As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do

Closing our eyes to our neighbor also blinds us to God. Whenever we encounter another person in love, we learn something new about God. Whenever our eyes are opened to acknowledge the other, we grow in the light of faith and knowledge of God. If we want to advance in the spiritual life, then, we must constantly be missionaries. – Pope Benedict XVI

Gospel Text: (MT 7:21-29)
Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.
Many will say to me on that day,
‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
Did we not drive out demons in your name?
Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’
Then I will declare to them solemnly,
‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’

“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.”

When Jesus finished these words,
the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority,
and not as their scribes.

How do we speak and behave like a Christian in our daily life? How do we define our testimony? How do we undertake the commandment of love in our life, whether personal, family, professional, etc.? Words and prayers without any commitment do not count, but only our desire to live in accordance with God's Will. Our prayer should always be an expression of our craving for doing good deeds along with a request for help, because we recognize our own failings.

The following well known words of Jesus apply today:
“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.”

I liken this to the weather warnings we hear over and over again, particularly this time of the year in the middle of the United States. We know what to do. We have advanced warnings provided by extremely sophisticated technology. Many times we choose to ignore those warnings because we don’t want to be inconvenienced. How often do we actually take inventory, prepare and make sure we have everything we may need in the event of disaster? How often do we live as the fool who built on sand? The fool may have had his head buried in the proverbial sand.

We can take time daily at least to listen to the words of God, and to act on them. We can take time to LIVE the gospel, for this is the will of the father. By doing so, our house will be a strong, safe refuge. The rains may fall, the winds may blow, but in times of trouble, our home will not collapse. We will have refuge in the Lord.

It may take a bit of work, but we can remember these words when listening to the “weather reports” of our day and planning our activities accordingly. We can do it daily and if we do it, our foundation will be like rock. We will have strength, and refuge in the storm.