In our journey in life, we know that we
have so many struggles to face each day. And sometimes we feel lost. Sometimes we
feel discouraged. Sometimes we feel helpless. And sometimes we want to
give up. And this is because our house is not founded on rock. To be founded on
rock, of course, is to be founded on the Word of God. That's why Jesus is the
Word of God. So, it's important to ask yourself, is your life built on Jesus?
Is your faith centred on Jesus? Is your faith centred on His Word, trusting that
Jesus would fulfil His promise? Or is your faith founded on your ingenuity, on
your hard work, on the world, on your power, on your strength, on money? So,
it's very important, once again, to ask ourselves, what is this rock? What is it
that drives you every day? What is it that gives you the strength to carry on?
The best way to prepare ourselves and to strengthen ourselves is to spend
time praying the Word of God, receiving the Word of God, so that the Word of God
will give us that strength and inspiration always. It is only when we
stop reading the Word of God, we stop praying the Word of God, when we
no longer hear the Word of God, that is when we begin to rely on our own rock, on
our own strength. And we know that house, when the wind blows, it will
fall. We cannot withstand the challenges. And so, this is where the
Word of God, especially, is very important to build a strong prayer life. Those
people whose prayer life is weak, because why? It is not founded on the
Word of God. That is why those of us, when we read the Word of God, we interiorise,
that Word of God becomes our prayer. It becomes something that will spring from
within. Because the rock also refers to the heart of Jesus, the blood of Jesus.
We remember how Moses was asked to strike the rock, and the water flowed.
And remember, the soldier pierced Jesus' heart with a lance, and we are told that
blood and water flowed. Blood and water, of course, is the symbol of baptism, the symbol
of the Eucharist. So, to come to Jesus, the Word of God, is to receive the
Eucharist, to recognise Him in the Eucharist. And He will give us the
strength. This is where the Eucharist, which is the love of God in person, will
give us the courage, the strength to continue to trust in Him and to rely on
His grace and love. Jesus is the Rock. Jesus is the Living Water. Jesus is the
Bread of Life. That is what we need to sustain us in this journey. That is
what will help us to be protected. How do we protect ourselves? This is
where we need to ask ourselves, how strong is your prayer life? We have to
put on the armour of God, otherwise we will be slaughtered by our enemies. The
armour of God, precisely, is the holiness of life. It is the Word of God that will
protect us. But it is not enough. Listening to the Word, receiving the
Eucharist, all these things are important, but they must be translated
into actions. It is in acting, in putting the words into practice that we grow in
grace. So, we do not grow in grace overnight. Just by dreaming about it, we
do not grow. Let us take baby steps first. Once we take baby steps, we can
take the big step. But we must begin. We cannot just be waiting and waiting, doing
nothing. It is not going to help. We need to cooperate with the grace of God.
