Mt 7,21.24-27 – Thursday of the First Week of Advent
Today’s Gospel puts us before a real risk: speaking about God without belonging to God. “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom, but he who does the will of the Father” (Mt 7:21). Jesus does not criticize prayer, but empty words. It is not enough to name God: we must let his word shape our lives.
The image he uses of the two houses gives a good idea. The difference is not in the materials, but in the foundation. Both houses exist, both hear the word: one puts it into practice, the other doesn’t. The storm comes for everyone. Faith does not eliminate trials. But the house built on the rock is not the one that is not hit, but the one that does not collapse. The rock is Christ, but it is also concrete obedience to his word. It’s easy to be a Christian as long as the weather is clear.
It is when wind and rain arrive that we see whether our beliefs are rooted or just supported. Faith is not emotion, it is decision. It’s not feeling, it’s adhesion. Sometimes we live a surface Christianity: some rite, some right words, some devout sign. But when life hits hard, everything is revealed. If we have built on ourselves, everything falters. If we have relied on Christ, then we stand. Not because we are good, but because He is faithful.
Jesus doesn’t use complicated language: he simply tells us to live what we hear. Perhaps the problem is not that we don’t know the Gospel, but that we are content to admire it without practicing it. Instead, the Word must be incarnated: in choices, in gestures, in relationships, in moments when no one sees. This is the strength that holds out against every storm.
Thursday 4 December 2025 – (Thursday of the First Week of Advent)
