…and have been weakened by his human minions.
So, it behooves us to choose our “foundation crew” wisely, and not be afraid to part ways with those who would drag us downward into debauchery, mean-spiritedness or just plain isolation from our Creator.
Lord, open our eyes to see the qualities of love and mercy in the people who are a part of our lives, and to deflect those who would lead us away from You. Amen.