Saint Ambrose (d. 397); Thursday of the First Week of Advent

Anniversary of the Bombing of Pearl Harbor (1941)

Readings of the day: RB 55:1-14Mass: Isaiah 26:1-6; Resp. Psalm 118; Matthew 7:21, 24-27



Trust in the Lord forever!For the Lord is an eternal Rock.
At table, we are reading J. Pérennès’s, A Life Poured Out, a biography of Pierre-Lucien Claverie, OP (1938-1996, Bishop of Oran, Algeria). There, Claverie, although speaking about the gift of growing up in a family of trust and love, provides fitting commentary on the words of the Prophet Isaiah, as well as today’s Gospel: ‘Trust is exercised and reinforced amid everyday trials. The act of faith or trust is precisely that: an act…One “extends trust” more than one “has trust.” It is therefore in concrete actions that we embody our intention to extend trust. And thus it is that trust is strengthened’ (p. 213).
With Claverie’s words in mind, we hear Jesus say: ‘Not everyone will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.’ Our Lord continues: ‘Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” May we, then, have courage to listen to the Word and act in trust amid our everyday trials, struggles, disappointments, and contradictions. 
Living and true God, the eternal ROCK,strengthen our faith and trust in you that we may act in accordance with your will.
MARANATHA.