Pope Francis Santa Marta Mass Foundation of Life 05.12.19

In the Gospel, Jesus compares the wise person who built his house on rock with the fool who built his house on sand. Those who listen to the words of the Lord are wise, while those who refuse to do so live like fools and base everything on appearances.

What is the foundation of our hopes, of our security and of our lives. We need God’s grace to discern where the sand is and where the rock is to sink our foundations.

The Rock. That’s what the Lord is. Those who entrust themselves to the Lord will always remain safe, because their foundations are on the rock. That’s what Jesus says in the Gospel. He speaks about a wise man who built his house on rock, that is, on trust in the Lord and on serious things. And this trust is a noble thing, because the foundation of this building of our lives is sure; it is strong.

The wise man built on the rock, while the fool chose the shifting sands and is swept away by winds and rain. Even in our own lives it can happen, when my foundations are not strong. The storm comes – and we all have storms in our lives, all of us, from the Pope to the last, everyone – and we are unable to stand firm. Many say: ‘No, I’ll change my life.’ They think making life changes is like putting on makeup. Changing my life requires changing the foundations of my life, that is, finding the rock that is Christ. ‘I would like to renovate this building because it’s extremely ugly, so I would like to make it a little more beautiful and strengthen the foundation.’ But if all I do is put on makeup, then things won’t go far; it will fall. Christian life falls when based on appearances.

Jesus is the only sure foundation, while appearances are of no assistance, and this is also seen in the confessional. Only those who recognize they are sinners, weak, and eager for salvation show that their life is built on rock, as they believe and trust in Jesus as the source of salvation.

We cannot build our lives on passing things, on appearances, on acting like everything is fine. Let us go to the rock, where our salvation is. And there we will all be happy. All.

Let each of us, on this day in Advent, think about what foundation we give to our lives, whether solid rock or sand and ask the Lord for the grace to be able to discern.