Today’s reading: Psalm 93:1-5
New York Governor Cuomo, an avowed Catholic, says God has nothing to do with any containment of COVID-19. The Democratic Party in the USA booed God out of their convention in 2016 and has removed the words “So help me God” from swear-ins in Congress. The Communist Party of China, whose deception caused COVID-19 to be a pandemic throughout the whole world, has been assaulting the Christian churches, and replaced images of the Madonna and Child with pictures of Xi Jinping, as well as replacing the Ten Commandments with quotes from Xi. President Duterte of the Philippines has mocked the Triune God, saying the doctrine of the Trinity is silly.
We live in a world that has built its house on sand, where the powerful have rejected the one, true God. Now the flood has come, by way of COVID-19. “The flood has raised up, Lord; the flood has raised up its roar; the flood has raised its pounding waves.” (v.3). The first flood in the time of Noah totally devastated the whole earth. Today, the flood that is COVID-19 is devastating the whole world. Businesses have shut down, social interactions have ceased, churches are closed.
Jesus did tell us, that if you build your house on sand, the floods and winds will buffet it and it will collapse. You would be a fool, since you did not listen to God’s words nor act on them. Today the world is in the darkness of sin and evil, and the house is collapsing. Why has this happened? Many, including Catholics, have turned away from God. And many do not know God’s words, so how can they act on them? Many know, but have chosen to live according to their own ways, rejecting God’s words and even being in rebellion to God. Many have not been instructed properly by their pastors, or worse, have been deceived as to what is right and just and true.
What are some ways by which we in the Church have been building on sand? What is being preached today?
* Homosexuality is no longer looked on as intrinsically disordered, and homosexuals are just to be accepted, without speaking of their sin, as doing so is deemed offensive.
* LGBT is considered as just another acceptable lifestyle.
* Those in irregular unions, states of active ongoing wrongdoing, are given Holy Communion.
* LGBT banners are prominently displayed inside churches, even in front of the Eucharistic altar.
* Issues of sexual immorality and abominations such as abortion are put on the same level as social justice issues.
* All religions are looked on as ways to God.
So the flood that is COVID-19 is now devastating the world and causing whole societal and economic systems to collapse. What are we to do? Well, Jesus has already told us. We are to build on rock, by listening to and acting on God’s words. And the Rock is Jesus. Only as we are built on Rock can our house, our world, not collapse under the buffeting of floods and winds. This is because “more powerful than the roar of many waters, more powerful than the breakers of the sea, powerful in the heavens is the Lord.” (v.4). One invisible pathogen has brought the world to its knees. This is because the world has not gone on its knees before God, the invisible but all-powerful Creator and Lord of the whole universe. People have invested in a world that will pass away and have neglected God, who is eternal. “Your throne stands firm from of old; you are from everlasting.” (v.2).
So how do we build on the Rock that is Christ?
First, we are to know and obey God’s commands. We are to listen to Jesus’ words and act on them. For this we have the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Christian teaching and tradition through the ages, writings of the saints, and in contemporary times, the teachings and writings of reputable and authentic Christians, both clergy and lay. The psalmist says, “Your decrees are firmly established” (v.5a). We have no excuse. We should take personal responsibility for listening to, knowing and acting on God’s words. And we should know authentic Catholic teaching enough such that we would not be led astray by false teachers and prophets, who are already within our Church.
Second, we are to strive for holiness. The psalmist says, “holiness befits your house, Lord, for all the length of days.” (v.5b). God calls us to holiness and Christian perfection. This sums up what God desires us to be. It would already include living out the two greatest commandments of love of God and love of neighbor. Holiness is about doing what is right and just and true, about what is pleasing to God. Listening to and acting on God’s words ought to lead to holiness.
In building our house, our communities, our parishes, our nation and the whole world on the Rock that is Christ, we can withstand any buffeting from floods of devastation and winds of adversity that come upon us and upon the world. “The Lord is king, robed with majesty; the Lord is robed, girded with might. The world will surely stand in place, never to be moved.” (v.1).
* * *
Comments