Not just knowers but doers of the Word

NOT JUST KNOWERS BUT DOERS OF THE WORD

Deut. 11:18, 26-28; Mt. 7:21-27

January of 2011 was a tale of natural disasters.  I can recall the disastrous floods in England, the cyclone that struck Queensland, Australia and the floods in Brazil to mention just three.  I shall never forget the poor people of Brazil whose houses were built on the mud slopes of a mountain.  When the heavens opened and there was a cloud burst so many of their homes were washed away and their lives lost.  This was the result of their homes being built not on rock but on mud.

It was this kind of situation that Jesus had in mind in today’s Gospel when He said a wise man builds his house on rock and not on sand.  If those people in Brazil had money I am sure they would have built their houses on the side of that mountain and made sure that they were firmly anchored to the rock.  If they had done this when that flash flood came their homes would not have been swept away.

The point of Jesus’ parable is that the word of God is intended to be the rock upon which we build our lives.  If we don't anchor our lives solidly on the word of God, the time will come when we will be swept away by the raging waters of life.  Like the house built on sand in Jesus' parable, we too will collapse and be completely ruined.  The word of God is the rock upon which we must build our lives.  It is not enough to listen to the word of God.  We must do something about it.

When I was a school chaplain I knew a man who was teaching in the Catholic school.  I was told all the teachers were Catholics.  During one of the coffee breaks in my conversation with him I found out that he was not a practising Catholic, yet he was teaching R.E.  I said to him, “Do you think you should teach the Catholic faith to your class?”  He replied, “Why shouldn’t I?  I know the Catholic faith.  I went to Catholic schools all my life and went to a Catholic teachers’ training college.  I'd gladly take a test to prove my competency."

I explained to him that the heart of Catholicism lay not in knowing Catholic teaching but living a faith-filled, Catholic life. Knowledge needs to be translated into action. Theory needs to be put into practice.  We must be not only hearers and knowers of the word, but doers of it as well.  As the great Thomas A. Kempis who wrote the ‘Imitation of Christ’ said, "It’s more important to be humble than it is to know the definition of humility."

The first step in becoming a doer of the word is of course to listen to the word, ponder over it, take the word to heart, and try to see how it applies to our lives.  This is what Our Lady did with the word of God.  Whenever we hear the word of God we must ask ourselves how Jesus Himself would live out that word if He were in our own life situation. 

The second step is to translate the word into action.  Once we have decided how the word applies to our life situation, we take concrete steps to implement it.  We act.  The chances are if we don’t act in some concrete way within the first 24 hours, or as soon as possible, we probably won't act on it at all.  We will end up like the foolish man in the Gospel, who hears the word but doesn't put it into practice.  So, if our life is not anchored solidly on God's word, we will be carried away by the raging torrent of cares of this life and temptation.

Lord Jesus, when we hear Your words we must first prayerfully ponder over it, take it to heart and determine how to apply it to our lives.  Second, we must take concrete steps to implement its application to our lives.  Then we shall be like the wise man and be given a place in your Kingdom.

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