A House Built on Rock!

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Gen 16:1-12,15-16; Mt 7:21-29

Today’s Gospel comes with a warning about spiritual inconsistency and an invitation to genuine discipleship.

Jesus warns his followers about the disconnect between faith and practice that might endanger their discipleship. For the disciples of Christ, the divide between faith and life amounts to a betrayal. In Jesus’ view, even prophesying, driving out demons, and performing mighty deeds would look insignificant if his disciples were to fail in manifesting their faith in action. While faith does not thrive on mere verbal justifications, it withers for lack of action that corresponds to it. 

Secondly, Jesus invites his followers to authentic discipleship. The imagery he employs is a house built on rock. For Jesus, conformity to God’s will and diligence about acting on his words are the right foundation for authentic discipleship. Here, acting on Jesus’ words is not mere obedience but proof of our fidelity to him. In addition, Jesus exposes the hypocrisy that even those who might call on him as ‘Lord’ would be far from him in the absence of a profound relationship with him. Hence, our fidelity to Jesus has a relational dimension. 

Christian discipleship is primarily a relationship with God that culminates in action. 

Let us pray that by acting on Jesus’ words, we may be like people who build their houses on rock. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar