Jesus said to his disciples: "Not everyone who says to me, ´Lord, Lord´ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ´Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?´ Then I will declare to them, ´I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.´ Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and it was completely ruined.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, thank you for this new day and the opportunity to once again unite myself to you in prayer. Thank you for the gift of faith that could have only come from you. Through my faith I am able to hope and trust in your bountiful love and mercy. But I know that I still fall short. I have seen the power of your love in my life. Through your grace I commit myself to Your will and to building a solid foundation in my life, one that is centered on You.

Petition: Lord Jesus, the world is crying out for you and longing to be with you. So am I. I want to make you the foundation of my life. I do this in prayer. Enable me to pray well.

1. It All Starts with a Good Foundation. Who better to know about laying foundations than a carpenters son, one who worked himself for many years as a carpenter and handyman, learning from others and his own observation and experience. Undoubtedly, he saw houses built on weak foundations collapse. Christ warned his disciples against being nominal disciples who cry out, quick to invoke his name but slow to fulfill the fundamental expectations. Here Jesus tells us that it is easy to call on him, and to preach to others, telling them what to do, but what matters for your salvation is what we do ourselves. It doesnt take much to parrot the Lords teachings and commandments, but it takes love to do them, to make them bear fruit in our own lives. Love, made authentic in action, is the foundation that will sustain our lives as his followers. Love is patient, it bears all things, it endures all things. (1 Cor 13, 4.7) 

2. Listening Isnt Good Enough. In another Gospel passage a women gave a high compliment about Christs mother. Christs answer raised everything to a higher level: Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice. Many leadership courses today rate listening as one of the most important virtues for the manager who wants to get ahead. But the fruit of listening comes when you also put into practice what you hear. This is costlier because to do so you have to be humble, recognize that others may have the truth more than you and you forget about your pride to put their advice into practice. God speaks to us a lot. We have his Scripture, the teachings of the Church, his parables which are so applicable to everyday life, his sacraments and prayer where he speaks to our soul....  What use if prayer if we are going to do what we want anyway? Prayer and listening have value only in so much as we let them change and redirect our actions. It is of no use to know Gods will; as a matter of fact it is much worse to know it, if we havent made up our minds to do our best to follow it. As we listen in prayer we have to ask for that other and greater grace of having the desire to put what he tells us into action. That is the grace of love.

3. Persevering until the End. The house built on a strong foundation was able to withstand any storm. Likewise when we have laid a deep, solid foundation of love for Christ in prayer and the Eucharist, we will have the ability to support any trial or major decision in life. He will be our Rock. There are times in life when we are tempted to doubt Christ and his grace, but those are precisely the moments we need to activate and use our faith. God is faithful to his word that he will be with us until the end of time. Lord, strengthen my faith in those moments of weakness and help me to be consistent in loving you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength.

Conversation: Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to meet you and listen to you in prayer. Place your love in my heart. Make me strong in my love to do all you want and expect of me today, to help others and to seek their good. I want to take the graces you have given me in this prayer and make them bear fruit in all my actions today. 

Questionnaire:

1. Am I a parrot or a practitioner of Jesus words?

2. Are all my actions and decisions directed toward pleasing God, whom I love above all things?

3. Am I constant or inconstant in fulfilling my resolutions? Why?