Unshakeable Faith

𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐓. 𝟏𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐘𝐒𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐌, 𝐁𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝟏 𝐓𝐢𝐦 𝟏:𝟏𝟓-𝟏𝟕

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟑:𝟏-𝟕 “𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟔:𝟒𝟑-𝟒𝟗

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “…𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.” (𝒗.47)

“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒖𝒈 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕.” (𝒗.48)    

           I once worked as a sports columnist for a widely-circulated weekly sports magazine in the mid-70s and I admired my Editor-in-Chief whom I regarded as a walking basketball encyclopedia for he would not just regale us greenhorns in the field with an exact recollection of how the games were played and ended but he even had this uncanny ability to even remember the names and scores of players who were in a particular game especially a championship game.

          But that’s as far as he goes because there was one important thing he couldn’t do and that was to tell us about his athletic skills because he did not play basketball. This was not an isolated case as there are some self-proclaimed athletes who can mesmerize you with how a great game was played but they cannot talk to you about their own athletic abilities because they had none.

           I also decided to begin this reflection with 𝒗.48 as this is as timely as today’s headlines when we read and hear about the huge budgetary outlay amounting to almost P600-Billion that were misappropriated for flood control projects that were either built with sub-standard materials or were non-existent.

        This is the message behind this Gospel passage in 𝐋𝐊 𝟔:𝟒𝟑-𝟒𝟗 that reminds us that there are many who have the temerity to call Jesus as Lord yet their lives are opposed to their profession of faith. Which is why Jesus in the preceding gospel passages expressed consternation and tagged them as hypocrites.

And today He again addressed the people with an admonition: “𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆, ‘𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅,’ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒚?.” (𝒗.46) There was a reason for this so as to distinguish the proclamations and miracles being performed by false prophets and exorcists that abound in those days with the teachings and healing miracles that were attributed to Jesus and his disciples.

          In fact, there were many instances when such healings were being performed in the name of God by those who are outside of the circle of Jesus. But many of those who could do these things were doing it to gain fame and fortune and this was what Jesus was referring to in this verse.

          What Jesus was simply saying was that not everyone who talks about heaven belongs to the Kingdom of God. Jesus was more concerned about walking rather than talking. What He wants is for His disciples to do what was right and not just say what was right. And this is also what He wants from us.

          Fine words can never be a substitute for fine deeds. As love has something to do with teaching and with healing or as we do it in the Community with praying over those in need of prayers, proof of that love is obedience to the Word of God.

          Our character is revealed in the choices we make and as one popular Catholic evangelist would say – we need to define ourselves or others will which means that we need to show our true nature that is hidden in God. Our hidden life must be the same as our public life.

          What Jesus was saying was that while man may succeed at times to camouflage his real self with what may appear as good deeds, there will still come a time when such pretensions will be exposed. We probably can deceive men with words, but Our God cannot be mocked (𝐆𝐚𝐥 𝟔:𝟕) because man sees what is before him, but God sees what is in our hearts.

          In today’s Gospel, Jesus also reminds us not to place our security on the ephemeral but on what will withstand the test of time and will last forever. As with these 𝐯𝐯.𝟒𝟑-𝟒𝟗, many are wondering why Jesus defers to the use of parables to shed light on his teachings. This was because many of these parables are akin to the Jews, and it would be easier for them to understand what Jesus was saying because they are familiar with the parables which are illustrations of actual life situations.

          Again, in those days the Jews think of security in terms of fortresses, encampments, a house built on a strong foundation and Jesus equated the need to hear and listen (𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐲) the Word of God with the strong foundations that can withstand the forces of nature (𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲).      

What Jesus meant is that on judgment day, only our relationship with God will matter. Many think and believe that if they appear to be good and say religious things, they are assured of eternal life. On the contrary, only faith in Christ that is rooted in obedience will count on the day of reckoning and this is especially so for leaders, political or otherwise, for they will be accountable for their actions when their time on the judgment seat comes.

          The Scriptures itself warns that destruction will surely come to those who place their security and their spiritual future on mundane things rather than on the Grace of God. The prophet Isaiah refers to God as the “𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥” (𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝟐𝟔:𝟒) and the Psalmist adds in 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟖:𝟖 “𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧.”

These very words of Scriptures should serve as a fitting reminder that Our God is the rock upon which we should build our house (𝐯.𝟒𝟖) because it is only the Word of God that can provide us with protection from the storms of life.  

          Many of our brethren out there are also headed for destruction not only because they built their house on sand (𝐯.𝟒𝟗) but because of indifference. As membership in the Kingdom of God is a privilege it also carries with it a responsibility to also help and not kill others. St. Paul reminds us in 1 𝑪𝒐𝒓 10:33 “𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚, 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅.”

          We can only do this if we ourselves stand on a strong foundation because others are led to Christ by what they see. Jesus in today’s Gospel demands that we should listen and He is also urging us to do what we hear. Knowledge only becomes relevant when it is translated into action. Theory must lead to practice and theology must become our lifestyle and not just as a headgear.

          Jesus assures us today that those who built their life’s foundation on his Word need not fear when the storms come because we can always take refuge in God who is our eternal rock. The question now is have we built our lives on his Word made flesh as if our lives depend on it? (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵. 13, 2025)